End times series:
Revelation 11
By Liaf
We start this message realizing we are now about halfway through the book of Revelation (and about midway into the Tribulation). This chapter is still parenthetical between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. One must realize that things heat up immensely during the middle of the Tribulation. If you thought things were bad so far, they were. But wait until we see what is yet to come. Several events occur midway into the Tribulation. There are two witnesses that testify for the first half (and we shall be dealing with them shortly in Revelation eleven). They are killed, resurrected and raptured. Likewise, the special 144,000 sealed people of Israel will leave. Where to? We shall see in chapter twelve later. Satan is cast down to Earth, Antichrist turns especially nasty, wars increase, and Israel must flee into hiding for the last three and a half years. Needless to say, this mid-point of the Tribulation is a very important time in history. Let’s turn to Revelation chapter eleven of our King James Bibles and read about these events:
Revelation 11:1-2: 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. 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.
I won’t elaborate on the detail or significance about measuring the temple, but John does the same thing as Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapters 40-42. However, Ezekiel will measure the millennial temple whereas this temple is one erected during the Tribulation. In a nutshell, the inner place of the temple had spiritual significance for the chosen people of God. The outer courts were the only places allowed by the Gentiles (the second temple) who were kept far from the "inner places". John is not allowed to measure the outer court. Why? Because the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. This time span is during the last half of the Tribulation when the people of Israel will flee to the wilderness for the same period of time (as stated in Revelation 12). Remember, Antichrist will make a seven-year covenant with the people of Israel to rebuild the temple, but midway into the Tribulation he turns especially nasty and desecrates it. We’ve already covered that issue in Daniel chapter nine, but the book of Revelation fills in the details.
Revelation 11:3-6: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
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.
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.
During the first half of the Tribulation, these two powerful witnesses will testify. I presume the message will be about the terrible things to come (because of the sackcloth), and the coming Kingdom of God (because they are prophesying). These fellows were prophesied in Zechariah 4:14. They witness for 3 ½ years which is the same as 1260 days. This period of time is depicted as 1260 days, 42 months or three years (time, times and half a time). I’m not personally sure of the significance why the Bible states the same time span three different ways, but they amount to the same regardless. Notice that the Lord had his formal ministry in Israel for 3 ½ years and these fellows have theirs for 3 ½ years in the end times. This makes a total of seven years (the number of completion) of testimony. The literal is "if any man even thinks of hurting them". So even if people conspire behind the scenes to "do these guys in", they will be killed by their supernatural powers. That’s not being like the "kind, gentle-loving Jesus", is it? We must remember that this is God’s time of judgement, and he wants these fellows to have a fair shake at their testimony before the last half of the Tribulation comes. The nature of their miracles (in conjunction with the events at Jesus’ Transfiguration) makes many people think these are Moses and Elijah. This may be so, but we are not sure. Keep in mind, Elijah never died, but Moses did. The only other Old Testament character that did not die was Enoch. It may possibly be Enoch and Elijah.
Revelation 11:7-13: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When their testimony is over, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them. That beast is Antichrist empowered by none other than Satan himself. This is why he turns nasty midway into the Tribulation. Revelation chapter 12 will focus more in on Satan and why this happens. Antichrist will become demonically empowered and will have the power to kill them. Later on we shall see that the beast (Antichrist) also performs miracles--- these will imitate the miracles of the two witnesses and will turn the eyes of the world to him instead. That is how Satan often operates. He tries to displace and imitate the things of God. He hopes that he will convince the world that he is "something better". When Antichrist kills them, they will lay dead without burial for the whole world to see for 3 ½ days. They even exchange gifts to one another (as with Christmas) to celebrate their death because their testimony was tormenting to everybody. Awhile back, this was not possible for the entire world to see dead bodies in Jerusalem. But now with satellite TV and the Internet, I could imagine everyone "logging on" to see two corpses. After 3 ½ days, the Spirit of God will resurrect them again (to everyone’s horror) and they will be raptured to heaven (see Revelation 4:1). As a side note here, when Jesus said he would be in the tomb for three days and three nights, that was a literal 72 hours. That’s why I believe he was crucified on a Wednesday. So many people think that Jews reckoned parts of days as entire days. "Inclusive reckoning" they call it. Part of Friday was day one, all of Saturday was day two, and part of Sunday was day three. They claim that the way days were reckoned could have been part or whole days because they would not have counted in fractional increments, only to whole numbers. This passage in Revelation blows that theory away. It seems here that John knew how to count in fractional days. Depending when they are killed, this would be the "forth day" or possibly the "fifth day" that they raise again if this "inclusive reckoning" theory held water. After the two witnesses are raptured to heaven, there is a terrible earthquake. The literal in the Greek is that 7000 "renowned" men are going to die.
Revelation 11:14-19: The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
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.
And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
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.
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, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
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.
In the "seal" judgements, notice the seventh seal was a Sabbath of quiet. Here, The seventh is also something good for those who are looking for the coming Kingdom of God. But for all those on Earth, this is dreadful. Why? We shall see the kind of heavenly conflict that will take place in heaven and how that affects the Earth in the next chapter. Although we are mid-Tribulation here, there will be events that will be the start of God’s Kingdom coming to fruition while the inhabitants of the Earth will be punished. God’s coming Kingdom is the subject of the 24 elders’ praise. They praise his eternal nature, his Lordship, the judgement justly due to the wicked nations, and the reward for the faithful people of God throughout the ages (i.e. "Thy Kingdom Come"). Hence, the last half of the Tribulation that is on the threshold here is often called the "Great Tribulation".
The chapter ends with the Ark of the Covenant being shown in heaven. I believe that this is the heavenly ark. That is to say, John was shown something that he understood in earthly terms and shown the counterpart in heaven. The Ark of the Covenant represented Christ, and the mercy seat on top (with the Cherubim) was the throne of God. I had one student comment that he believed this was the actual ark. Yet, if we look at various sources and legends, the Ark of the Covenant is very much on Earth here somewhere. If he was right, how could this be? The only solution I have to offer is that the Ark is here somewhere now, but something will become of it later. Could the Lord take the Ark to heaven along with the believers at the rapture? This is all speculation of course, but that may be one solution to this apparent contradiction. I will have a message in the future regarding theories as to where the Ark is located. One belief I have is that much of the tabernacle (or temple) rituals will go on again fully in the millennium. This would include the Ark (with its true representation fulfilled in Christ). Why does God originally have the Ark on Earth and in heaven and then back on the Earth again? I don’t know. The same reason that is the case with the church, I suppose. How about the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail? What are they going to say? Or what do they signify? I don’t know. Again, I suppose that this is not mentioned for the same reason John was not suppose to write down what the seven thunders said. We can speculate all we want. One thing is for certain. The context of these events show who is boss in heaven, and the tone of judgement to come to Earth.