Revelation 11.1-14-The Two Witnesses Murdered And Then Raised From The Dead By God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday September 7, 2008
The Day of the Lord: Revelation 11:1-14-The Two Witnesses Murdered And Then Raised From The Dead By God
Lesson # 17
Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation 11:1.
As is our custom the first Sunday of every month, we will temporarily suspend our current studies in the book of Romans to continue with our studies of the prophetic subject called “the day of the Lord.”
“The Day of the Lord” is “not” a literal twenty-four period but rather is an extended period of time beginning with God’s dealing with Israel after the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation period and extending through the 2nd Advent and the millennial age unto the creation of the new heavens and the new earth.
We are currently studying the “Tribulation” portion of this prophetic subject.
This is also known by students of prophecy as, “Daniel’s Seventieth Week,” which refers to the last seven of the four hundred ninety prophetic years of Israel’s history, which is called by students of prophecy, “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel” and is recorded in Daniel 9:24-27.
A “week” in the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 refers to seven prophetic years of three hundred sixty days; therefore, the prophecy of the seventy weeks of Daniel refers to four hundred ninety prophetic years of Israel’s history.
“Daniel’s Seventieth Week” refers to a seven-year period that extends from Antichrist’s peace treaty with Israel after the rapture of the church to the 2nd Advent of Christ and is concerned with the nation of Israel exclusively and will be the worst period in all of Israel’s and the world’s history (Daniel 9:24-27).
This seven-year period is divided into two three and a half year periods with the first three and a half years characterized as a cold war (Mt. 24:6) whereas the last three and a half years are characterized as a hot war (Mt. 24:21-22).
This period will end with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which is the visible return of Christ to planet earth with the elect angels and the Church in order to deliver Israel from her enemies and establish Jesus Christ’s millennial reign (Dan. 2:44-45; Zech. 14; Mt. 24:29-31; Rev. 1:7; 19:11-21).
The Bible also teaches that the church is delivered from the Great Tribulation.
1 Thessalonians 5:9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This morning we will study another major event that will take place during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, namely, the emergence of two witnesses from God who prophesy and are killed by Antichrist but are raised from the dead by God and ascend into heaven in front of a world-wide television audience.
Revelation 11:1-2, “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. 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.’”
The measuring of the temple is symbolic of the fact that the temple is God’s possession since measuring something meant that you were claiming it for yourself.
The fact that God tells John not to measure the court outside the temple because it would be given to the nations is a reference to the “times of the Gentiles.”
“The times of the Gentiles” is prophesied in Daniel 2:31-45 and Daniel 7 and refers to an extended period of time when the Gentiles are the dominant world powers and Israel is subject to those powers and extends from the Babylonian capture of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) and continues through the Tribulation (Revelation 11:2).
This period of history includes the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the church age and the Tribulation period.
This phrase does not rule out temporary Jewish control of Jerusalem as has occurred in the past during the Maccabean era (164-63 B.C), the first Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66-70), the second Jewish revolt (A.D. 132-135) and now since 1967 and the Six-Day War.
However, this control is only temporary because Revelation 11:1-2 predicts at least another three-and-one-half years of Gentile domination during the last half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, also known as the Tribulation.
Luke 21:23-24, “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
The “forty-two months” refers to the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week since it corresponds with the “for a time (one year), times (two years), and a half time (six months)” in Daniel 7:25 and the “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” in Revelation 12:6 and the “forty-two months” in Revelation 13:5.
Revelation 11:3, “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
The identity of these two witnesses is not revealed to us but some contend that they are Moses and Elijah and others Enoch and Elijah.
However, this is an argument from silence meaning that the Scriptures do not identify that either Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah will appear during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week and prophecy.
The statement “I will grant authority to my two witnesses” in the original text is actually “I will give to my two witnesses” and does not explicitly identify what is given to these two witnesses.
However, the context indicates that they will be given protection (Revelation 11:5), miraculous power (Revelation 11:5), authoritative and effective testimony (Revelation 11:4) and deliverance (Revelation 11:11-12).
The expression “My witnesses” emphasizes God’s personal relationship and fellowship with these two witnesses and implies that they are owned by Him and that they serve Him exclusively.
“Twelve hundred and sixty days” is identified as the length of the ministry of these two witnesses and refers to the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
The fact that the two witnesses are “clothed in sackcloth” is significant because it symbolizes what will characterize the ministry of these two, namely to announce coming judgment and call men to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.
God caused these two to dress in such a manner because sackcloth expressed mourning, repentance and judgment.
Revelation 11:4, “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.”
Instead of relating the ministry of the two witnesses to Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enoch, the angel who speaks to John in Revelation 11 connects their ministry to Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest who appear in Zechariah 4.
Zerubbabel and Joshua were identified in the vision recorded in Zechariah 4 by the angel speaking to Zechariah as the two olive trees.
The olive tree was a source of oil used to fuel lamps in the ancient world and speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit empowering individuals for service to God.
Therefore, like Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two witnesses will be empowered by the Spirit as signified by the two olive trees and two lampstands.
Revelation 11:5-6, “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. 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.”
Revelation 11:5-6 reveals that the ministry of the two witnesses is reminiscent of other Old Testament prophets and is characterized by the following: (1) they can kill their enemies (verse 5; cf. Elijah, 2 Kings 1:10-14); (2) they can withhold rain for three and a half years (verse 6; cf. Elijah, 1 Kings 17:1, 8; 18:1; James 5:17); they can turn water into blood (verse 6; cf. Moses, Exodus 7:17-21); they can bring plagues upon the earth’s inhabitants (verse 6; cf. Moses, Exodus 9:14; 11:10).
Revelation 11:7, “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.”
“The beast” is a reference to the Antichrist who is identified by this designation in Revelation 13:1, 2, 3, 4; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 17:3; 19:20; and 20:10.
Revelation 11:8, “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.”
“The great city, which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt where also their Lord was crucified” is a reference to the city of Jerusalem since Christ was crucified in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is called “great” not because of its population or size but because of its importance in the plan of God.
The comparison of Jerusalem to Sodom emphasizes its rebellious and immoral degeneracy (cf. Isaiah 1:10), which characterized Sodom.
The comparison to Egypt emphasizes that it is dominated by Satan’s cosmic system since Egypt is often a picture of Satan’s cosmic system.
Together, these three descriptions of Jerusalem emphasize its wicked, evil and Satanic character and opposition to God and His people because of Antichrist’s influence who is occupying Jerusalem and Palestine at the time.
The two witnesses were not given a burial in order to demonstrate Antichrist’s power that was responsible for the deaths of these two seemingly invincible individuals.
Revelation 11:9, “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.”
The fact that the entire world will view the bodies of these two witnesses lying in the city of Jerusalem indicates that this event will be broadcast to the entire world through satellite television.
Revelation 11:10, “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.”
This is the only recorded instance of rejoicing taking place in the Tribulation period and reflects the widespread wickedness upon the earth in those days who will celebrate because they don’t have to listen to messages from God any longer.
Revelation 11:11, “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.”
This passage records God delivering His two witnesses with a magnificent display of His divine omnipotence in order to bear witness to the world that these men were divinely ordained and spoke His words of judgment and calls to exercise faith in Christ as Savior.
The significance of the three and a half days is that it made clear that the two witnesses were in fact dead and that God has manifested Himself in the sight of the entire world by bringing these two back to life.
This miracle was designed to lead the unsaved inhabitants of the earth to obey the gospel and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and which gospel the two witnesses proclaimed for three and a half years.
Revelation 11:12, “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.”
Christ ascended into heaven before His friends whereas these two witnesses will ascend to heaven in the sight of their enemies.
This miracle of the ascension of the two witnesses is also designed by God to lead people to salvation and obey the gospel, which the two witnesses proclaimed.
Therefore, in effect, the resuscitation and ascension of these two witnesses validated that their ministry was in fact from God.
Revelation 11:13, “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.”
The fact that many people gave glory to God does not mean necessarily that they trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior rather it means that they simply will acknowledge God’s glory and power and the reality that He does exist!
Revelation 11:14, “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”
This last statement signifies that the events of Revelation 11:1-13 immediately precede the Second Advent of Christ since the third woe refers to the seventh and final trumpet, which immediately precedes the Second Advent according to Revelation 11:15-19.
This leads us to the communion service and so therefore, could we have our ushers pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to meditate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.”
1 Corinthians 11:24, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way {He took} the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it} in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”