Revelation 11:1-14: The Two Witnesses
Revelation - The Lamb is Victorious • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Scripture
Scripture
1 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.
Outline
Outline
Revelation 1 - Introduction
Revelation 1 - Introduction
Revelation 1:1-3 - Prologue & Benediction
Revelation 1:4-8 - Epistolary Introduction
Revelation 1:9-20 - A Vision of the Son of Man
Revelation 2-3 - The Seven Churches
Revelation 2-3 - The Seven Churches
Revelation 2:1-7 - The Letter to Ephesus
Revelation 2:8-11 - The Letter to Smyrna
Revelation 2:12-17 - The Letter to Pergamum
Revelation 2:18-29 - The Letter to Thyatira
Revelation 3:1-6 - The Letter to Sardis
Revelation 3:7-13 - The Letter to Philadelphia
Revelation 3:14-22 - The Letter to Laodicea
Revelation 4-5 - The Throne Room
Revelation 4-5 - The Throne Room
Revelation 4:1-11 - A Vision of the Throne Room
Revelation 5:1-14 - The Lamb is Worthy
Revelation 6-8:1 - The Seven Seals
Revelation 6-8:1 - The Seven Seals
Revelation 6:1-8 - The First Four Seals
Revelation 6:9-17 - The Fifth and Sixth Seals
Revelation 7:1-17 - Who can Stand on the Day of the Lord?
Revelation 8:1-5 - Anticipation of Further Judgment
Revelation 8:6-11:19 - The Seven Trumpets
Revelation 8:6-11:19 - The Seven Trumpets
Revelation 8:6-13 - The First Four Trumpets
Revelation 9:1-21 - The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets
Revelation 10:1-11 - The End is Near
Revelation 11:1-14 - The Two Witnesses
Revelation 11:1-2 - Measuring the Saints
Revelation 11:3-14 - The Witness of the Church
Purpose of Book
Purpose of Book
The purpose of Revelation is to challenge/encourage believers, who are expectantly awaiting the reign of Christ, to live faithfully for Him despite worldly circumstances, persecution, and the cosmic battle between God and Satan.
The purpose of Revelation is to challenge/encourage believers, who are expectantly awaiting the reign of Christ, to live faithfully for Him despite worldly circumstances, persecution, and the cosmic battle between God and Satan.
Main Point
Main Point
The witness of the Church occurs from the ascension of Christ until His second coming. During this time the Church will face persecution, but those who harm them will face blazing, fiery judgment from God.
The witness of the Church occurs from the ascension of Christ until His second coming. During this time the Church will face persecution, but those who harm them will face blazing, fiery judgment from God.
Revelation 11:1-2 - Measuring the Saints
Revelation 11:1-2 - Measuring the Saints
1 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.
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, 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.
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, 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.
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff
I was told, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there
Rise and measure - both commands
Measure
Where true worship take place
Spiritual protection against the wrath of God
An allusion to Ezekiel 40-48 as Ezekiel measures the temple
Temple - God’s people
Place where Yahweh dwelled with His people - Heaven on earth
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The altar
The entire church
Those who worship there
Saints
But do not measure the court outside the temple
Herod’s temple had an outside court for the Gentiles
Court for priests
Court for Israelite men
Court for Israelite women
Court for Gentiles
This is a reference to the reality that the church will face persecution, but will not be harmed by God’s wrath nor will their spiritual state be in question
Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months
Leave that out - command
Trample the holy city
Forty-two months
Limited time alloted by God
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Elijah
25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,
Exodus generation
42 years in the wilderness
Revelation 11:3-14 - The Witness of the Church
Revelation 11:3-14 - The Witness of the Church
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.
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Grant authority to my two witnesses
Who are the two witnesses?
Specific individuals?
Church?
6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
Daniel prophesied the people of God would be persecuted by the fourth beast
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,
1,260 days
Symbolic for the time between Christ resurrection and His second coming
Sackcloth
Mourning because the church is proclaiming the need for repentance and the judgment that is coming
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?”
Joshua and Zerubabbel are identified as priest and king
Two olive trees
Two lampstands
20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.
And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.
Those who harm the church will suffer judgment
10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’ ” 12 But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.
If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.
Those who harm the church will face the blazing, fiery judgment of God
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.
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.
Again, symbolic revealing judgment given on the ungodly
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
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, 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.
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, 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.
The beast conquers and kills
21 As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them,
Dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city
Persecuted church will be shamed throughout the world
Symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified
Sodom
Destruction
Egypt
Was entirely opposed to God
Where their Lord was crucified
Jerusalem?
14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
Jerusalem was the place where Jesus was rejected and this now happens around the world
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, 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.
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, 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.
Comparison to Jesus’ three days in the tomb
The world rejoices over the persecution of the church
The prophetic ministry of the church is to call the nations to repentance, but they reject and kill
Notice the difference between their treatment of the demonic horde and the church
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.
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.
Three and a half days
Compare to the resurrection of Christ
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Israel is restored and coming out of Babylonian exile
Here, the church is coming out of the great exile released from the earthly pilgrimage
Terror fills the hearts of those who persecuted the church
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!”
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!”
Loud voice is God Himself
Come up here - command
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.
Ascension imagery
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
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.
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.
Great earthquake
19 For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
Judgment has come upon those who persecuted the church
Tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven
Terrified is used to describe emotional fear, not repentance
Unbelievers recognize God is the true King forced against their own inclinations
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
The final judgment is next leading to New Creation
Main Point
Main Point
The witness of the Church occurs from the ascension of Christ until His second coming. During this time the Church will face persecution, but those who harm them will face blazing, fiery judgment from God.
The witness of the Church occurs from the ascension of Christ until His second coming. During this time the Church will face persecution, but those who harm them will face blazing, fiery judgment from God.