Revelation 11:1-14

Revelation 11:1-14 When the Going Gets Tough

In the 1990’s the World Wide Web and the internet went from a novelty for a few to an apparatus for dispensing knowledge to almost everyone. Even people who never get on the internet depend on it for information in some way even if it is when you go to buy a part for your tractor, the information the clerk uses is on the internet. Every fact and factoid one would want to know can be found on the internet with just a few clicks on the computer. However this vast access to knowledge has not helped people discern the truth. Every lie, rumor and false claim for every subject has come through the www. Moral filth has entered into homes and therefore our lives through enumerable websites. Much of the world cheered the awesome available power available to them while some were alarmed by the inaccuracies, lies and moral bankruptcy. The internet is not in itself evil but it does illustrate very well power that is neutral about truth and morality. In other words there is power without truth. On the contrary the church, especially the contemporary church has illustrated the opposite: Truth without power. What we will see today in Revelation 11:1-14 is that God intends for His church to proclaim His truth in power. When the church arrived on the scene 2000 years ago who would have guessed that it would sweep across the civilized world with the power to change people, cultures, institutions and nations? As we will see, without a doubt, when the time of Christ’s return approaches there will be powerful proclaimers of God’s truth, a call to repentance due to God’s coming judgment. But do we really need to wait until the end times to see the powerful proclamation of God’s truth, especially in a world where the existence of truth is doubted? We live in a time of power without truth; that must not be in the life of the believer and the life of the church. Let’s pray.

I am not going to read the entire passage to begin with this morning. Instead I will be reading and talking about sections of Scripture then put them all together at the end. Let’s read Revelation 11:1-2 to start out.1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. We looked at this last week but in these two verses the Lord marks out His church (Temple) for possession and for protection from His judgment and coming wrath. However part of His church (the outer court) will experience the wrath of the Beast through the people of the earth (Gentiles) who trample on them for 42 months (a predetermined time set by God). God’s people are to be a witness for their time even if that time is the end time.

Now let’s look at verses 3-6 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. Without warning John begins to tell us of two witnesses who are to be proclaiming or prophesying for the same 42 months (1260 days). Their message is one of repentance and coming judgment that can be seen by the fact that they are wearing sackcloth. Sackcloth is always a sign of penitence and even mourning over either coming hardship or the hardship that has occurred brought about by sin. Since we are talking about God’s judgment His coming judgment and His completed judgment is actually one in the same. God will complete His task of judging sin and we see that borne out in the witnesses. The question everyone wants the answer to is; “who are these witnesses?” Due to their description some people say that they are Moses and Elijah. But there have been other guesses. Some say it is Peter and Paul as apostles to the Jews and the Gentiles. Some say it is the Old and New Covenants, law and grace and yet others have at one point suggested that was John Reeves and Lodowicke Muggelton, two tailors in 17th century London who proclaimed themselves to be the two witnesses and led the Muggeltonian denomination for a couple of decades. There are many guesses and that is all they are. I think instead we should look at this from a little different perspective. Since this vision is, I believe, figurative or symbolic in nature perhaps we should consider the two witnesses the same way. Perhaps we should look at these two witnesses as the church in the world in the end times. This seems to be what Revelation is saying when you consider the meaning of the two lamp-stands. The church is represented in Revelation 1:20 as the seven lamp-stands that stand before the Lord of the earth. The first question would be; why is the church represented as two witnesses? Several places in Scripture we read that by two or more witnesses truth is established, a single witness could and should be disregarded. The word “witness” came to represent those who testify to the truth of Christ by dying for the truth of Christ. As we have already seen some of the church, the body of Christ (the temple) is protected but some of the church (the outer court) is not protected from the Beast. Two is only a portion of the seven which is the complete church. These two “witnesses” are compared to those that stand before the God of the earth just as the 7 lamp-stands stand before the Lord of the earth. I’m not sure if this really means anything but how many churches of the seven in Revelation 2 and 3 were really faithful? There were just 2; Smyrna to which Jesus said: 10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ’[1]and Philadelphia to whom Jesus said: 11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.[2] . A part of the church represented by the two witnesses will speak the truth in the face of persecution and danger. The two olive trees take us to Zechariah’s vision. In his vision they were Zerubbabel and Joshua who were to lead the people and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem when Judah returned from captivity. They were to do their work as Zechariah 4:6 says: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ The church of God in the world, represented by these two witnesses, are to do their work of calling people to repentance and warning of the coming judgment by the power of the Holy Spirit. The churches words to the world will be like fire proceeding out of their mouths. I am not certain whether the fire devouring those who try to harm the witnesses, the church, is literal or figurative but I do know that in the end those who refuse to respond to the words of the witnesses as they proclaim the gospel will indeed be devoured in everlasting fire for eternity and the church will still be proclaiming the gospel. So the truth of God is powerful for salvation and condemnation. God will supernaturally protect His church/2 witnesses and use the church to bring judgment on the people of the earth much like God used Elijah and Moses. What is interesting is that much of what the church does is along the lines of the trumpet plagues we have already seen; fire and blood from heaven, 1/3 of the seas turned to blood, plagues of demon/locusts …All of this will continue on for 3 ½ years while the witnesses/church are proclaiming coming judgment and calling the people of the earth to repentance all the while being protected from those who would want to and try to shut them up.

Let’s see what happens to God’s witness in verses 7-10 7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Can you see the hatred here for the people of God? It is unbelievable how much the people of the earth hate those who would call them to repentance and warn them of the coming judgment. There is nothing they can do to stop their message until God says “enough”. When they finish their testimony the Beast from the abyss comes and makes war against them. Notice it does not say that he simply kills them, he makes war against them. If it were just two witnesses there would be no war. But the Beast and his forces made up of the people of the earth who had been tormented by the preaching of the word will literally hunt down the witnesses, the church and kill them in the streets of the cities of the earth including Jerusalem. Where he speaks of the great city, Sodom, Egypt and the city where our Lord was crucified he is saying that figuratively or spiritually Jesus was crucified in all the cities of the world by the people of the earth and they are the same people who made war against the witnesses of God. Does that scare you? Does that cause you to not want to proclaim the gospel because someday that might be you? Why? People who have proclaimed the gospel message have, throughout the ages, been hated, hunted, tormented, tortured, and even killed because of their testimony concerning Christ. That caused the 20th century theologian T. F. Torrance to ask this question: ‘Why does the Church of Jesus Christ today sit so easy to her surroundings? Why do Christian people live such comfortable and such undisturbed lives in this evil and disturbed world? Torrance had an answer to that question as do I but we will get to that later. But why do we sit so comfortable if our message is so disagreeable to the world?

After the Beast (and we will talk about him in the coming weeks) makes war against God’s witnesses and kills them in the street they just leave them there. The hatred for God’s witnesses, and therefore God, is so strong that the people of the earth will not even show them the dignity of burial. Instead they celebrate their deaths and treat it like Christmas. All over the world where the witnesses are hunted down and killed (peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations) the people of the earth will celebrate because the torment of the truth of God spoken in power is over. No more call to repent from sin, no more telling the truth about God, no more having to bear with the conscience that God had given them because the witnesses are dead. Evil has conquered over God and there was cause to celebrate. I would guess that is how the Sanhedrin must have felt when they laid Jesus in the tomb. The Sanhedrin was surprised three days later and so will be the people of the earth.

Let’s look at 11-13 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.[3] The celebration of evil winning over God is short lived. After 3 ½ days God breathes the breath of life into His witnesses. They are not raised from the grave because they had not been buried but they stand up on their feet. And all those who for 3 ½ days have been celebrating their death are overcome with fear. For 3 ½ years the people of the earth were tormented by these witnesses and for only 3 ½ days they had relief. We know that their resurrection was just as public as their deaths because terror struck those who saw them. Not only that, but their ascension on the clouds was just a public as their martyrdom and their resurrection. This is the perfect vindication of their message of repentance and judgment. God did not leave His witnesses dead but brought them to Him just as He had done with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is what happened but what does it represent to us? John may be describing here the resurrection of the entire witnessing church of the end times, or he may refer to a special resurrection and ascension to honor the end-time martyrs. This appears to happen shortly before the return of Christ for his saints called “the harvest” in Revelation 14:14-16 and what is described as “His wrath” on the people of the earth in Revelation 14:17–20. Later on, he will call this event “the first resurrection” of Revelation 20:6.

If this is the first resurrection just before Christ returns then what we see in verse 13, the earth quake, may be the first tremor of the upheaval at the end of the world when the seventh bowl of wrath is poured out in Revelation 16. A 10th of the city marks the beginning of the destruction of the great city (the world hostile to God and His Lamb) and chapter 18 brings it to a conclusion. The 7,000 deaths is just a preliminary horror for the people of the earth. There will be a final earth quake in Revelation 16:17-21. Folks at this point in our study of Revelation we can truly say that time is short. The survivors were terrified because they have come to recognize that all is lost. The trumpet plagues have not convinced them, the 1260 days of the prophetic ministry of the church/witnesses speaking truth in power have not convinced them, the death of the witnesses had not convinced them either. But their resurrection and ascension along with the earthquake had finally convinced them that the God of heaven was the true God. It says that they gave Him glory. But I don’t think that this is talking about a mass conversion of the people of the earth. On the contrary we have seen already in chapter 6 with that earth quake and the people recognizing that it was God who caused, it but they did not repent and receive God’s rule. Here we see, I believe, the same thing. They give God the glory acknowledging that it is God who caused all of their distress. They blame God instead of taking responsibility for their own sin and repenting. This is the beginning of what we find in Philippians 2:10-11 where every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But verse 14 makes it clear that it is not over yet. One more woe is yet to come.

Let’s put this all together. The two witnesses is the church boldly proclaiming the truth of God’s judgment in power, calling the people of the earth to repentance. The witnesses of God will minister during the time of great suffering and persecution of the church (1260 days). The two olive trees and the two lamp-stands is the people of God empowered by the Holy Spirit. The great city and the city where our Lord was crucified are representative of the world that is opposed to God, it is the historic rejection of Jesus Christ. The bodies of the witnesses being left unburied is representative of the utter contempt the people of the earth has for God and His truth. When the people of the earth gloat over and celebrate the death of God’s witnesses it shows that the world has no concept that their victory is short lived. When the witnesses are resurrected it shows that God does not leave His people uncared for, He will reward those who overcome. The people of the earth recognize that is the true God of heaven that raised the martyrs and brought about the earthquake but they do not repent but instead blame God for all of their torment from the witnesses.

The witnesses of God who speak the truth in power in the last days do so knowing that they face persecution from the Beast and his followers and not just persecution but death. They know they are hated because of the truth of God yet they continue. We do not live in a time quite like that, yet. But still we huddle in our “hiding places” concerned that there is coming a time when our religious liberty may be taken away. We tend to think that if the government takes away our liberty then the church will die, how could we ever go on if there is persecution from the government or from people we know and don’t know? We have the liberty and we have the truth of God yet we abuse the liberty and ignore the power of the truth. We need to be sure that we understand that if we are not proclaiming the truth in power now we will not do so when it becomes dangerous. Let me go back to the question posed by T. F. Torrance: ‘Why does the Church of Jesus Christ today sit so easy to her surroundings? Why do Christian people live such comfortable and such undisturbed lives in this evil and disturbed world?” Now I will give you his answer: “Surely it is because we are not true to the Word of God.”[4] I sadly say that I agree whole heartedly with Dr. Torrance. We have the truth. In a world that denies that truth even exists, in a world where everyone claims their own truth, we have the only truth, the truth of God. People of God in the past, Prophets, Apostles, believers from every social strata spoke God’s truth in the face of persecution and death, and the truth of God’s call to repentance and the coming judgment changed the world, it changed cultures, institutions, nations and more importantly hearts. In the future God’s people will be called upon to do the same thing in the face of certain death and they will gladly proclaim the truth of God in power. So I anxiously ask; what are you and I waiting for? Let’s pray.

Easley, K. H. (1998). Revelation (Vol. 12, p. 195). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 2:10–11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 3:11–12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 11:1–14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] Morris, L. (1987). Revelation: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, pp. 146–147). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.