Revelation 11:1-14.
The Two Witnesses.
1 Then I was
given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and
the altar and count the number of worshipers.
2 But do not measure
the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will
trample the holy city for 42 months.
3 And I will give power
to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy
during those 1,260 days.”
4 These two prophets
are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of
all the earth.
5 If anyone tries to
harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is
how anyone who tries to harm them must die.
6 They have power to
shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they
have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the
earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7 When they complete
their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare
war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.
8 And their bodies will
lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called “Sodom”
and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified.
9 And for three and a
half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their
bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them.
10 All the people who
belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to
celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
11 But after three and a
half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all
who were staring at them.
12 Then a loud voice
from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven
in a cloud as their enemies watched.
13 At the same time
there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven
thousand people died in that earthquake, and everyone else was terrified and
gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second terror is
past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet Brings the Third Terror.”
Verses 1-2.
1 Then I was
given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and
the altar and count the number of worshipers.
2 But do not measure
the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will
trample the holy city for 42 months.
The “Angel” that told John to rise and measure the Temple was the
same “Mighty Angel” that handed him the “Little Book” to eat. And as
they were both still on the earth, the “Temple” that John was told to measure
was the Temple at Jerusalem. Not the Temple of Herod, for that had been
destroyed over 25 years before by Titus,’ in A. D. 70.
This then must be a future temple that is to be
built at Jerusalem. It is clear that there will be a Temple at Jerusalem during
the reign of Antichrist, for he shall sit in it and proclaim himself GOD.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 3 Do not be fooled by what
they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against
God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings
destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy everything
that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the
temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.”
And he shall cause the “Abomination of Desolation” spoken of by
Daniel the Prophet (Daniel 9:27), the “Image of the Beast,” to be
set up in the “Holy Place” Matthew 24:15.
This will not be the Millennial
Temple described by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:1; 42:20), for that will be built
at Shiloh, in the midst of the Holy Oblation (Ezekiel 48:8, 21), and not
until after the physical changes that will take place at the return of Christ (Zechariah
14:4) shall have changed the surface of the Land of Palestine.
The Temple that the Jews will build
on their return to Jerusalem will probably be destroyed by the Earthquake that
destroys the tenth part of the City, for that Earthquake will harmonise with
the “Great Earthquake” that shall occur at the breaking of the “Seventh
Seal,” the sounding of the “Seventh Trumpet,” and the pouring out of
the “Seventh Vial.” Revelation 8:5; 11:19; 16:18.
John was told to measure only the
Temple proper, and to leave out the “Court” that surrounded it. The
Temple of Herod had four Courts:
The Court of the
Priests.
The Court of Israel.
The Court of the
Women.
The Court of the
Gentiles.
The Tabernacle had but one Court;
while Solomon’s Temple had two: The Court of the Priests.
The Court of the
Gentiles.
As the “Court” of this new
Temple, as well as the Holy City (Jerusalem), is to be trodden under foot of
the Gentiles for 42 months, or 3.5 years, this period must refer to the last
half of the “Seventieth Week,” after Antichrist breaks his “Covenant” with the Jews
and desecrates the Temple.
For Jerusalem must be trodden down
of the Gentiles until the “Times
of the Gentiles” is fulfilled (Luke
21:24),
That will not end until the Battle
of Armageddon.
Verses 3-12.
3 And I will give power
to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy
during those 1,260 days.”
4 These two prophets
are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of
all the earth.
5 If anyone tries to
harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is
how anyone who tries to harm them must die.
6 They have power to
shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they
have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the
earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7 When they complete
their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare
war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.
8 And their bodies will
lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called “Sodom”
and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified.
9 And for three and a
half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their
bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them.
10 All the people who
belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to
celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.
11 But after three and a
half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who
were staring at them.
12 Then a loud voice
from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven
in a cloud as their enemies watched.
After the “Mighty Angel” had
given John instructions as to measuring the Temple, He said: “I will give
power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy
during those 1,260 days.” As a “thousand two hundred and threescore days”
are equal to 42 months of 30 days each, or to 3.5 years, then the time when
these “Two Witnesses” are to prophesy must correspond with the last half of the
“Week,” or the time of The Great Tribulation.
Who are these “Two Witnesses”? They
are men: not systems, or churches, or a body of witnesses, (like the 144,000).
For they prophesy and are clothed
in sackcloth, neither of which can be said of other than persons, and there are
Two of them. It is quite easy to identify them. They have power to shut heaven
that it rain not in the days of their prophecy.
This can refer to no other than
Elijah, who had power in the days of King Ahab to shut up the heavens for the
space of three years and six months (1 Kings 17:1; “No rain for three- and
one-half years” Luke 4:25. See also James 5:17), and this is the
same length of time, 42 months, or 1260 days, or 3.5 years.
We are told that these “Two Witnesses”
are to prophesy. Then we know that Elijah was translated, and did not see
death, that he might come back before “The Great and dreadful day of the
Lord” for the purpose of “turning the heart of the children to their
fathers,” and this is the purpose of
the prophesying of
these “Two Witnesses.”
Malachi 4:5-6. It is clear
from the time that the Prophet Malachi said that “like Elijah” would
come again, just before “the great and dreadful judgment day of The Lord,”
that this prophecy was not fulfilled in John the Baptist. He announced the “First
Coming” of Christ, but no “Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord” followed. That
event is yet future and follows the testimony of these “Two Witnesses.”
When the Jews sent Priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to John to ask him ”“Who are you?” he confessed: “I
am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
It is clear from John’s answers to these
questions that he was
not Elijah.
When Gabriel announced to Zacharias
the birth of John the Baptist, he said, he shall go before Him (Christ) in the “Spirit
and power” of Elijah. That is, he will not be Elijah but shall be like him
in spirit and power!
It is clear then that one of the “TWO
WITNESSES” will be Elijah, but who will be the other? What do you think?
Many claim that Moses will be the
second Witness, while some say he will be Enoch, because they say Moses being a
resurrected person cannot die again, and the “Two Witnesses” are both to die.
They claim that both Enoch and
Elijah were caught up
in their bodies, without dying, that they might come back again in their bodies
and die. There is no scriptural ground for declaring that Moses cannot die
again.
Lazarus was raised from the dead
and he died again, and the “Wicked Dead” shall be raised from the dead,
and after Judgment at the “Great White
Throne,” they shall be
sentenced to die again, which is the “Second Death” Revelation 20:12-15.
It is said of these “Two Witnesses”
that they have power:
1. Verse 6 “They
have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they
prophesy.”
2. Verse 6 “And
they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the
earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.”
Now we know that Moses had power to
turn water into Blood,
and to smite the
earth with Plagues, but we are not told that Enoch had such power.
If we study carefully what shall
happen during the period, the “Two Witnesses” shall testify, which as we have
seen will be the last half of the “Week,” or 3.5 years, we shall see that the “Two
Witnesses” could be Moses and Elijah. But God could send anyone he like.
It is probable that Elijah will
shut up the heavens that there shall
be no rain, during
the 3.5 years of their witnessing, for we read that there is to be a “Fire
test” verse 5 “fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their
enemies.”
Such as Elijah appointed on Mt.
Carmel in the days of King Ahab (1 Kings 18:17-40), and the contest will
be between Elijah and the “False Prophet,” and that the “False
Prophet” shall have power to do what the Priests of Baal could not do,
bring “fire down from heaven” Revelation 13:13.
The crucial question on Mt. Carmel
was, who is the true God? JEHOVAH or BAAL? In the days of Antichrist, it will
be, who is GOD, JEHOVAH, or ANTICHRIST? The test will be the power to bring
down fire from heaven. As the “False Prophet” will imitate the power of Elijah
and bring down fire from heaven, the test will not be decisive.
The true Israel of God however will
acknowledge the claim of Jehovah, while the followers of “The Beast”
will continue to believe in him. But Elijah shall not be as fortunate as he was
in the days of Ahab, for then he escaped the
vengeance of Jezebel,
but he will not be able to escape the vengeance of Antichrist who will see to
it that both he and Moses’ arc slain.
As the Plagues that are to
accompany the pouring out of the “Vials,” are four of them similar to
the “Plagues of Egypt,” who more likely to bring them to pass than
Moses? The evidence seems that the “Two Witnesses” will be Moses and Elijah. But
God can send who He like down as His Two Witnesses.
My “Two Witnesses.” This implies
that “witnessing” was their business. And when we recall the witnessing on the
Mt. of Transfiguration
(Matthew 17:3), and that it was Two
Men that witnessed to the women at the Tomb that Jesus had risen (Luke
24:4-7), and that it was Two Men who stood by and witnessed to the
Disciples as Jesus ascended into Heaven (Acts 1:10-11).
In all three incidents the MEN were
clothed in “shining garments.” Angels
or resurrected men? Two are translated for the express office of “witnessing.”
These “Two Witnesses” are called the Verse
4 “These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that
stand before the Lord of all the earth.”
1.
“TWO OLIVE TREES.”
2.
“TWO CANDLESTICKS.”
“That stand before
the Lord of all the earth.”
For an explanation of this symbol,
we must turn back to the Old Testament. The Prophet Zechariah saw in a vision a
“Golden Candlesticks,” with a bowl upon the top of it, and the seven lamps
thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps: and Two Olive Trees by it, one
upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
And he turned to the angel that
talked with him and said, “What are these ‘TWO OLIVE TREES’ upon the right side
of the CANDLESTICK and upon the left side thereof?” And he said, “These are the
‘TWO ANOINTED ONES,’ that stand by the Lord of the whole earth” Zechariah
4:1-14.
These “TWO ANOINTED ONES” were:
Zerubbabel the
Governor.
Joshua the High
Priest.
Haggai 1:1, 14; Zechariah 31;
4:6. They had been anointed by the Holy Spirit to rebuild and restore
Jerusalem and the Temple after the Babylonian Captivity, against which Satan
was raising up much opposition. Zechariah 3:1-7.
What more appropriate type could
have been used than this? Zerubbabel and Joshua are types of the “Two Witnesses”
whose who work it will be to proclaim that the time has come to rebuild Jerusalem
and re-establish the Temple worship, for the “KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” is at hand.
And they will have to do it in the
face of the opposition of Satan, who at that time will have incarnated himself
in the Antichrist. How beautifully this illustrates the fact that every Type in
the Scriptures has its Anti-Type, and that the Old Testament infolds and
unfolds the New Testament, and that until the Anti-Type appears the plan and
purpose of God remains unfulfilled and incomplete.
These “Two Witnesses” are to
prophecy for 1,260 days, or
3.5 years, and for
that length of time they are immune from death.
For if any man
attempt to hurt them, “fire will proceed out of them
mouths and devour
their enemies.”
But when they have “finished
their testimony,” they shall be overcome by “The Beast”
(Antichrist), who will make war against them, and shall kill them, and their
dead bodies shall lie in the streets of Jerusalem, which is spiritually called
Sodom and Egypt at that time because the character of
its inhabitants will
resemble the character of the inhabitants of
Sodom in the days of
Lot.
For the space of “three days and
a half,” (again this 3 and a half figure) and the people of all
nationalities shall not suffer their dead bodies to be buried, and they shall
rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send
gifts one to another,
because these “Two Witnesses” who tormented them by their testimony and their
plagues are dead.
How sad it is that the world wants
to remove the preachers of righteousness but will accept the antichrist and
even rejoice over the death of righteousness. How foolish men are. They think
that when they kill God’s Prophets, they have destroyed His law and cannot be
punished.
But the people’s rejoicing will be
short-lived, for at the end of
the 3 and half days
the “spirit of life” will re-enter the bodies of the
“Two Witnesses,” and
they shall stand upon their feet, and
great fear shall be
upon their enemies, and a voice from Heaven will
be heard saying “Come
up here!” And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.”
They shall ascend up to Heaven in a
cloud as Christ Himself ascended, and their enemies shall witness their ascent.
They are first resurrected and then translated. (Just like the dead in Christ
at the Rapture of the Church). The same hour of their ascension there will be a
“Great Earthquake.”
That will destroy a tenth part of
the city of Jerusalem and 7,000 of its inhabitants, and the remainder of its
inhabitants will turn to God from fright. But this repentance will be
short-lived, like that of Pharoah’s.
It must not be supposed that
because this description of the “Two Witnesses” is given to John in the “Interval”
between the “Sixth” and “Seventh” Trumpets, that the “Two Witnesses” testify
only during that “Interval.”
I remember as a child being taken
by the school to see the “Ten Commandments” in the cinema, it was a long film,
so we had an interval, a short break in the film, then returned to our seats to
watch the rest of the film. Just like here, not let us get back to the screen
before us.
The time is too short, for they
testify for 1,260 days, or 42 months. Their witnessing was still future when
John was told about them, for the “Mighty Angel” said to John. John did not see
them, he simply recorded what the “Mighty Angel” told him about them.
As we have seen, the period of
their witnessing is during the “last half” of the Week (Three- and one-half
years, in the 7 years of Great Tribulation”), and therefore, they do not appear
until the “Middle” of the Week.
Verse 14.
14 The second terror is
past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet Brings the Third Terror.”
The second terror is past, - but
look, the third terror is coming quickly. The Seventh Trumpet brings the “Third
Terror” or “Third Woe.”
And it comes on them quickly, and it will cover the second half of the
Great Tribulation. If I were in a cinema right now, I would want to leave right
now. How about you?
I am sharing this study as a warning to those that at this time have
rejected God’s love, grace, and mercy, and have neglected to accept Jesus
Christ as their Saviour. Why do I need a Saviour? To save me from God’s
judgement upon the earth.
I would rather hear a “hell fire message” and be saved, then to hear
nothing, and be lost. The Book of Revelation is not a “film drama” that you can
watch and go home again after. It is a “Revelation” of things to come! It is a
warning to seek God now, before it is too late.
Revelation 11:5-19.
The Seventh Angel
blew the Seventh Trumpet.
Revelation 11:15-19.
15 Then the seventh
angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The
world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will
reign forever and ever.”
16 The twenty-four
elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground
and worshiped Him.
17 And they said, “We
give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always
was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your
wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the
prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the
least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on
the earth.”
19 Then, in heaven, the
Temple of God was opened, and the Ark of His covenant could be seen inside the
Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an
earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.”
The sounding of the “seventh trumpet”
includes all that
happens down to chapter
20:3. This is the announcement that the time had come for Christ to take “The
Kingdom,” though “The Kingdom.” does not fully come into His possession for
3.5 years.
The whole of this passage is expectant,
for the “sayings” of the Four and Twenty Elders look forward to the
Resurrections and Judgments of chapter 20.
The scene is located in Heaven. For
it is there that John hears the Trumpet sound, and sees the “Temple of God”
opened, and hears the “voices” and “thundering” that accompany
the devastation of the earth by “earthquake” and “hail.”
This announcement is primary to the
great events that are to follow, which will be the most remarkable and
momentous that have ever happened on this earth. The “Third Woe”
includes the “Vials.” and all other judgments down to chapter 20:3.
The “Time Limit” of the “seventh trumpet”
is given in chapter 10:7 and is spoken of as “the days” of the “Voice”
of the “seventh angel” when he shall begin to sound. Implying that
the blast or blasts, of the “seventh trumpet” shall be long continued,
that is, extend over the whole of the last half of the “Week.”
In the
middle of all the woes and judgments of the Great Tribulation period, this is
inserted for the encouragement of the believers who will be left on the earth, those
who were sealed. They are right to get very much discouraged after several
years, although the total length of the Great Tribulation is but seven years
and the intensity of it breaks in the last half of that period.
The broad outline of events which are important to God is given to us here
by the Holy Spirit. This section is a summary, a program, or of events up to
the door of eternity. The following list will help focus these events on our
minds:
Verse 15.
15 Then the seventh
angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The
world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will
reign forever and ever.”
“Great voices in
heaven.”
Follow the blowing of the seventh trumpet. At the opening of the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven. The contrast should be noted, because here
the blowing of the seventh trumpet reveals God’s program and clears up the
mystery of God.
“The kingdom of
the world (cosmos) is become (the kingdom) of our Lord, and of His Christ; and
He shall reign unto the ages of the ages (for ever and ever).”
It is not kingdoms (plural) but Kingdom (singular) which denotes the
fact that the kingdoms of this world are at present under Satan, to whom there
is no distinction of nations, no East or West, all are his; both sides are
included in his domain.
All the kingdoms (yes all, UK as well) of this world are Satan’s. Which
becomes more godless and wicked each day. It is a convicted civilization that
is moving toward judgment.
It is going to become the Kingdom “of our Lord, and of His Christ.” Satan’s
kingdom is going to be subdued someday, it is going to be delivered to the Lord
Jesus Christ, and He is going to rule. We are told in Scripture: “The kings
of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, let
us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” Psalm 2:2–3.
Rebellion broke out against the Lord and His Christ (Messiah, Anointed)
at the arrest of Jesus. The early church understood that this was the condition
of the world, for they quoted Psalm 2 when persecution broke out in the
early church (see Acts 4:23–26).
In Revelation 19 we are going to see the details of what is given
here in this section. The Lord Jesus is coming to put down rebellion. The
seventh trumpet is moving along, step by step, toward eternity.
Verses 16-17.
16 The twenty-four
elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground
and worshiped Him.
17 And they said, “We give thanks to you,
Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you
have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.
This revelation causes the church in heaven to worship and celebrate the
coming of Christ to the earth. This will be the answer to our prayer, “Your Kingdom
come. Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:10.
Verse 18-19.
18 The nations were filled with wrath, but
now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and
reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who
fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who
have caused destruction on the earth.”
19 Then, in heaven, the
Temple of God was opened, and the Ark of His covenant could be seen inside the
Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake
and a terrible hailstorm.”
This reveals the fact that the stubborn rebellion of man will continue
right down to the very end. Right down to the wire, the stubborn heart of man
is in rebellion against God. This old nature, this carnal nature that you and I
have, is not obedient to God.
Paul says: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” Romans 8:7. The human
family could not bring this old nature under control; that is the reason God is
going to get rid of it someday.
The nations were angry because “Your wrath has come.” We hear today about the fact that God never intends to
punish sin and that man is getting better and better every day, while all the
time he is getting worse and worse.
“And the time (period) of the dead to be judged” brings us to the Great White Throne judgment of the
lost dead see Revelation 20:11–15.
“It is time to judge
the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy
people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. The church has already gone into His presence, and the
believers there have already been rewarded as indicated by the crowns we have
seen on the heads of the elders.
This refers now to Old Testament saints and tribulation saints, who are
included in the first resurrection, but at a different time. They are now going
to be rewarded as the kingdom begins.
“It is time to
destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.”
“It is time to
destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.” We believe that this refers to both man and Satan. Man
is a destroyer as well as Satan. Right from Adam to humanity today, mankind has
destroyed all that is around them. Evolution says humanity is getting better
every day! God said sin brings death and destruction. Look around you! Who is
right?
The end is coming upon mankind!
This is the end of chapter 11. We
are only halfway through the Book of Revelation.
