This morning we will be starting chapter 11 of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last and only prophetic book in the New Testament. Chapter 11 is an odd chapter as the first 14 verses continues the “interlude” from chapter 10. Then verses 15-19 will get into the launch of the 7th and final trumpet judgement. By the way, on a side note, John (nor none of the estimated 45 Bible writers) would have inserted chapters or verses into their work. Chapters and verses were added into the first english Bible in 1560 in Geneva, Switzerland. As a result, some chapters in our modern Bible seem to end abruptly or continue on into the next chapter which was not the intent of the original Holy Spirit-inspired authors.
For ease and length of posts we will split this chapter in two, the two great witnesses being today and the beginning of the 7th trumpet tomorrow. Let’s get to it.
“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.
11:1-2 – “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.”
We start out chapter 11 with an odd scene. John is given a measuring stick and told to measure a certain part of the temple. Both staff and rod are mentioned throughout scripture and both are mentioned in Psalm 23. The staff resembles the comfort of God’s presence and the rod is the protection and judgement of God. But why measure the inner courts of the temple, surely they know what these measurements are right? I think we are witnessing an exercise simply so we can see the result and have it documented. Anytime you see the beginning of measurements in either the OT or the NT, it indicates that God is beginning to deal with the nation of Israel.
“For it is given to the nations”, means the gentiles not the Jews. The Holy City is Jerusalem and we see a time frame of 42 months which is 3 ½ years, exactly half of the great tribulation. What we see here is Jerusalem before Israel takes it back as God has promised.
11:3-4 – “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.”
Here we have the introduction of the two great preachers of the tribulation. In one last final effort God will offer the people a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. To do this, God sends two of the greatest preachers the world will ever witness. We are not told who they are, but we are told much about them. They will prophesy (which means preach) for 1260 days, that’s the 3 ½ years (42 months) we just mentioned above which is the last half of the great tribulation. (1260 days / 30 days in a month =42 months) They will be clothed in sackcloth which was a rough, heavy, coarse cloth worn as a symbol of mourning, distress, grief, and humility. The two great preachers will put on sackcloth to express their great sorrow for an unbelieving and wicked world.
They are two great olive trees and two lampstands before the Lord. The olive trees represent their strength and ability to bear much fruit for the Lord during this period. We have seen the lampstands several times already in Revelation, it represents shining the light of God’s Holy Spirit to the world. A mixture of olive oil was used to light the lampstands in the tabernacle and the temple so an olive tree also represents a never-ending supply of oil to give off the light of the Holy Spirit.
11:5-6 – “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.”
These 2 preachers will be greatly empowered by God Himself. God will give them a very clear mission and a very clear time period to complete that mission. While they are completing this mission for God, they will be impervious to all harm. If anyone tries to injure them, they will be able to adequately defend themselves with fire that will consume the life from their evil foes. They will be empowered to affect nature, being able to withhold rain and also call plagues upon the land at their will. We are told specifically of turning water to blood which is similar to the first plague Moses called upon Egypt and also the sea turning to blood right here in Revelation in the 2nd seal. (Rev 8:8)
11:7-10 – “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.”
Here we have a very sobering view of the evil that will exist in men’s hearts during the great tribulation. Remember that God’s church was called out of this world before the tribulation started. The believers in Christ (His church) are not here. Also recall that those that called upon Christ during the great tribulation and have already died are also gone. And with over 2/3 of the entire population of the tribulation Earth dead by now, and a large part of those new believers, we can safely assume what we have left here is the dregs of society. These are people that have refused Christ before the great tribulation began. They have rejected Christ through the terror of the 7 seals. They maintained their hard hearts through the horror of the 6 trumpets. And now they have maintained their staunch anti-God view through the message of the 2 great preachers. Folks, the people we have left on the planet at this point are hard core, non-believing people that not only reject God but hate God. They follow the anti-christ and do all that he commands. What they do to the two great preachers is a horrible view of their hearts towards God.
At the time God has set forth He will allow the beast from the bottomless pit to emerge and destroy the two great preachers. Take careful note here, this is all part of God’s perfect plan and is allowed to happen. This is the first of 36 references to ‘the beast’ in Revelation. Much more detail will come about the beast, especially in chapters 13 and 17. Since satan is depicted as a dragon in Rev 12:3,9, this cannot be satan. The beast is a human, an antichrist, a world ruler that will burst onto the scene and wow the world by finally being able to slay these two preachers that the world hates so intensely. As He slays the preachers they are treated to the most disgraceful, degrading funeral that could be produced. Their dead bodies are thrown into a street of the “great city” which is Jerusalem. The bodies will lie there decomposing for 3 ½ days. And to really show you the pure hatred and evil the world has for these men of God, their dead bodies will be broadcast live to the world. Peoples from all tribes, nations and languages will not just see their dead bodies but they will rejoice! Wow. In fact, we’re also told they will refuse to let them be buried.
But just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, we read on. The world creates a holiday out of their deaths. They so hated these men and the Godly truth that they brought, they are actually exchanging gifts to each other like its Christmas! You see, these men brought the truth of God to a purely evil generation and they hated the truth with every fiber of their being. They reveled in these men being killed and they worshipped the beast for doing it. As a result, they partied, gave gifts, and celebrated as the dead and decaying preachers lay in the street, broadcast via satellite for all the world to see.
11:11-13 - “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.”
But God once again has the last laugh. After 3 ½ days God resurrects the 2 men right there on live TV! I can’t imagine how quickly some news channels must have cut the feed! The sinful, evil hearts of men will do whatever it takes at any cost to avoid the truth of God. I can only imagine the scene all over the world. People are celebrating with friends and family, exchanging gifts and having big meals with the TV on in the background, continually broadcasting the still, lifeless bodies of these 2 innocent Godly men. Just then someone from the living room yells for everybody to come look at what’s happening. The two bodies that have lain lifeless for 3 1/2 days, slowly stand up straight. They gaze into the faces in the crowd and into the camera. The fear, amazement and outright dismay will be indescribable in that moment. The world went from a loud raucous party to absolute silence, in awe of the power of God. The men are called up to Heaven by God and the world watches as they ascend on a cloud to be with God.
In that moment, yet another great earthquake hits the defenseless unbelievers as 7,000 die in the moment, cast into an eternity separated from God. In that instant we’re told the rest in their terror, gave glory to God in Heaven. What a shame at what God has to do to get people to believe in Him. What a horrible, pitiful shame.
11:14 – “The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.”
The last three trumpets had a ‘woe’ assigned to them as an additional warning from God (Rev 8:13) The second woe (6th trumpet) has passed and only one remains. We will see it very soon.
Revelation is an amazing book. It amazes me at God’s intricate and perfect plan for the end of this world as we know it. It amazes me the control that God has over all, including all evil such as satan, his demons, and the antichrist. It amazes me the control God has over this world, calling earthquakes, moving mountains, and darkening the sun with just His Words. But I think it mostly amazes me to see the hardness of the hearts of men. How is what we’re reading possible? Are men’s hearts this hard today? I will never fully understand how people can hate and ignore a God that loves them so much. A God that sent His only Son to die for them so that they would not have to experience Hell, but they could instead enjoy the free gift of eternal life in Heaven with God. Is this really a hard decision? But yet, they meet this offer with rejection. Rejection of God, rejection of His Son, and rejection of the salvation He offers. How can the hearts of a humans reach this level of darkness?
I sit and ask myself these hard questions, but I have no answers. But yet the questions remain, burning like a flame into the future. We read of great wickedness this morning in the Word of God and we can read of great wickedness in the morning headlines today. The hearts of men reject God today and they will reject Him in the end. I pray for these people. That they can be free from the hatred that lives and breeds in their hearts. That they can be free from the bondage of the anger and the rebellion that fuels them. That they can at once know peace, joy, and freedom from it all. And that can happen in an instant. It can happen in the blink of an eye. You need only believe in the Son, Jesus Christ. I will continue to pray.
God bless your journey with Him today.
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