Rev 11 (part 2)
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Alright, so tonight we continue our journey into the unveiling or Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Last week we got into chapter 11, and learned about a third temple that will be built in Jerusalem and saw that plans are well under way to get that done.
We also learned about two very special servants of God who will upset the whole New World Order with their various judgments. Began to learn discuss who they may be and that's where we will pick up tonight.
For context I will begin at 11:1;
1 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.
3 “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty 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 wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not 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 plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.
13 And in 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 is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
So who are they? We are not specifically told but they seem to have similarities to Moses and Elijah. Elijah is certain (Mal 4:5),
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
Every Jewish family celebrates passover with an open chair at the table. Why? in case Elijah shows up. The Jews are expecting Elijah. The second Witness is open to discussion. Some see John the Baptist or Enoch. My opinion is Moses & Elijah who represent the Law and the Prophets, also met with Jesus on the Mt of Transfiguration. (Some see Enoch, why? He didn’t die and it’s appointed unto man to die once, then the Judgment.
There is an interesting passage regarding Moses in Jude;
9 But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Why would the devil want the body of Moses, why would Michael want it? Perhaps it has some thing to do with our passage in Rev 11.
We continue;
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not 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 plague, as often as they desire.
These verses remind us of what both Elijah and Moses did during their ministries.You might remember Elijah calling down fire from heaven; I am sharing a second instance, different than last week;
In this one Elijah gets into a contest with the Priests of Baal;
36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word.
37 “Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.”
and of course we remember Moses and the plague of blood in Egypt; and the other 9 plagues in the book of Exodus.
Notice the last part of Verse 6 ...and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
These 2 witnesses have incredible power but only for a time.Notice V 7-8
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
When their mission is finished they are Killed by the beast that came up from the abyss (Apollyon).Notice their bodies are left in the street for 3.5 days. This will happen in Jerusalem, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt.
As an aside you may not be aware that Israel is the most pro-gay state in the middle east.
From a Travel Site, Culture Trip.com;
LGBTQ rights in Israel
LGBTQ rights in Israel
Although there is always much progress to be made, Israel’s stance on LGBTQ issues is considered the most tolerant in the Middle East. While same-sex marriages are not performed in the country, Israel recognises cohabitation between same-sex couples, as well as equal marriages performed elsewhere. Adoption by same-sex couples was legalised in 2008, while the Supreme Court of Israel allowed stepchild adoptions and limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents three years previous.
Additionally, the name Egypt is symbolic of the world in scripture. Much of the Israeli population is non-religious.
Notice 9-12, this will be some interesting live TV!
9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.
Notice here the whole world is watching. (Not possible until our generation) I am sure this was seen as hyperbole 75 years ago.
We see the World celebrating and gloating over their deaths and give each other presents. This is like their Christmas!
Miraculously, at the end of 3.5 days they come back to life on live TV. They experience a personal rapture while the world watches.
V13-14 closes this section
13 And in 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 is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
In the same hour they are raptured there is a severe earthquake and a 10th of the city fell and 7 thousand die. Interestingly what does 10% indicate to a Jew, the tithe.
30 ‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
31 ‘If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
32 ‘For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.
The 7,000 who are killed is an odd statement in the Greek, Literally it says; names of men,7,000. Some suggest this indicates VIP types or perhaps there is a role or book of names held by God that there names blotted out from.
So the second woe is past and the third woe is still to come.V15 -18 Christs reign begins
15 Then the seventh angel sounded; 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 will 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 You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
18 “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
So here we see plainly that Jesus reign has begun, but how can that be?
This can appear a little confusing as it sounds like the end of the story, but its only an glimpse at what is to come.
Verse 18 reminds me of Ps2;
18 “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged,
1 Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
It is amazing to me that the powers ruling this world believe that they can go to war with YHVH and win. It’s insane.
William Barclay, quote
The Revelation of John, Volume 2 The Forecast of Things to Come (Revelation 11:14–19)WHAT makes this passage difficult is that it seems to indicate that things have come to an end in final victory, while there is still half the book to go. The explanation, as we have seen, is that this passage is a summary of what is still to come. The events foreshadowed here are as follows.
(1) There is the victory in which the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Anointed One. This is really a quotation of Psalm 2:2, and is another way of saying that the messianic reign has begun. In view of this victory, the twenty-four elders—that is, the whole Church—break out in thanksgiving.
(2) This victory leads to the time when God takes his supreme authority (verse 17). That is to say, it leads to the thousand-year reign of God, the millennium, a thousand-year period of peace and prosperity.
(3) At the end of the millennium, there is to come the final attack of all the hostile powers (verse 18); they will be finally defeated, and then will follow the last judgment
The chapter closes as we move back to the present at that time.
19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
This is very interesting from a number of points.
First, is this the Ark that Moses made the copy of in the wilderness or is this that Ark that Moses made?
Second, the Ark is open and you never read of the Ark open so as to see inside. This was forbidden. We learned that from Indiana Jones LOL.
The Ark of the Covenant is a interesting topic in itself as no one knows for sure where it is. As an aside, the Ark was lost or hidden just before the invasion by the Babylonians. It was not listed among the things taken back to Babylon. This also lets you know that the Ark was not in the second temple, the one of Jesus’ time. Most people do not know this.
You Tube Video - The Ark of the Covenant - Quick Summary, 10’ 12”
If you haven’t yet come to the realization that Jesus is coming back soon you need to wake up. One way or another at some point, some sooner than later, your time in this life is going to end. Make sure tonight that you are right with God and that you know that you know Him.
Pray