Revelation Chapter 11

Matthew Davis

Revelation Bible Study 2020-2021 • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Revelation 11

0 ratings

· 3 views

Notes

Transcript

Verses 1-6

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy ia thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.[1]

Verse 1

It was given to me a reed like a rod – John is now given a stiff rod that is used to measure. The vision shifts now, from chapter 10. However, the realm, that is earth, has not changed. John is still seeing his vision from an earthly perspective, but instead of seeing his vision where sea and land connect, he is seeing a holy city.

There is speculation if this city is literal, or if this is meant to be symbolic. Some have speculated that this holy city and temple represent the people of God. It seems more likely that John is seeing the literal city and temple. In the first half of the tribulation, the Jewish people will return to animal sacrifices in the temple, and it seems probable this is what John is seeing.

Measure – John is then instructed to measure the temple, the altar and the people that worship. John never records that he did measure or what the measurements were. This is not the first time we’ve seen a measurement like this. Ezekiel was commanded to measure the temple in his vision, and John will also be commanded later to measure the New Jerusalem at the end of Revelation.

Measurement has been linked to both accuracy, and ownership. It has been used in both senses biblically. The temple and altar belong to God, with the altar being the most important piece of the temple. It seems that the inner temple are being measured out to indicate they are Gods. There is no doubt that the people are being measured as God’s people. It says the people there to worship. It seems these people represent the people who get saved during the tribulation period.

Verse 1 is an allusion to Zechariah 2:1-2 when he was commanded to measure the temple.

“I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man bwith a measuring line in his hand. 2 Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. 3[2]”

Verse 2

Measure not the court that is without the temple – John gives a description of this command that breaks with the historical context of the temple. Historically, There were inner and outer courtyards. Where only the priests could enter into the temple sanctuary and Holy of Holies, there were other inner rooms accessible only to the Jews. The Romans even allowed the Jew’s to execute gentiles who entered past the court of the gentiles.

Which is where John breaks with historical context. This command seems awkward in it’s construction. The historical temple has always had a courtyard for the gentiles, but it appears as if the inner courtyards here will also be run over by the gentiles.

Some have gone and speculated that John is actually separating Christians from gentiles (adding the unsaved Jews in with gentiles). I can’t say one way or the other in this interpretation.

It is clear that during this period, the will be over run by those not of God. These verses take place in the first three and half year period of the tribulation, after which, the Jews will no longer be allowed to offer sacrifice.

Forty-two months – This is a literal forty-two month period. This fits with Daniels description of time, a time, a times, and half a time. That is a year, two years, and half a year. This is confirmed in verse three as well, with the witnesses who will preach for 1260 days, which is exactly forty-two months divided into 30 days in a month.

Verse 3

I will – In verse one, John describes an angel. But in verse three, this appears to be the Lord Himself. He says My two witnesses. It would be weird and unusual for an angel to claim anything or prophet as his.

Power – These witnesses will be given divine authority to carry out their mission. As we read, we shall see they are given the authority and power to carry out Old Testament type miracles.

Two witnesses – There has been much speculation on who these witnesses are. Some have speculated these people could be Moses and Elijah because the plagues and descriptions of what they can do match those of Moses and Elijah’s Old Testament doings. Others have speculated the same because they were both present during the transfiguration in Matthew, a foreshadow of the coming kingdom. Others believe it will be Enoch and Elijah because neither one of them died, and they were both transfigured. And others still have speculated this is symbolic and the church as a whole would have these powers. I find this last option least likely because the church must be removed for these events to carry out.

Two witnesses seems to carry from the theme where two or more testify, then the testimony is true.

Verse 4

Two olive trees, and two candlesticks – Having used images from Ezekiel and Daniel, interpreted through the traditions of Matthew and Luke, John now draws on the language of Zechariah 4 in his vision of the two witnesses. The two olive trees of Zechariah 4:3–14 that stand before the Lord of [all] the earth represent the governor Zerubbabel and the priest Joshua, who were leaders of the first group of Jews to return from exile in Babylon in the late sixth century bc. They are pictured as providing the olive oil to feed the golden lampstands of the temple—that is, they are the ones who are maintaining the worship of God. At the beginning of Zechariah’s vision, the olive trees are distinct from the lampstands and feed them with oil, but by the end of the vision (in Zech. 4:14), the two images appear to have coalesced into one, and John follows this by identifying the witnesses as olive trees with two lampstands—another image of the people of God in the presence of God,[3] - Paul Ian

Verse 5

If any man would hurt them – This is a warning to those who would want to hurt these witnesses.

Fire proceedeth out – This isn’t clear if it should be literal or figurative. It seems most likely, drawing from Old Testament sources, that this is figurative. The testimony they give will be like a consuming fire. Elijah was described as a prophet whose words burned the wicked like a torch.

Using fire from the mouth as a metaphor for powerful speech is not new. Christ is described as conquering with the sword of His mouth, that is, true speech. These wicked people will be condemned by the testimony of these witnesses.

This also has it’s roots in the Old Testament – with an allusion to Jeremiah 5:14:

“Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.[4]”

If any man would harm – Some commentators are split if this is literal or figurative as well. It seems, from the text, that those who hurt the witnesses will also perish. Whether that is physically or eternally (condemnation) is not clear from the text. It is clear, there will be punishment to follow.

Verse 6

Power to shut heaven – Elijah shut the heavens for three years in Kings to bring the people to repentance and back into fellowship with God. These witnesses are described as given the power to preach, and to bring destruction upon the earth. They are given the authority to bring all manner of plagues as they wish upon the earth. John pulls from the Old Testament images of both Elijah and Moses with his description, attributing to Moses the ten plagues of Egypt.

1 Kings 17:1

“And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.[5]”

Verses 7-13

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. [6]

Verse 7

When they shall have finished their testimony – A few things are certain here. First, they will finish. They will be unhindered during their mission. Second, this is a complete finishing of their mission – They will have fully fulfilled the duty they came to do. The word used for finished is the Greek word teleo again, meaning, complete, fulfilled, done in full.

But a third thing becomes clear – they are only invincible during the time of their ministry. When they have completed what God sent them to do, they loose their invulnerability.

Beast… bottomless pit – This is actually a dispute among scholars who this refers to. Some believe this is referring to the angel of the pit from chapter nine. Others say this refers to the anti-christ (satan). It seems more likely still this refers to the angel from chapter nine, as satan comes as he is cast out of heaven in Revelation 12.

Whereas, chapter eleven takes place both before and after the middle of the tribulation, we must not shut the option of this referring to satan.

What we do see clearly from this verse is the beast here is connected to and represents the evil one.

Make war with them…kill them – This beast, whether the angel of the pit or satan, will go after the two witnesses and overcome and kill them. This does not demonstrate that God doesn’t protect His, but demonstrates as many others who have followed Christ, many will enter the kingdom through Martyrdom.

What God’s people are protected from is the divine judgement of wrath being poured out of God.

Verse 8

Dead bodies – It is normal to remove dead bodies from the view of the public. But, as is often in war or in the making of political statements, dead bodies are often left hanging or where they lay as a reminder and a warning to the general population. These two witnesses are left where they were killed, but not as a warning – the population rejoiced over the murder of these witnesses. These bodies are on display worldwide, and this is made possible in large thanks to companies like Facebook, and satellite internet companies like starlink.

Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt – This is the not literal names of the city. Both Sodom and Egypt are spiritually associated with grave sin, idolatry, and judgement. Sodom, as mighty as it was, was destroyed by fire and brimstone. And Egypt, as mighty as it was, fell by the plagues brought by Moses. Likewise, at this time, the world environment is one that spiritually resembles both Sodom and Egypt.

Where our Lord was crucified – Many people have linked this city to the physical location of Jerusalem. But when put with the context of the other verses, and the spiritual nature of Sodom and Egypt, it may also point to Rome. The city has historically (religiously) been associated to Sodom and Egypt, and it has been referred to as Babylon. There is also the nature of the Romans contribution to the murder of our Lord. Others have speculated, and properly so, that this city refers to humanity as a whole.

Verse 10

They that dwell upon the earth – As with other uses of this phrase, this is referring to those who stand in opposition to God.

Rejoiced, made merry, sent gifts – This is how evil the world has become. They will actually be rejoicing, celebrating and sending gifts to one another over the murder of these faithful witnesses. In general, this actually represents well the society we live in today. We have marches celebrating abortion rights. We have people begging to be allowed to murder their kids. We have people celebrate and throw parties anytime a pro-abortion right is granted or upheld.

And think, honestly, if Christians started getting murdered for what we preach, there would be celebration amongst those of this world.

Tormented them – These people were tormented by what they witnesses preached. But they were also tormented by the judgements and plagues these witnesses brought. Rather than change with the convictions of their wrong doing, they sought instead to kill the righteous.

I guess it’s easy to not feel convicted if you simply remove all those who speak right.

Verse 11

These faithful witnesses, after three and a half days, were resurrected. These three and a half days may be used symbolically, as in the three and a half years they preached. The celebrations of the world over their death abruptly came to an end. They will now fear – Unlike the resurrection of Christ, where only few people saw Him, this will be seen worldwide. And it will not be denied – For three and a half days is enough to show that these men were indeed dead.

Verse 12

They heard a great voice from heaven – Now that they have fulfilled all they were to do on earth, God will call them back home. The language here says “they” indicating that those who were around physically heard of themselves the voice from heaven.

Come up hither – The voice from Heaven commands the witnesses to arise up. These witnesses actually ascend, in much the same way as the Lord, in a cloud. The wicked of the people watch in awe as they ascend up from off the earth.

Verse 13

Great earthquake – As this happened, a great earthquake shook the earth. Earthquakes have been seen as God’s presence, but in this case, this is an earthquake of judgement. Similar occurrences of earthquakes as judgement have occurred at the death of Christ, and in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 38:19.

A tenth part of the city fell…Seven thousand men – This earthquake brought with it a death toll of ten percent the city, or, our text indicated seven thousand men. None of the major population centers are that small, as this text would indicated a population of about seventy thousand. There are however, two possible explanations for this. As we’ve discussed already, about four billion people have disappeared or been killed already, leaving only three billion left. It is possible that major cities have shrunk down to this size. Another possibility is that this is representing all of humanity, and another ten percent of the population perished.

Remnant were frightened, gave glory to God – Unlike the other judgements where people continued in their sin, giving no thought to what has happened, this event actually kicks in an event where God is given glory. It appears that watching dead men resurrect and then ascent into heaven was an eye opener. Unfortunately, this does not record any repentance, and they people slip back into their normal lives as if nothing had happened.

Verse 14

The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.[7]

We have now completed the second woe. It is unclear, if this woe was summed up with the events of the sixth trumpet or if it included the events of this interlude. It becomes increasingly difficult to place all the events chronologically, as John does not write in a chronological order. It seems contextually appropriate that the woe ended with the trumpet itself. This interlude appears more as a break in Johns thoughts as he records a broad angle view of events. This interlude spans a period of three and half years beginning prior to the trumpet judgements sounding.

Verses 15-19

15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, gsmall and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.[8]

These verses that follow are the beginning and brief summary of the events that happen with the seventh trumpet. The seventh trumpet will include all seven bowl judgements and conclude with the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to earth. From this point on, events will happen quickly and there is no turning back.

Verse 15

Seventh angel sounded – There has been a long interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, but now we turn again to the angels who hold the trumpets.

There were great voices heard in heaven – The sounding of this trumpet brought with it voices from heaven. While these voices are not identified, it is clearly the multitude and hosts of God’s creation.

The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord Christ – The advancing of the kingdom of God will be from Heaven to earth. This picture will be seen more clearly in chapter twenty-one. These five verses are giving a summary statement of all that will happen. In a sense, John is jumping to the end of the book. The following chapters, through the end, will describe what happened in the seventh trumpet.

Reign for ever and ever – The reign of God will be eternal. There will be no end to His kingdom or authority.

Verse 16

The twenty-four elders – These are referring to the elders we say in chapters four and five who sat around the throne of God worshipping. The sounding of the trumpet has once again prompted worship from those who are redeemed.

Verse 17

We give thanks – God has poured out His judgement (in the summary statement) and has rewarded those who trusted in Him. As a result, the redeemed started to praise and give thanks to the Lord.

O Lord, God Almighty – This continues the theme that God has His hands in everything. God alone is sovereign and His stretched out arms hold all there is.

Who was and is and is to come – This is the timeless description of God that we have seen multiple times throughout Revelation so far and throughout the Old Testament. This phrase describes the eternal nature of God.

Depending on the version you are using, it will leave out “and is to come” and stop at who is and who was. The contextual idea behind this is that at this point, the “is to come” is now the present. The final age has begun, and this is the kingdom of God.

For you hast reigned – The Lord is victorious and He is the only ruler that will last. As we can say, and will all be able to say in about two months, “I have read ending, we win”.

Verse 18

The nations were angry – And, so was God’s. The language here shows the rebellion of humankind against the rule of God. Mankind has fallen so far that they were angry with God, and then they were angry with God that He has brought forth judgement.

The time has come that they should be judged – God doesn’t bring judgement until the time is ripe for it, and then He will require it of them. This brings with it the sense of urgency we have, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. His wrath was poured out on Jesus for all who would accept Him, or His wrath will be poured out on those who deny Him.

And to give reward to them that fear thy name – The time for reward has also come. Men will be sorted into two people groups. Those that accepted Christ and dwell with Him in Heaven and those who did not and go to Hell. For those that feared God (respected Him), this will be a time for reward rather than to be judged.

And shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth – As we will see in the coming chapters, this is exactly what will happen. Those who destroy the earth, who continue in rebellion to the Lord will be destroyed.

Verse 19

The temple of God – This is referring to the spiritual temple and not a physical temple. The dwelling place of God is opened up. Some have said the throne room has opened up.

The ark of His testament – Testament is covenant. God has made a covenant and He has worked through the millennia’s to fulfil that covenant. The ark was the sign to the Israelites that God was in their presence. The last time the ark was actually seen was in 586BC when the Babylonians destroyed the temple. The last time we see something happening with the ark is in 2 Chr. 35.

It is unclear if when the Babylonians destroyed the temple if God physically brought the ark up, or if this is a symbolic picture of the ark.

Lightnings, thunderings, voices, earthquakes, hail - These events are the physical manifestations on earth what is happening in heaven.

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 11:1–6). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Zec 2:1–3). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3] Paul, I. (2018). Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary. (E. J. Schnabel, Ed.) (Vol. 20, p. 199). London: Inter-Varsity Press.

[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Je 5:14). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Ki 17:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 11:7–13). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[7] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 11:14). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[8] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 11:15–19). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Related Media

Related Sermons