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.
The Measuring Angel and the Two Witnesses. Chap. 11 Rev 11:1-13
1. a reed ] Eze 40:3; Zec 2:1.
like unto a rod ] i.e. a walking-staff: probably not as long as the one in Ezek., l.c., but perhaps of six feet: so that it would naturally, when carried, be grasped near the upper end, like a pilgrim’s staff, or a modern alpenstock.
and the angel stood ] These words should be omitted: they are no doubt inserted for grammatical completeness. “There was given unto me a reed like unto a staff, saying” is of course easily understood to mean, “There was given unto me he that gave it saying.” It thus is not certain that it is the “mighty angel” of the preceding chapter who speaks in this.
the temple of God ] The word used is not that for the whole “Temple-precinct,” but the “Temple” in the narrowest sense what in the O. T. is called “the house” or “the palace.”
the altar ] Being distinguished from the Temple, we should naturally think of the Altar of Burnt-offering which stood outside it: besides that this was, and the Altar of Incense was not, large enough to be measured by something longer than a foot-rule. But we saw on Rev 6:9 that the Heavenly Temple apparently has no Altar of Burnt-offering distinct from the Altar of Incense: so the question only becomes important if we suppose the earthly Temple to be meant.
Is it then the heavenly or the earthly Temple that St John is bidden to measure? Probably the latter. Without pressing the argument from Rev 10:9, that the seer is now on earth, it is hardly likely that, whereas in Ezekiel, Zechariah, and inf. Rev 21:15 the measurement, not of the Temple only but of the Holy City, is the work of angels, it should here be ascribed to a man. But what is more decisive is, that the whole of this chapter describes God’s rebukes and correcting judgements on the city, the fate of which is connected with that of the Temple here named. This proves that it is the earthly city of God that is meant and therefore probably the literal Jerusalem: for the Christian Church, imperfectly as it realises its divine ideal, does not appear to be dissociated from it in Scriptural typology or prophecy: “Jerusalem which is above is the Mother of us all,” even now, and even now “our citizenship is in Heaven.”
and them that worship therein ] Lit. in it, not “in them,” i.e. in the Temple, the mention of “the Altar” being parenthetical. But neither the Temple (in the narrower sense) nor the Altar was ordinarily a place of spiritual “worship,” but only of the ritual “service of God.” Therefore the meaning of the Temple and Altar must be to some extent spiritualised: even if the prophecy be concerned with God’s judgements on Jerusalem and the Jewish people, we are not to understand that the actual Temple was to be spared (for we know it was not): but, most probably, that the true Israelites would not be cut off from communion with God, even when their city and the earthly splendours of their Temple were destroyed. Eze 11:16 will thus illustrate the sense of the passage, though there does not appear to be a conscious reference to it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And there was given me – He does not say by whom, but the connection would seem to imply that it was by the angel. All this is of course to be regarded as symbolical. The representation undoubtedly pertains to a future age, but the language is such as would be properly addressed to one who had been a Jew, and the imagery employed is such as he would be more likely to understand than any other. The language and the imagery are, therefore, taken from the temple, but there is no reason to suppose that it had any literal reference to the temple, or even that John would so understand it. Nor does the language used here prove that the temple was standing at the time when the book was written; for, as it is symbolical, it is what would be employed whether the temple were standing or not, and would be as likely to be used in the one case as in the other. It is such language as John, educated as a Jew, and familiar with the temple worship, would be likely to employ if he designed to make a representation pertaining to the church.
A reed – kalamos. This word properly denotes a plant with a jointed hollow stalk, growing in wet grounds. Then it refers to the stalk as cut for use – as a measuring-stick, as in this place; or a mock scepter, Mat 27:29-30; or a pen for writing, 3Jo 1:13. Here it means merely a stick that could be used for measuring.
Like unto a rod – This word – rabdos – means properly a rod, wand, staff, used either for scourging, 1Co 4:21; or for leaning upon in walking, Mat 10:10; or for a scepter, Heb 1:8. Here the meaning is, that the reed that was put into his hands was like such a rod or staff in respect to size, and was therefore convenient for handling. The word rod also is used to denote a measuring-pole, Psa 74:2; Jer 10:16; Jer 51:19.
And the angel stood, saying – The phrase, the angel stood, is missing in many mss. and editions of the New Testament, and is rejected by Prof. Stuart as spurious. It is also rejected in the critical editions of Griesbach and Hahn, and marked as doubtful by Tittmann. The best critical authority is against it, and it appears to have been introduced from Zec 3:5. The connection does not demand it, and we may, therefore, regard the meaning to be, that the one who gave him the reed, whoever he was, at the same time addressed him, and commanded him to take a measure of the temple and the altar.
Rise, and measure the temple of God – That is, ascertain its true dimensions with the reed in your hand. Of course, this could not be understood of the literal temple – whether standing or not – for the exact measure of that was sufficiently well known. The word, then, must be used of something which the temple would denote or represent, and this would properly be the church, considered as the abode of God on the earth. Under the old dispensation, the temple at Jerusalem was that abode; under the new, that special residence was transferred to the church, and God is represented as dwelling in it. See the notes on 1Co 3:16. Thus, the word is undoubtedly used here, and the simple meaning is, that he who is thus addressed is directed to take an accurate estimate of the true church of God; as accurate as if he were to apply a measuring-reed to ascertain the dimensions of the temple at Jerusalem. In doing that, if the direction had been literally to measure the temple at Jerusalem, he would ascertain its length, and breadth, and height; he would measure its rooms, its doorways, its porticoes; he would take such a measurement of it that, in a description or drawing, it could be distinguished from other edifices, or that one could be constructed like it, or that a just idea could be obtained of it if it should be destroyed.
If the direction be understood figuratively, as applicable to the Christian church, the work to be done would be to obtain an exact estimate or measurement of what the true church was – as distinguished from all other bodies of people, and as constituted and appointed by the direction of God; such a measurement that its characteristics could be made known; that a church could be organized according to this, and that the accurate description could be transmitted to future times. John has not, indeed, preserved the measurement; for the main idea here is not that he was to preserve such a model, but that, in the circumstances, and at the time referred to, the proper business would be to engage in such a measurement of the church that its true dimensions or character might be known. There would be, therefore, a fulfillment of this, if at the time here referred to there should be occasions, from any cause, to inquire what constituted the true church; if it was necessary to separate and distinguish it from all other bodies; and if there should be any such prevailing uncertainty as to make an accurate investigation necessary.
And the altar – On the form, situation, and uses of the altar, see the Mat 5:23-24; Mat 21:12. The altar here referred to was, undoubtedly, the altar situated in front of the temple, where the daily sacrifice was offered. To measure that literally, would be to take its dimensions of length, breadth, and height; but it is plain that that cannot be intended here, for there was no such altar where John was, and, if the reference were to the altar at Jerusalem, its dimensions were sufficiently known. This language, then, like the former, must be understood metaphorically, and then it must mean – as the altar was the place of sacrifice – to take an estimate of the church considered with reference to its notions of sacrifice, or of the prevailing views respecting the sacrifice to be made for sin, and the method of reconciliation with God. It is by sacrifice that a method is provided for reconciliation with God; by sacrifice that sin is pardoned; by sacrifice that man is justified; and the direction here is equivalent, therefore, to a command to make an investigation on these subjects, and all that is implied would be fulfilled if a state of things should exist where it would be necessary to institute an examination into the prevailing views in the church on the subject of the atonement, and the true method of justification before God.
And them that worship therein – In the temple, or, as the temple is the representation here of the church, of those who are in the church as professed worshippers of God. There is some apparent incongruity in directing him to measure those who were engaged in worship; but the obvious meaning is, that he was to take a correct estimate of their character; of what they professed; of the reality of their piety; of their lives, and of the general state of the church considered as professedly worshipping God. This would receive its fulfillment if a state of things should arise in the church which would make it necessary to go into a close and searching examination on all these points, in order to ascertain what was the true church, and what was necessary to constitute true membership in it. There were, therefore, three things, as indicated by this verse, which John was directed to do, so far as the use of the measuring-rod was concerned:
(a)To take a just estimate of what constitutes the true church, as distinguished from all other associations of people;
(b)To institute a careful examination into the opinions in the church on the subject of sacrifice or atonement – involving the whole question about the method of justification before God; and,
(c)To take a correct estimate of what constitutes true membership in the church; or to investigate with care the prevailing opinions about the qualifications for membership.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 11:1-19
Rise, and measure the temple of God.
The living temple of Christs Church and the two witnesses of the Word written and the sacraments
The temple and altar, and them that worshipped therein, were capable of measurement. They were not like the unorganised multitude, formless, creedless, undisciplined, without the court. The temple, the altar, and its priesthood and the worshippers, have strength of form and organisation, and the beauty of order. So the apostles organise the Church, set in order its worship, establish its discipline. Standing before the Incarnate Son of God, who in the spiritual organism of His temple, the Church, reveals Himself, and bearing their corroborating testimony to the faith are the two witnesses of the sacraments and the written Word.
1. Consider first the witness of the sacraments.
(1) They are the instrumental life-givers. For Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, is to the new creation what God, Creations secret force, is to the old.
(2) So likewise the sacraments enlighten. Baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, declares the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity as the fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It manifests our sinful condition and the need of a washing away of sin.
(3) The sacraments are witnesses. The Church, filled with sacramental life, bears witness to the world.
2. Turn we next to the other great witness, the written Word. The written Word self-evidences its own inspiration. (Bp. Grafton.)
The extent and limit of the true Church of God
At the time of this prophecy the literal temple was no more. The once-holy city was defiled by the abomination of desolation. Then the true temple, the true holy city, existed in the Church of the living God. The outer enclosure is not to be reckoned as a part of the temple in this Divinely appointed remeasurement. All this most impressively sets forth the fact that Zions external buildings cover a much wider space than the real heartworshippers whom God will own. There may be, and there are, large masses of people at the outer fringe of our Christian services. But ii now a heavenly messenger were to come among us who was appointed to measure the real living temple of God, would it not turn out that, of a very large part of our surroundings, the order would be, Measure it not? This measurement from on high is ever going on. And if the great Lord of the Church saw fit to show us in a vision who are in His Church and who are not, many would be without whom we thought were in, and many within whom we thought were out. But not by any human hands can the true temple of God be built; nor yet by any human eye can its limits be discerned. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
The measuring of the temple
I. The measuring. But as in those other representations we cannot think that material earthly buildings are meant, or any literal measurements whether of city or temple, so here we regard the temple as telling of that glorious spiritual fabric of which we so often read under like imagery in the Epistles of St. Paul, and the measuring is a metaphor to signify that careful investigation and scrutiny whereby true knowledge is gained.
1. God has an ideal for everything, a standard to which He would have it conform. He had in the creation of the world. And He looks down from heaven–so we are told–to see what is done upon the earth; He taketh account of all that men do.
2. Christ is the ideal Man, and therefore called the Son of Man. He did in all things so answer to His Fathers intent that He was the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased.
3. And this measuring is continually going on. There is an inward monitor as well as an outward one.
4. How grateful we should be for this! Lord, with what care Thou hast begirt us round! so sings holy George Herbert; and one evidence of this care is in the constant bringing before our consciences the rigid rule of right.
II. The measured that are spoken of here. The temple, the altar, and the people.
1. The temple of God. It was a symbol and type of all Israel, if not of the whole Church of God (St. Paul, In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple unto the Lord) Therefore we may take the temple of God as representing the Church in its outward form. Now, God has His ideal for this. What is it? By this supreme test will all our Church organisations be tried. What fruit have they borne in that which is the end of all religion? No antiquity, orthodoxy, catholicity, popularity, beauty, wealth, or any other such plea will stand if Gods standard be not answered to, and His demand for good fruit be not met. The axe will fall, and the tree will go down.
2. The altar. This also was to be measured. We may take the altar as the symbol of the worship of the Church. Is our worship fervent? On that altar was an ever-burning fire. Is it spiritual? Does it ascend up to God as the smoke of the sacrifice mounted up into the heavens–symbol, beautiful, striking, appropriate, of that uplifting of the heart, that real outgoing of the soul after God, which belongs to all true worship? And, above all, is it sacrificial? The altar was for sacrifice. Worship that has not this element in it will be rejected when that measurement of the altar told of here takes place. Sacrifice means giving up something which we should like to keep. Was not Christs sacrifice such? Is not all sacrifice such?
3. The people. Them that worship therein–so we read. Now, the Divine ideal for these may be learnt by noting what was not to be measured. And we are told in Rev 11:2 that the court which is without the temple measure it not. It was to be cast out, left out of the reckoning altogether. Now, the outer court of the temple was the addition of Herod; he was given to erecting magnificent buildings, and the addition of this outer court did undoubtedly add much to the splendour of the whole fabric. But such court had no place in the tabernacle nor in the temple of Solomon or that of Zerubbabel. But Herod had made this outer court in the temple at Jerusalem. It was thronged by all manner of people. There it was the money-changers had their tables, and they who bought and sold doves. The Gentiles might come there, though they might not pass into what was especially the temple, and which was sacred to Israelites only. And so it represented all those outer-court worshippers, those mixed multitudes which are found associated with Gods true people everywhere–of them, but not truly belonging to them.
III. The meaning of all this. It was because a time of sore trial was imminent, close at hand. God ever has, even in the worst of times, a remnant. And He takes notice of them, and will keep them securely, whilst those who are not as they are subjected to His sore judgments. The measuring means preservation for the faithful, judgment for all else. (S. Conway, B. A.)
The cause of right on earth
I. The cause of right on this earth has its measuring rule (Rev 11:1-2).
1. In the human world there is right and wrong. There is the temple of God, etc. At the same time there is the court that is outside–a sphere discarded by the right and trampling on the holy. This, however, is only for a time.
2. Right here has its measuring line. Take the temple here as the emblem of right on the earth, and the reed as that of the moral law of God–the law that measures moral character. It is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of being: it is a moral analyst to test the quality of every thought, affection, and deed.
II. The cause of right on this earth has its mighty defenders (Rev 11:3-6).
1. They do their work in sadness. Clothed in sackcloth. It is not a light work to stand up against a corrupt world and struggle against an age grinning with selfishness, sensuality, and cupidity.
2. They contribute Divine light. The olive trees fed the lamps and the candlesticks reflected the light. Were it not for the Divine defenders of the right, grand heroes in moral history, all the lamps of truth would go out, and the whole race would be mantled in midnight.
3. They exert tremendous power (Rev 11:5). Their words flash devouring flames, so shake the corrupt moral firmament under which their contemporaries are living, that the very heavens seem shut up and the rolling streams of life seem turned into blood.
III. The cause of right on the earth has its terrible antagonists (Rev 11:7-13).
1. The antagonists of the right are malignant; they not only murder, but they exult in their cruelty. The spirit of persecution is an infernal virus that gallops through the veins of the intolerant persecutor, and physical violence is the weapon.
2. The antagonists of the right are ever frustrated.
(1) Their victims were Divinely reanimated.
(2) Their victims ascended to heaven.
(3) With their ascension terrible calamities befall the earth.
IV. The cause of right on the earth is destined to triumph (Rev 11:14-19).
1. The rapture and adoration of the good. The kingdoms of this world. What have they been? What are they now? Hellish mimicries of eternal right and power. Like muddy bubbles on the great stream of life, they have broken into the clear and fathomless river of rectitude and will appear no more, and this will continue for ever and ever. Well, then, might the righteous Worship and thank God.
2. The increased accessibility of heaven. The temple of God was opened. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The temple of God
I. Its peculiarity. By the temple of God, which John is commanded to measure, understand the true Church of Christ. The altar of incense is named, to denote the militant state of the Church, whose employment is prayer; in distinction from that of the Church triumphant, which is praise. The censer is in the hand of the kings and priests unto God below, the harp is in the hands of those above. That the measurement is to be confined to the altar and worshippers within the temple is obvious also from the refusal of its extension to the court; But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not. If whatever is without the temple be precluded from the measurement, all that to which it applies must of course be considered within.
II. Its measurement. Rise and see how far we have proceeded with the prophecies. Observe in what state we left the Church l Let a correct measurement be taken before we proceed further. Measure how far the building is advanced, and see what remains to bring it to perfection. See what injuries the temple of God has sustained from fierce and sanguinary attacks. It has suffered much, but behold it still abides. See now what the work is, after weathering its storms. Rise and measure the temple of God. Measure too the altar. Take the dimensions of the altar of incense which has been reared for prayer and praise. Take the degree of faith in the everliving Intercessor. Measure the devotions of the sanctuary. Mark the plenitude and purity of the incense rising before the throne. Measure too the worshippers. Observe the number of professing Christians. Measure the spiritual stature, and gauge the heart of each one. Measure them that worship therein. There must be a certain breadth, and length, and depth, and height of character. There must be a certain depth of humility and self-renunciation, a certain height of faith and devotion, a certain length of integrity and zeal. View them as worshippers, and there is a certain height to which they must attain, in feeble imitation of the dignity of Him that sits upon the throne. The breadth of the believers principles, the depth of his emotions, a certain breadth of sincerity and charity, the length of his hopes, the height of his joys, are far beyond the narrow bounds within which his whole being was formerly confined. His soul is enlarged. He is created anew in Christ Jesus. He has risen above this earth, and has attained a spiritual stature that brings him into fellowship with the Father, and with His son Jesus Christ. His conversation is in heaven.
III. The desecration of the court by the Gentiles is the remaining particular in relation to this temple. This court is nominal Christianity, which now, for the first time, began to assume a distinct character. It was the necessary consequence of an alliance between the Church and the world, it has been far more prejudicial to the real interests of the Church than the most virulent persecution. This court is further said to be given unto the Gentiles. It remains only to speak of the court being given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city to be trodden under foot. I will give power, it is afterwards said, unto My two witnesses and they shall prophesy clothed in sackcloth. It brings before us the permission of the awful reign of anti-christian darkness, for the development of the whole principles of evil in contrast with good. It coincides with the surrender of the Church by God, to that ardent desire for worldly conformity which the severest chastisements had failed to repress. They would not retain the gospel in its simplicity, but would rely upon an arm of flesh; therefore God suffered them to be spoiled by thieves and robbers, who entered not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbed up some other way. (G. Rogers.)
The right temple
Jesus Christ in what He has done as the way in which God dwells with us, and we with God, is the temple that we are thus to measure.
I. First, this is a temple that endureth for ever; a temple of eternity, a house, as the apostle calls it, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Blessed are they that dwell in this temple. And who are they that take such account of it as to understand the eternity of it, the certainty of it, that Christ is indeed a house not made with hands, that He is indeed eternal in the heavens.
II. A temple of plenty. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple. Ah, God the Father is well pleased, Christ is satisfied with the travail of His soul; and we, poor sinners saved by mercy, brought out of eternal privation into this eternal plenty, shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple; a temple from which sin and death are for ever excluded; a temple into which sin and death cannot enter.
III. A temple of government, as you may see in the last verse of this chapter: The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament. Now heaven here means the New Testament dispensation, and there will never be another dispensation after the one we have now. But will there not be glorification? That will not be another dispensation; that will only be a continuation of the present. It is true preaching will end, the ordinances of the present dispensation will end; but we shall always have the same Jesus Christ, and the same God, and the same covenant, and the same life, and the same sanctification. Christs kingdom shall reign through all ages, and never be moved; and everything must be subservient to the government of Christs kingdom. And hence it is said that when this temple was opened there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and a great hail. What are the lightnings? Why, Gods Word. His arrows shall go forth as lightning, whether it be to strike an Ananias and Sapphira dead, or to pierce the hearts of three thousand sinners, and make them cry, Men and brethren, what shall we do? whether it be for judgment or for mercy. These lightnings are Gods Word; and when the temple is opened, that is when Christ is revealed, then these lightnings come. And there were voices. There is the voice of salvation: there is the voice of I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. There is the voice of the deep soul trouble; there are the various voices of all the experiences of the people of God: glorious voices of exaltation, triumph, victory, and satisfaction. And then there are thunderings: and what are they? Why, Gods Word. The child of God sometimes gets rather sleepy, some thundering Scripture will come into his mind, create fears, and doubts, and tremblings. This is what one calls being called into the secret place of thunder–but it does the soul good. And an earthquake. Why, regeneration is an earthquake. It swallows up what you were before; swallows up your former hope, and makes you feel that you yourself will be swallowed up in hell. Many a sinner, when God begins His work in this earthquake-like way, has exclaimed with the Psalmist, Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. And a great hail. What is that? Storms of persecution and tribulation. If the lightning seem to be against you, yet your God holds the lightnings in His hand, and though the thunderings may seem to be against you, yet the Lord governs those thunderings, and though revolutions alarm you, yet the Lord governs these changes, and though you may be persecuted, and storms and persecutions may fall upon you, yet the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. (James Wells.)
The holy city shall they tread under foot.—
The true Church reduced
The Church of God will be greatly reduced in its apparent numbers by the open desertion of the powers of the world. This desertion will begin in a professed indifference to any particular form of Christianity, under the pretence of universal toleration; which toleration will proceed from no true spirit of charity The pretended toleration will go far beyond a just toleration, even as it regards the different sects of Christians. For governments will pretend an indifference to all, and will give a protection in preference to none. All establishments will be set aside. From the toleration of the most pestilent heresies, they will proceed to the toleration of Mahometanism, atheism, and at last proceed to the positive persecution of the truth of Christianity. In these times the temple of God will be reduced almost to the holy place, i.e., to the small number of real Christians who worship the Father in spirit, and regulate their doctrine, and their worship, and their whole conduct strictly by the Word of God. The merely nominal Christians will all desert the profession of the truth when the powers of the world desert it. And this tragic event I take to be typified by the order to St. John to measure the temple and the altar, etc. (Bp. Horsley.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XI.
The command to measure the temple, 1, 2.
The two witnesses which should prophesy twelve hundred and
sixty days, 3.
The description, power, and influence of these witnesses, 4-6.
They shall be slain by the beast which shall arise out of the
bottomless pit, and shall arise again after three days and a
half, and ascend to heaven, 7-12.
After which shall be a great earthquake, 13.
The introduction to the third wo, 14.
The sounding of the seventh angel, and the four and twenty
elders give glory to God, 15-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XI.
Verse 1. And there was given me a reed] See Eze 40:3, c.
Measure the temple of God] This must refer to the temple of Jerusalem and this is another presumptive evidence that it was yet standing.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And there was given me a reed like a rod; the next words tell us the use of this reed. It was a measuring reed, such a one as Ezekiel in his vision {Eze 40:3} saw in the mans hand. There, the measuring was in order to a rebuilding; here, in order to preserving.
And the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God: we cannot well understand what followeth, without understanding the structure of the temple. The Jews, for the place of their worship, had first a tabernacle, then a temple. The tabernacle was a movable house, which they took down and carried about with them in their journeyings, and pitched down when in any place they pitched their tents. We read of it, Exo 40:1-38. We read but of one court in that, into which only the priests and Levites entered; the people were without it, pitching their tents round about it. It had in it an altar of gold for incense, Exo 40:5, which stood before the ark, Exo 40:26,27; and an altar for burnt-offering, which stood by the door of the tabernacle, Exo 40:29. The temple was built by Solomon, 1Ki 6:1-38, and afterwards rebuilt by Zerubbabel, upon their return out of captivity. That was built with two courts; an inner court, 1Ki 6:36, in which was the altar; and an outward court, which is called the great court, 2Ch 4:9, and in Ezekiel, many times, the outward court. This is called the house, in 1Ki 6:17. It was in length forty cubits; the oracle was within it, 1Ki 6:19, where stood the ark covered with the cherubims. Into the inward court the priests and Levites only came; into the outward court came any of the Israelites. Herod, upon the additional building to the temple, added another large court, called the court of the Gentiles; but that not being of Gods direction, nor in Solomons temple, or Zerubbabels, is not here mentioned. This temple was a type of the church under the New Testament, 1Co 3:17; 2Co 6:16, and is so to be interpreted generally in this book: for the material temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans more than twenty years before this prophecy, never to be built more; not one stone was left upon another; so that John here was bid to measure the church.
And the altar, and them that worship therein; yet not the whole church, but that part of it which the inner court typified; the altar, and those that worshipped within that space where that was, which of old were only the priests and Levites; and under the New Testament signified those who were to be a holy priesthood, a spiritual house, those that should offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1Pe 2:5, who could endure a measuring by Gods reed, the word of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. and the angel stoodomittedin A, Vulgate, and Coptic. Supported by B and Syriac.If it be omitted, the “reed” will, in construction, agreewith “saying.” So WORDSWORTHtakes it. The reed, the canon of Scripture, the measuring reedof the Church, our rule of faith, speaks. So in Re16:7 the altar is personified as speaking (compareNote, see on Re 16:7).The Spirit speaks in the canon of Scripture (the word canon isderived from Hebrew, “kaneh,” “a reed,”the word here used; and John it was who completed the canon). SoVICTORINUS, AQUINAS,and VITRINGA. “Like arod,” namely, straight: like a rod of iron (Re2:27), unbending, destroying all error, and that “cannot bebroken.” Rev 2:27; Heb 1:8,Greek, “a rod of straightness,” English Version,“a scepter of righteousness”; this is added to guardagainst it being thought that the reed was one “shaken bythe wind” In the abrupt style of the Apocalypse, “saying”is possibly indefinite, put for “one said.” StillWORDSWORTH’S view agreesbest with Greek. So the ancient commentator, ANDREASOF CSAREA, in theend of the fifth century (compare Notes, see on Re11:3, 4).
the templeGreek,“naon” (as distinguished from the Greek,“hieron,” or temple in general), the Holy Place,”the sanctuary.”
the altarof incense;for it alone was in “the sanctuary.” (Greek,“naos“). The measurement of the Holy place seems tome to stand parallel to the sealing of the elect of Israel under thesixth seal. God’s elect are symbolized by the sanctuary at Jerusalem(1Co 3:16; 1Co 3:17,where the same Greek word, “naos,” occurs for”temple,” as here). Literal Israel in Jerusalem, and withthe temple restored (Eze 40:3;Eze 40:5, where also the templeis measured with the measuring reed, the forty-first, forty-second,forty-third, and forty-fourth chapters), shall stand at the head ofthe elect Church. The measuring implies at once the exactness of theproportions of the temple to be restored, and the definitecompleteness (not one being wanting) of the numbers of the Israeliteand of the Gentile elections. The literal temple at Jerusalem shallbe the typical forerunner of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which thereshall be all temple, and no portion exclusively set apart astemple. John’s accurately drawing the distinction insubsequent chapters between God’s servants and those who bear themark of the beast, is the way whereby he fulfils the direction heregiven him to measure the temple. The fact that the templeis distinguished from them that worship therein, favors theview that the spiritual temple, the Jewish and Christian Church, isnot exclusively meant, but that the literal temple must also bemeant. It shall be rebuilt on the return of the Jews to their land.Antichrist shall there put forward his blasphemous claims. The sealedelect of Israel, the head of the elect Church, alone shall refuse hisclaims. These shall constitute the true sanctuary which is heremeasured, that is, accurately marked and kept by God, whereas therest shall yield to his pretensions. WORDSWORTHobjects that, in the twenty-five passages of the Acts, wherein theJewish temple is mentioned, it is called hieron, not naos,and so in the apostolic Epistles; but this is simply because nooccasion for mentioning the literal Holy Place (Greek,“naos“) occurs in Acts and the Epistles; indeed, inAc 7:48, though not directly,there does occur the term, naos, indirectly referring to theJerusalem temple Holy Place. In addressing Gentile Christians,to whom the literal Jerusalem temple was not familiar, it wasto be expected the term, naos, should not be found in theliteral, but in the spiritual sense. In Re11:19 naos is used in a local sense; compare alsoRev 14:15; Rev 14:17;Rev 15:5; Rev 15:8.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod,…. A measuring reed, which with the Jews was six cubits long, Eze 40:5; with the Greeks and Romans, ten feet long; the Ethiopic version here calls it a “golden reed”, as in Re 21:15. This was given unto John very likely by the same angel that gave him the little book, since he afterwards bids him arise and measure with it; and by it seems to be designed the holy Scripture, or the word of God, which is sometimes called a line, a rule, and rod, Ps 19:4, and which is the rule and measure of doctrine and faith; and by it all doctrine is to be tried and measured, and whatsoever is not agreeably to it is not of God, nor to be received, but rejected; and it is the rule and measure of all discipline, worship, and practice; it lays down the plan of a Gospel church, which should be gathered out of the world, and separated from it; it shows who are the proper materials of it, what officers are to be constituted in it, and what ordinances are to be administered, and what laws and rules should be observed in receiving and rejecting of members, and according to which the whole community should walk; in short, it directs to all the forms, laws, and ordinances of God’s house; and this is the use John, or those whom he represents, were to make of it:
and the angel stood; the same that stood with his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and gave to John the little book, Re 10:1; though it may be not in the same place and situation, but rather at the gate of the temple, as in Eze 40:3. This clause is not in the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, but is in the Syriac version and Complutensian edition, and is rightly retained, or otherwise it would seem as if the reed spoke:
saying, rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein; the allusion is to the temple of Jerusalem, with its appurtenances; there were the most holy place, and the holy place, which was the inner court of the priests, into which they only entered, which was strictly speaking the temple, and is referred to here; and there was the altar of burnt offering, which was in the court of the priests, and the altar of incense, which was before the vail that divided between the holy and holy of holies; and then there was the outer court for all the Israelites to worship in, referred to in Re 11:2: and by “the temple of God” is here meant the church, of which the temple was a type; and so particular congregated churches are called temples, 1Co 3:16. Solomon, a man of peace, was the builder of the one, and Christ, the Prince of peace, the builder of the other; Solomon’s temple was built of hewn stones, made ready before they were brought thither, and a true church of Christ consists of lively stones, hewed and fitted for this spiritual building by the Spirit of God; the temple at Jerusalem was built on a high mountain, and on the north of the city, the church is built upon the rock Christ Jesus, and the Gospel church, or churches, in the times of the sixth trumpet, which this vision refers to, and to the close of it, are in the northern parts of Europe; and as the temple was for religious use and service, for the worship of God and sacrifices, so is the Gospel church, and so are Gospel churches, for the ministry of the word, and administration of ordinances, and for the offering up the sacrifices of prayer and praise; and as in the most holy place were the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat, and as it was the place of the divine Presence, where God granted communion to his people, so in the church are held forth the mysteries of the covenant, Christ as the mercy seat and the propitiatory, in whom the displays of grace are made, and through whom the saints have fellowship with God, and enjoy his presence: “the altar” may design Christ himself, by whom the saints draw nigh to God, offer up their sacrifices, and are accepted with him; or the whole of Gospel worship and ordinances, as prayer, preaching, singing of praise, and the administration of baptism and the Lord’s supper: and they “that worship therein”, or “thereat”, are the royal priesthood, or such who are made kings and priests unto God, for none went into the inner court, or served at the altar, but priests; and who make use of Christ, the altar, of his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, in their approaches to God; and who are praying souls, wait at the altar of incense, and draw nigh to the throne or grace with a true heart, and worship God in Spirit and in truth: now “measuring” of these respects not the primitive church for the first three or four hundred years, and the formation of that according to the rule of God’s word, and as a pattern to other churches; for though the apostolic church, or the church as it was in the apostles’ time, and as described in their writings, was such a church; yet the church for such a space of time as above was not; there were great departures both from doctrine and discipline, the mystery of iniquity began to work, and way was made for the man of sin and it was far from being a pattern to be imitated; and besides, this measuring refers to the times of the sixth trumpet, and the close of it: nor does it respect the sealing of the 144,000 between the sixth seal and the opening of the seventh seal, which was for the protection and security of them during the times of the six trumpets, which brought desolation into the empire, and apostasy into the church; though measuring sometimes may seem to denote protection, as in Zec 2:1; and though the outer court is, and will be, a protection to spiritual worshippers, so long as it is not in the hands of the Gentiles, yet this is not the sense, at least not the whole of it: nor does this refer to the hiding of the church in the wilderness, during the reign of antichrist; which might seem to be signified by the internal worshippers retiring to the altar, and to the holy and the most holy place, and being concealed there; and especially since the opening of the temple in Re 11:19, may seem to be opposed to this; but that takes in too large a compass of time, this being an affair relating only to the close of the sixth trumpet, and which was to be before the seventh trumpet sounded: it seems rather to respect the times of the Reformation by Luther, Calvin, and others, when the measuring reed of the word was taken in hand, and used; but then it was used chiefly for the restoration of pure doctrine, and with good success, but not so much for the regulating and orderly discipline of the churches, for the purity of Gospel worship and ordinances; most, if not all the reformed churches, set out upon too broad a bottom, being national, provincial, or parochial; there was a temple, and an altar erected for God, and there were internal and spiritual worshippers; but then they took in the outward court, which should not have been measured in, and circumscribed with them, but should have been left out; but the time for this was not yet come, but now is: in short, I take it that this measuring refers to what was done in the last age, particularly in our nation; and that it has respect to the separation from the national church, when churches, more or less, were gathered and formed according to the Gospel plan and the primitive institution; a work which never was set about and so effectually done before since the age of the apostles: the baptized and congregational churches are the temple, altar, and worshippers measured, who have both the true doctrine, worship, and discipline of God’s house among them; a set of men in the last age were raised up, who drew a plan of churches, and of church discipline, according to the ancient model; gathered churches out of the world, and constituted them according to the order of the Gospel; circumscribed them, and enclosed them according to the rules of God’s word, admitting none but such into communion who were judged by the churches subjects of the grace of God; and rejected and excluded from among them such as were wicked and scandalous; and so reduced the pure members of churches to a small number, a little flock, a few names in Sardis: and I am of opinion that the measuring reed must be used again; we have got of late, through negligence, or a want of a spirit of discerning, too many of the outward court among us; who must be left out, in order to be given up to other hands, as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Measuring of the Temple. | A. D. 95. |
1 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.
This prophetical passage about measuring the temple is a plain reference to what we find in Ezekiel’s vision, Ezek. xl. 3, c. But how to understand either the one or the other is not so easy. It should seem the design of measuring the temple in the former case was in order to the rebuilding of it, and that with advantage the design of this measurement seems to be either, 1. For the preservation of it in those times of public danger and calamity that are here foretold; or, 2. For its trial; that it may be seen how far it agrees with the standard, or pattern, in the mount; or, 3. For its reformation; that what is redundant, deficient, or changed, may be regulated according to the true model. Observe,
I. How much was to be measured. 1. The temple; the gospel church in general, whether it be so built, so constituted, as the gospel rule directs, whether it be too narrow or too large, the door too wide or too strait. 2. The altar. That which was the place of the most solemn acts of worship may be put for religious worship in general; whether the church has the true altars, both as to substance and situation: as to substance, whether they take Christ for their altar, and lay down all their offerings there; and in situation, whether the altar be in the holiest; that is, whether they worship God in the Spirit and in truth. 3. The worshippers too must be measured, whether they make God’s glory their end and his word their rule, in all their acts of worship; and whether they come to God with suitable affections, and whether their conversation be as becomes the gospel.
II. What was not to be measured (v. 2), and why it should be left out. 1. What was not to be measured: The court which is without the temple measure it not. Some say that Herod, in the additions made to the temple, built an outer court, and called it the court of the Gentiles. Some tell us that Adrian built the city and an outer court, and called it lia, and gave it to the Gentiles. 2. Why was not the outer court measured? This was no part of the temple, according to the model either of Solomon or Zerubbabel, and therefore God would have no regard to it. He would not mark it out for preservation; but as it was designed for the Gentiles, to bring pagan ceremonies and customs and to annex them to the gospel churches, so Christ abandoned it to them, to be used as they pleased; and both that and the city were trodden under foot for a certain time–forty and two months, which some would have to be the whole time of the reign of antichrist. Those who worship in the outer court are either such as worship in a false manner or with hypocritical hearts; and these are rejected of God, and will be found among his enemies. 3. From the whole observe, (1.) God will have a temple and an altar in the world, till the end of time. (2.) He has a strict regard to this temple, and observes how every thing is managed in it. (3.) Those who worship in the outer court will be rejected, and only those who worship within the veil accepted. (4.) The holy city, the visible church, is very much trampled upon in the world. But, (5.) The desolations of the church are for a limited time, and for a short time, and she shall be delivered out of all her troubles.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
A reed (). Old word for a growing reed (Mt 11:7) which grew in immense brakes in the Jordan valley, a writer’s reed (3Jo 1:7), a measuring-rod (here, Rev 21:15; Ezek 40:3-6; Ezek 42:16-19).
Like a rod ( ). See Rev 2:27; Mark 6:8 for .
And one said (). “Saying” (present active masculine participle of ) is all that the Greek has. The participle implies (he gave), not , a harsh construction seen in Gen 22:20; Gen 38:24, etc.
Rise and measure ( ). Present active imperative of (intransitive, exclamatory use as in Mr 2:11) and first aorist active imperative of . In Eze 42:2ff. the prophet measures the temple and that passage is probably in mind here. But modern scholars do not know how to interpret this interlude (11:1-13) before the seventh trumpet (11:15). Some (Wellhausen) take it to be a scrap from the Zealot party before the destruction of Jerusalem, which event Christ also foretold (Mark 13:2; Matt 24:2; Luke 21:6) and which was also attributed to Stephen (Ac 6:14). Charles denies any possible literal interpretation and takes the language in a wholly eschatological sense. There are three points in the interlude, however understood: the chastisement of Jerusalem or Israel (verses Rev 11:1; Rev 11:2), the mission of the two witnesses (3-12), the rescue of the remnant (13). There is a heavenly sanctuary (Rev 7:15; Rev 11:19; Rev 14:15, etc.), but here is on earth and yet not the actual temple in Jerusalem (unless so interpreted). Perhaps here it is the spiritual (Rev 3:12; 2Thess 2:4; 1Cor 3:16; 2Cor 6:16; Eph 2:19). For altar () see 8:3. Perhaps measuring as applied to “them that worship therein” ( ) implies a word like numbering, with an allusion to the 144,000 in chapter 7 (a zeugma).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A rod. See on ch. Rev 2:27.
And the angel stood. Omit. The insertion of these words furnishes a subject for the agreement of the participle legwn, which is irregular an construction. Literally the correct text reads, ” there was given me a reed, saying. “. Accordingly Wordsworth refers the speech to the reed as an inspired medium of speech. Rev., better, and one said.
The temple [ ] . See on Mt 4:5.
The altar. Of incense, as that alone stood in the sacred place. Them that worship. Note the peculiar expressed, measuring the worshippers with a reed.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
TIMES OF THE GENTILES TO END IN 42 MONTHS, AT END OF FIRST HALF OF DANIEL’S 70th WEEK OF PROPHECY v. 1-12
Note: see also Introduction Revelation
1) “And there was given me a reed,” (kai edothe’ moi kalamos) “And a reed was given to me,” John, the writer. It was like a walking-staff, a support, a protective, defensive instrument, a measuring reed, Eze 40:3; Zec 2:1.
2) “Like unto a rod,” (homois hrabdo) “similar to a staff,” a pilgrim’s staff to lean upon, usually about six to ten feet tall, to be grasped near the upper end when carried, as the pilgrim plodded along, Eze 40:3; Rev 21:15.
3) “And the angel stood, saying,” (legon) -(And the angel stood) saying,” instructing me, the angel which stood with one foot on land and one on the sea, Rev 10:8.
4) “Rise, and measure the temple of Go ” (egeire kai metreson ton naon tou theou) “Rise up and measure the shrine (temple proper) of God: the one to be rebuilt just before or during the early part of the 70th week of Jacob’s Trouble, where the morning and evening sacrifices and oblations are to be offered again, Dan 9:26-27; Act 15:13-18; 2Th 2:2-12.
5) “And the altar,” (kai to thusiasterion) “And the Altar of oblation and sacrifice,” where Hebrew sacrifices were offered in the holy temple area, Exo 40:10-16, after the altar had been sanctified. It is to be built and sanctified again, Act 15:13-18.
6) “And them that worship therein,” (kai tous proskunountasen auto) “and those worshipping in it.” To measure the people” means to number or identify them (the ones who worship here); Those who as true Hebrews shall look, long for, and offer sacrifices of repentance for Him whom they have rejected. These are likely the 144,000 from among the twelve tribes to be sealed against physical death during the later 42 months of the Great Tribulation, Dan 9:26-27; Rev 7:3-4; Rev 12:6; Rev 12:14; Rev 14:1-5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL
Rev 8:1 to Rev 11:19.
WE concluded the last talk by an appeal that men surrender their souls to the Son of Man before the day of His wrath come. The Opening of the Seventh Seal will add emphasis to that entreaty. We read that when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.
When the coming birth of John the Baptist was announced to Zacharias, the priest, whose lot it was to serve in the Temple at that time, the angel confirmed the promise by paralyzing the priests tongue, and when he came out and could not speak unto them, the people perceived that he had seen a vision in the Temple. If the dumbness of a single servant of God excited the wonder of the multitude, what a portentous event when every angel in the whole heavenly host shall find his tongue suddenly tied, and turning his dumb eyes to the Father upon the throne, and to the Son sitting at the right hand, shall see them as silent as themselves, and a stillness, like that which must obtain in the deepest depths of ocean, reigning in a world where for millenniums silence has been a stranger. Would it not necessarily mean the awful calm prophesying some unthinkable catastrophe? The effect of this silence would be heightened by the sight of seven angels standing before God, their trumpets at their lips; and augmented still more by the event of another angel bending over the altar, holding in his hands a golden censer in which was mingled the prayers of all the saints, while the smoke of the same went up before God out of the angels hand. The very fact that these prayers were being presented would signify the portentousness of the coming storm, and would seem to show that up to the very time when judgment beginsChrist, Heavens chief angel, and mans intercessor, will be pleading with the prayers of all the saints, that the storm of justice be yet a little withheld, and man offered further opportunity to repent.
But at the very time while this silence reigns in Heaven, sin increases on the earth. Calmness there, confusion here; overwhelming anxiety there, riotous indifference here. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets, seeing the increased sin, prepare themselves to sound.
THE TRUMPETS OF JUDGMENT
At the blast of their trumpets judgment begins.
This judgment will involve nature first.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up, etc. (Rev 8:7-12).
Have you never noticed how when mans sin necessitates the exercise of Divine justice, God approaches mans judgment by the way of mercy? He smites first of all the inanimate world, where His blow will fall upon unfeeling grass, trees and flowers, but at the same time prove conclusively His power, and call mans attention to the occasion of His anger.
When Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let Gods people go from Egypt, the Lord smote the waters which were in the great river Euphrates, and turned them to blood (Exo 7:19-21). Afterward, you remember, He sent frogs over all the land, and still later turned the dust into lice, and followed that with the plague of flies; and when the judgment against the inanimate world would not suffice, He brought the murrain upon the beasts and that was succeeded by the hailstorm, which smote the cattle; and that by the swarms of locusts which devoured the crops, and so on. It was Gods attempt to teach Pharaoh and the people, without having to touch their persons with the hand of judgment. And to this hour the Divine method of judgment is always in mercy. Almost every man who sins against God will find himself corrected a hundred times, and in as many ways, before any wrath is executed against his person. So in the sounding of the trumpets of judgment, when the four against the natural world were finished, and evil men were waxing worse and worse, a significant thing occurred. John saw an eagle, not an angel, but an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with great voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound (Rev 8:13, R. V.)
If you will consult your Scripture you will find the saints often likened to eagles (Luk 17:34-37; Mat 24:26-28; Isa 40:31).
The announcement is succeeded by the blasts of the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpets. When the fifth sounds the star falls from heaven unto the earth. That this star is simply the messenger of judgment is evidenced in that it says, to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit, etc. Read Rev 9:1-6. That was the beginning of Gods judgments upon the sinner. Again, judgment is tempered with mercy; all men are not destroyed in a moment, but only a portion of them; the baser portion we may believe. And in that very destruction the remainder are again called to repentance. People often ask the question why God permits sin to go on; and why He privileges gross sinners to live, saying that they are cursing themselves and destroying others. Peter has answered that, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe 3:9).
But the five woes will no more suffice to change the course of men whose hearts are set upon sin, than the five plagues of Egypt sufficed to turn Pharaohs feet into paths of righteousness. And scarcely will this woe have passed when the sixth angel shall sound. Read Rev 9:14-19.
The man who makes a practice of preaching a gradual improvement in the world, which by the product of evolution, will finally bring in the Millennium without the Master, the Kingdom of God on earth without the King; must find it difficult to interpret what follows,
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts (Rev 9:20-21).
It necessitates the sounding of the seventh trumpet, bringing the end. As Pharaoh went down before the tenth plague, never to rise again, and sinful Egypt was left without a king, so the nations of the world, forgetting God, shall one day hear the trumpet sound that shall unseat every ruler and bring an end to every government, whelm every rebellious people as effectually as the Red Sea buried Pharaoh and his wicked followers. I suppose there are those who regard this as an awful fate for the world, and so it is; and yet, no worse for the unregenerate than the natural death that sweeps its every generation. The end of all sin is awful! But if righteousness succeed judgment, how desirable!
Have you ever stopped to think what it would mean to have wickedness removed from the whole realm, one righteous sovereign reigning from sea to sea; and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth? Then jealousies between peoples would be at an end; boundary disputes would cease; unjust restrictions in trade would be lifted; wars of greed and conquest come to an end; slavery and pauperism pass forever; famine and pestilence be obsolete words; the gates of the cemeteries would rust upon their hinges; hearts cease from sorrow; and tears from touching the cheeks of men; the brotherhood of man would find its first open field for exercise; and the Fatherhood of God become a blessed fact, instead of being as now, a theological vagary. John was not wicked but wise when he prayed for this consummation, and I believe that it is only needful for men to understand the issue, to join in the prayer of the seer.
THE INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION
Going back over these four chapters it is interesting to study the instruments of destruction that will be employed.
When God is smiting nature He employs natural forces. Hail and fire mingled with blood burn up the third part of the trees and all green grass; a burning mountain turns the third part of the sea into blood; destroys the third part of all creatures, and whelms the third part of all the ships; the blazing star, or as the original word suggests, the great light, like unto a lamp or torch, turns the three parts of the rivers into wormwood, and men drinking therefrom die of the bitterness; while at the sounding of the fourth angel the great luminaries are smittenthe third part of the sun, the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; light is shortened and darkness increased. If any man imagine that these figures of speech are enormously overdrawn he must be poorly impressed with the power of those natural forces which are eternally subject to the manipulations of Gods mighty hand. If he doubts Gods ability to so loosen the winds and storms of heaven as to make hail and fire mingle with blood, a medium of judgment to a world that had rejected mercy, he has never seen, or even given serious consideration to the reports of a single cyclone. Once in a while God gives us a hint of what He can do with the lightnings of heaven; once in a while God permits us to see what the gentle wind that daily kisses our cheekscan easily accomplish for the mightiest structures of earth; once in a while God permits a single mountain in the midst of the sea to break its crust and send its flames and lava into the waters while the shock thereof rolls landward a thousand miles. All these things are but gentle warnings, and like the little light that was seen for days by the inhabitants of Pompeii who looked Vesuvius-ward; they speak eloquently to men, pleading that they escape, while they can, from the coming doom. He who can bind the sweet influence of the Pleadies, can also loose the bands of Orion.
But to natural forces He adds supernatural creatures. When men have disregarded the judgments against Nature, and He must punish them in their own persons, He employs agents, not instruments, in the work. These agents
the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of Women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months (Rev 9:7-10).
I see no necessity of holding this language to be figurative. The pit is filled with fallen spirits which kept not their first estate, and if Satan assumes the form of a great dragon and the serpent, why should not his subjects and emissaries assume the forms here suggested, forms of power, forms of intelligence, forms of mighty malignance, forms, the very sight of which, superinduces fear, and speak of tremendous power. We saw in our last study that there were supernatural creatures about the throne who had the faces of a lion, symbol of courage; of an ox, likeness of faithful endurance; of a man, indicative of intelligent action; and of the eagle, speaking of alacrity in obedience.
Why then should hell not have its antipodes of these living ones, in the form of infernal tormentors, whose pleasure would accord with their office? Already science is beginning to confirm this suggestion of Scripture. Only a few years ago the most advanced physician among us would have laughed to scorn the present theory of disease, namely, that mens bodies and even their every drop of blood, was crowded with living creatures and that fever is only the expression of the destructive work of these Satanic myrmidons. If in these days the devil is able to smite men with such a multitude of his servants, as Dr. Simpson has said, How much more may this become the case when all the restrictions of this age shall be let loose.
Eventually the Son of Man Himself appears in judgment. One might think that this was a modification of justice and gave the promise of mercy; but not so! On the contrary, the part that Jesus Christ, the merciful, shall play, will prove the consummation of judgment against impenitent men. You go but to the second Psalm and you read words that illuminate all of this Scripture, for even there the Psalmist is speaking of the final contest between the heathen and the Lord of Heaven ; the former shall rage.
The kings of the earth shall 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.
He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. * *
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potters vessel.
No wonder the Psalmist concluded with that cry,
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Psa 2:1-12).
Dont you remember that George Elliot makes Baldasar put his very life in pawn for the sake of Tito Meleme, the boy who so excited his ardent love? For him he makes all possible sacrifice! But when Tito proved himself unworthy, played traitor, it was that very man who had shown him such mercy and grace, that eventually exercised against him direful judgment.
It is significant that this Book of Revelation speaks of the Lamb as one whose wrath shall fill the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free-man with such fear that they shall hide themselves from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and shall say to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us * * from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand!
THE DESCENT OF THE SON OF MAN
And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire:
And He had in His hand a little book open: and He set His right foot upon the sea, and His left foot on the earth,
And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when He had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices,
I was about to write: and I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up His hand to Heaven,
And sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when He shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets (Rev 10:1-7).
Three plain suggestions here:First the personal Coming of Christ. The strong Angel coming down out of Heaven is Jesus. That is suggested not alone by the fact that He is designated as the strong Angel, but by the more definite testimony, the rainbow was upon Him.
That could never crown another than this minister of Gods mercy. His face was as the sun. That is the same description of the Son of Man given in the first chapter.
And His feet as pillars of fire. Those are the feet which were described in the first chapter which were like unto burnished brass.
And He had in His hand a little book open, and He was the only One found that could break the seals of the Book, and open it.
He set His right foot upon the sea, but His left foot on the earth. The Lord has promised to Him as He had to the Israelites of old, possession of every place upon which He should set His foot, so now He comes to claim the sea and the land as His very own.
I should like to talk to you about His rightful inheritance. When He poured out His Blood on Calvary He bought back the sea and the land, as well as the souls thereof; they are His, and when He comes He will claim them to do with them as He pleases.
But by far the more important lesson of this tenth chapter is found in the circumstance that His descent will bring an end to the probation period.
And the servants who have been wicked and slothful in the Masters business will find His return to the earth the occasion of their distress; and it will result in their being cast into outer darkness, to weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Oh, that I could properly impress the object of this probation period! Oh, that I could burn into the hearts of men the importance of making the right use of it! Oh, that the parables of the talents, the pounds, the wise and foolish virgins, might compel us to attend upon the injunction, Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.
Henry Van Dyke says, This world is not the place of judgment, but the place of probation, in which the good and the evil are working side by side, not only in the same community, but in the same character; and not to be finally separated until they have produced their fixed and final results. And he goes on to show that while men are wrestling with the question of whether they shall do right or wrong, the trial period continues, the days of life are vouchsafed, the sun still shines and the rain still falls. Man may be deeply sunk in evil and have hope, for God is still saying, I do not judge thee yet. How solemn the sweet assurance; but how clearly the fact that God does not now judge, reveals the certainty that God will judge hereafter. If this world be only the place of probation, then beyond it there must be a place of judgment. The sun will not shine forever, and the rain will not always fall upon evil-doers. How precious then, how costly and invaluable is every day and hour of this immortal life, in which the welcome sunlight, the gentle rain, assure us that the upward way is still open to us. But how long for you and me; how long shall this time of hope endure? Who can tell when the night cometh?
The eleventh chapter is given to the testimony of the two witnesses and to the beginning of the Millennium reign.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE TWO WITNESSES
Three questions I want to raise with reference to these witnesses and let the Scriptures answer them; three statements I want to make with reference to the Millennium reign; then we shall leave these four chapters with you, trusting that God may instruct you out of them, and if any one be without Christ, make them the means of his conversion.
My first question is, Who are these witnesses? Various and conflicting answers have been given to that question, and upon careful consideration of these, I am compelled to select that one put forward by Dr. Seiss, namely, that Enoch and Elijah are the two witnesses who shall return to the earth and prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. I maintain this substantially for the same reason which he assigns. First of all Enoch and Elijah are the only ascended saints whose bodies are subject to the first death, they having escaped that by translation. In the next place Enoch and Elijah were both famed when they were here in the world, for the word of their testimony to an unbelieving generation. But far above and beyond all these considerations is the fact that the Scriptures promise the return of Elijah, while the Apocryphal Books and the ancient fathers always associated with his coming, a similar ministry for Enoch. After John the Baptist was dead, Christ still affirmed, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. And even in the time of the Acts, Peter referred to this restoration or restitution, as associated with the Second Coming of the Lord (Act 3:19). It is also significant that when Elijah was in the world he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, and here it is prophesied that when he shall come again he shall have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecythree years and six months.
Dr. Dowie declared himself to be Elias, but he didnt shut the heavens for the space of three years and six months!
What is the object of these two witnesses? is my next question. The text answers that. The very fact that they were witnesses shows their object; and the additional fact that they are spoken of as the two olive trees and two candlesticks, reminding one of the vision of Zachariah, a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. The Prophet asked, you remember, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? and again, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And the answer was, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. And how much that antediluvian world needed the burning and shining light of Enochs life; and how much degenerate Israel, and drunken Ahab and his hosts, had the same need. And how truly it might have been said of these men of the olden times, as of John the Baptist, They were burning and shining lights. And how wonderful the mercy of God that will bring them back again to witness with greater fervor; to speak forth more luminous truth when we shall be coming into the end of the age.
My third question is, Why were they slain? I believe the Scriptures clearly indicate the reason: the beast that cometh up out of the abyss cannot endure to have faithful men live. There are those who think the time of persecution is over; but if so, only because the time of faithful preaching is so far passed. You bring back an Enoch to the world and nothing but a new translation would save him from crucifixion. You bring back to the world an Elijah, and an Ahab will be found in some new potentate.
I have just ridiculed Dr. Dowies pretentions of being Elias, but I am profoundly convinced that the hate of the world against him was not because of his assertions; not because of the pompous pride which he put on; nor because any man proved him to be dishonest in his business methods, but more largely because he uncovered sin.
If any man imagine that civilization has brought us to the point where the witness of a new Elijah and a new Enoch would be acceptable, he does not understand his own mind, nor has he ever seen the pictures that the Scriptures present of the times to come. He that would live godly in Christ Jess must suffer persecution.
The verses that remain touch the subject of
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
What comfort! After hearing this judgment; after witnessing the writhings of the earth; after looking upon the smitten sea; after having beheld the very luminaries of heaven partially blotted out; after having heard the moans of men who sought death without being able to find it, and desire death, only to see their decease flee from them, what blessing to turn from it all, and look full into the face of Him who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and who shall reign forever and ever. No wonder the four and twenty elders which sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast; and mark you that they did not say, and which is to come as heretofore, for lo, He is present already, and has taken the great power and is reigning. With that reign is associated resurrection and rewards for Gods own. He will not forget them. When He comes it will be the day of victory for them everyone; and all their rewards, their joys, all the glorious prospects of Millennium here, and ages on ages beyond, spent in the rapture of His presence, and in the benediction of His praises, in the sweetness of His service, in the salvation of His everlasting power, shall be in exact accordance with the promise of His Word, for lo, the Temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in His Temple the ark of His testament. Blessed Vision! That ark contained the will and testament of God toward His own. Happy is the child who has laid up in some place of safe keeping the will of a wealthy father, reminding him every time he turns toward it that it is to him a pledge of all the property mentioned therein, and that the justice courts of the earth will grant his claim, in accordance with the provisions thereof.
With faltering footsteps, I will journey on, Watching the stars that roll the hours away, Till the faint light that guides me now is gone, And, like another life, the glorious dayShall open oer me from the empyrean height, With warmth, and certainty, and boundless light.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
THE FATE OF JERUSALEM AND ITS TEMPLE
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
THE paragraph, Rev. 11:1-13, gives the contents of the little book, which are in part joyful and in part bitter. The marking off of a portion of the temple answers to the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand in chap. 7. Here there is a symbolical reserve of a portion of the temple from impending evils, as there a reserve of an elect portion of Gods people. Just as those were sealed to mark them for ever as the heritage of God, so is the temple measured as destined to remain His domain for ever. The temple, together with the court, is here the emblem of the Jewish nation, one part of which will remain faithful to its Godthat represented by the temple measured by the angel, with the altar and its worshippers; and the other part, carnal Israel, will give itself up to the spirit of apostasy which will carry captive the Gentiles.
Rev. 11:1. Reed.Canon: the word may mean staff, pen, or light measuring rod (Eze. 40:3; Rev. 21:15). Angel stood.Omit; but assume the speaker to be he who gave the rod. Temple, etc.Treat as symbols of the people of God within the Jewish people. Temple with all its courts symbolises the whole Jewish people. The measuring was for the reserving of this portion.
Rev. 11:2. Without.Outside, or beyond. Here the ordinary worshippers assembled. Leave out.Despise, neglect, take no trouble with. Gentiles.Probably alluding to Romans. Tread under foot.Luk. 21:24. Forty and two months.See Rev. 11:3, Rev. 12:14; and compare Dan. 7:25; Dan. 12:7; Dan. 12:11. Not an exact, or literal period; to be treated typically, of a prolonged, but strictly limited, time. It is the pilgrimage period of the Church, the period of the worlds power, during which it seems to triumph.
Rev. 11:3. Bishop Boyd Carpenter thus explains the aim of the present vision: It explains that in the great progress towards victory the Church itself will suffer, through corruptions and worldliness, but the true templethe kernel, so to speak, of the Churchwill be unharmed and kept safe in her Masters hands. But the position of this hidden and enshrined Church will not be one of idle security. In that temple will be reared those who will witness, undaunted and undefiled, for their Lord; throughout the whole of that chequered period of profanation and pain there will never be wanting true witnesses for righteousness and faith. Two witnessesNot to be regarded as actual persons; compare Zec. 4:6-7. The idea is that there should always be some, even in a decaying, imperilled Church, who, in the special power of Divine grace, should witness against prevailing evils. In every age God has His specially appointed and sustained witnesses. As God raised up prophets in the ancient Church, to witness against the idolatrous corruptions of religion, so there should be some in every age to testify against the iniquity and idolatry of their times.
Rev. 11:4. Candlesticks.Lamp-stands, to hold up the light of Gods claims and truth.
Rev. 11:5. Will.I.e,. wishes to. Fire.Compare Jer. 5:14; 2Ki. 1:10. Evidently Old-Testament individuals and narratives suggest these figures.
Rev. 11:6. Shut heaven.As Elijah. Power over waters, etc.As Moses.
Rev. 11:7. Beast.A familiar symbol for any noxious, powerful, and dangerous enemy. A beast-spirit, which is in utter hostility to the Christ-spirit (see Daniel 7). Kill themThis typities the temporary triumph of worldliness over the witnesses to high spiritual life. Men can silence, can conquer, can slay the witness for a higher, purer, nobler life. They have done so. But men may always reckon upon the resurrection of Gods witnesses. He never leaves Himself without a witness.
Rev. 11:8. Great city.Jerusalem. See Isa. 1:10; Jer. 46:16; Eze. 23:8.
Rev. 11:11. Stood upon their feet.Compare Ezekiels vision of the valley of dry bones.
Rev. 11:15. Seventh angel sounded.The angel who will sound the trumpet of Christs final triumph, or the trump of doom. This trumpet, or third woe, has reference to the appearing of the Antichrist. Rev. 11:14 takes up the thread of the general vision. Godet says: We shall see that it is the reign of Antichrist which brings upon men the last calamities, represented by the seven vials; hence it follows that these latter are included in the seventh trumpet, just as the seven trumpets formed the contents of the seventh seal. There is great art in this way of picturing history as a series of periods, each of which arises out of the last term of the period which precedes it. In this simple image is expressed one of the profoundest laws of the progress of the world.
In Rev. 11:15-18 the end of the great struggle is anticipated, and the mingled rejoicing in heaven, and woe on earth, is indicated. With this assurance of final victory we are prepared for all the terrible scenes that make up the sublime conflict of the ages. It must be constantly kept in view that the one aim of St. John is the comfort and assurance of Gods people in their persecution, peril, and fear; therefore it is that these recurring visions of the triumph of some, and the final triumph of all, are given.
Rev. 11:15. His Christ.Compare Lords anointed (Luk. 2:26).
Rev. 11:16. Sat before God.Better, which are before God, sitting upon their thrones.
Rev. 11:17. Omit here art to come.
Rev. 11:19. Ark of His Testament.It is almost always better to read covenant. The third woe brought on the inhabitants of the earth is the ruin and downfall of the Antichristian kingdom; but this is only a woe from the earthly point of view. It is a cause of rejoicing in the heavenly spheres.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rev. 11:1-19
The Prophecy of the Two Witnesses.Here comes in another interpositionviz., that in respect to saving a part of the temple, like to that in chap. 7, with respect to saving Christians from impending evils. Christians, indeed, have already been made secure in the case before us. But the close of the Jewish or Mosaic institutions is near at hand. Shall all which pertained to these now go to ruin? Or is there not something that constitutes the essential unity of religion under both dispensations which is worthy of preservation, and which, therefore, must be preserved? If the ground taken by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews is correct (which we may well believe) then the basis of Judaism and Christianity is the same. The introduction of the two witnesses has been the occasion of much controversy, chiefly because effort has been made to identify the persons referred to, and because the symbolical use of the number two has not been recognised. Stuart explains this chapter, and the meaning of these witnesses, in the following way: In Rev. 6:11, the martyrs, supplicating for retribution upon the enemies and persecutors of the Church, are told that they must wait for awhile, until the number of martyrs becomes augmented, and the iniquity of their persecutors comes to its full completion. Against the judgments of heaven which are to overtake the latter, Christians in general are secured by the seal of God impressed upon their foreheads (chap. 7). Here, in chap. 11, which brings us to the close of the first catastrophe, we have a picture of the renewed and bitter efforts of the enemies of the Church to destroy it, even at the period when destruction was impending over themselves. In this way the reader is prepared to acquiesce in the doom which awaits them on the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet. Nor is this all. The long-suffering of God is thus displayed towards His once beloved people. They are exhorted to repentance while destruction is impending, in order that they may escape. Prophets, furnished with miraculous powers, like those of Moses and Elijah, so as to give full proof of their Divine mission, are sent to them. But they will not hear. When the time fixed by heaven for their probation is past, those prophets are given up to the persecuting fury of their enemies, and they fall a sacrifice. Yet the cause which they advocated is not rendered hopeless by this. It is not even weakened; for the martyrs are raised from the dead, and ascend in triumph to heaven. In other words, The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, for the Church becomes victorious by the deadly assaults made upon it. The enemies of religion may, indeed, bring upon themselves swift destruction by their malignity; they do so. But the Church will rise and triumph, and enjoy continued Divine protection and favour amid all the trials to which it can be subjected. That literally two, and only two witnesses were to appear in these times of peculiar wickedness; that they were to be literally raised from the dead, and ascend to heaven, etc.;we need not strive to disprove in commenting on such a book as the Apocalypse. But why are there two witnesses mentioned. Partly, because two are a competent number to establish any matter (see Deu. 17:6; Deu. 19:15; Num. 35:30; Joh. 5:30-33; Mat. 18:16). The apostles and disciples were sent out in pairs. Compare also the combinations, Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, Peter and John. The meaning is that a competent number of Divinely commissioned and faithful Christian witnesses, endowed with miraculous powers, should bear testimony against the corrupt Jews, during the last days of their commonwealth, respecting their sins. All beyond this is mere costume and symbol. Godets explanation runs along the same lines, but brings out some fresh and suggestive homiletic points. The last signalthat of the seventh trumpetis preceded, as the opening of the seventh seal had been, by a scene of an encouraging tendencythat of the two witnesses. This episode refers, as did the former of the two which prepared for the seventh seal, to the destinies of the Jewish people. This subject is so important that it is treated here in a little book, which forms, as it were, a parenthesis in the great book. It is the announcement (already anticipated in the prophetic vision itself) of the conversion of Israel. The faithful Jews, together with the hundred and forty-four thousand (chap. 7) are seen prostrated in the holy place before the golden altar (the symbol of Judaism) in an ideal temple; for the material temple is no longer in existence. They are awaiting the new revelation, which is to carry them on a step farther, into the most holy place. The mass of the people are given up to the Gentiles, who tread them under foot. The author here reproduces the exact words of Jesus: Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. John does not, any more than Jesus, use the expression, to tread under foot, in a literal sense. The subject in his mind is that of the moral domination of the Gentiles over Israel, and of the apostasy, becoming ever more and more general, of that ancient elect people, in abjuring the Divine principle of their national existence, and basely seeking to identify themselves with the heathen nations amongst whom they were scattered. Thus, whilst the elect part of the nation, by their unshaken fidelity, prepare themselves for a sacred mission, the mass of the peoplethat constitute the outer court given up to the Gentilesdegrade and materialise themselves more and more to the level of the heathen. In the midst of this defection appearas did in ancient times Enoch in the midst of the degenerate children of Seth, Moses before Israel corrupted by Egyptian idolatry, Elijah amongst the ten tribes who had become almost completely Paganisedthe two witnesses, whose preaching, as well as their dress and acts of power, preach repentance to Israel. Butand this is surprisingthe beast now appears upon the scene, though his coming has not yet been described. The reason is that the contents of the little book constitute a special prophecy within the great one. We shall see later on why the Antichrist thinks it expedient to leave Rome, his capital, and to take up his abode at Jerusalem. The two witnesses are killed by him, but they come to life again miraculously. The city is smitten with an earthquake, and one part of the inhabitants are swallowed up by it. The remainder of the people, and particularly those who have been specially reserved for these supreme moments, give glory to God, and are converted to Him. Accordingly, we shall find, in chap. 14, the hundred and forty-four thousand surrounding the Lamb between the time of the Advent and that of the destruction of the Antichrist. This picture is well adapted to encourage the Church in presence of the terrible conflict she is about to be called on to sustain. She knows now beforehand that she will have within humanity itself a powerful allythat is, the people of peoples, of which the elect part will occupy a central place in the Christian army, and form a kind of bodyguard of the Lamb.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev. 11:15. Christs Final Triumph.The book of Revelation is difficult to interpret. No principle of interpretation has yet gained universal acceptance. Some see in it mere historyblended human and Church history. Some would have us find chiefly the history of the Church, and only indirect references to nations or individuals. Some regard it as a story that is past. Others regard it as even now in its unfolding. And some treat it as the history of spiritual truth in its contact and conflict with error. Our difficulties arise from the fact that we have no wide and comprehensive view of Gods administration of the world, and purpose concerning it. We do not enter into Gods thought in guiding His world on its course through so many ages, sustaining it through so many changes, and peopling it with such an ever-teeming multitude of living beings. There must be some sublime end towards which God, by processes which we call slow, is ever moving. As surely as geological science unfolds the story of a series of material changes, running on through uncounted ages, preparing the earth for the abode of man, so surely is the history of our earth the story of great moral and spiritual changes and progressions, preparing man for some higher and sublimer destiny. And as we stand wondering over that record of geological eras, amazed that God should take so long to prepare the earth for man, so do we stand wondering over these moral and spiritual ages, these succeeding dispensations; this apparent ebb and flow, these triumphs and failures, these boundings, and walkings, and creepings, out of all which God is preparing man for the glory which is to be. The great end can never be lost out of Gods thought. So far as we can discern it, reading it under the symbol and imagery that veil, while they disclose, its mystery, it is this: the full restoration of the whole moral world to harmony with Himself. He is working to secure that all the wills of all moral beings should freely choose to be in accordance with, and submission to, His Divine Will. All humanity is to repeat after the Christ-man, Thy will be done. All the changes of the worlds history have been working towards this sublime end. Patriarchal simplicity, Jewish ceremonial, Pagan idolatry, civilised learning, unities of commerce, warrings of nations, blendings of races, emigration of surplus populations, and the special forces of Christianity and the Christian civilisationall these things may be thought of as winds from various quarters, blowing at various times, and in various degrees, pressing on the sails of the great vessel of humanity, and bearing it forward towards the love and service of the One Living God. If we are to get full possession of this great thought of God concerning humanity, we must first see that allevery oneof Gods human creaturos must be a subject of interest to Him. You may say, But surely no one ever doubts that God maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust? We readily admit it as a general interest to create, preserve, feed, and clothe; but what many of us have yet to see is, that God has a saving interest in every human creature He has madean interest of grace. He willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he turn from his wickedness and live. We gain new views of Gods dealing with the world when, emancipated from old prejudices, we can say, with St. Peter, Now I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but, in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him; or with Paul, who could stand before a company of Pagan Greeks, and argue with them on the ground of the universal Fatherhood. God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. He hath made of one blood all nations of the earth, hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and have our beingas certain, also, of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. Which of us is so fully in fellowship with Gods great purpose that he could stand before the superstitious Hindoo, the degraded savage from the islands of the seas, the wretched African from whom well-nigh the semblance of humanity itself has passed, and, without a faltering in his voice, assure them all that they were gathered up into the kindly thought of God, objects of the saving will of the great God that made them. Brethren in the one Divine creation, God wills them to be brethren too in the one Divine redemption. Till we can do that, without a question or a doubt, we prove that we are as yet out of sympathy with Gods thought for humanity. This world becomes a new world, this life a new life, moral influences new powers, when we can stand beside God and, as He does, take humanity itself into the great grasp of our love. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord of Hosts, and not that he should return from his ways and live? But if it is Gods will, Gods purpose, to bring the world into fellowship with Himself, the means employed must be suchwholly such, and only suchas He Himself is pleased to choose. Those means may be, to a large extent, beyond our full comprehension. Some we may have to use; some we may a little understand; the whole will be beyond us. We are sometimes found foolish enough even to test Gods ways by our ideas concerning the best ways. We say, These cannot be Gods ways, because they are not such as we should have taken. We even venture to test Gods plans by their seeming results, and say, These cannot be Gods ways, because they do not seem successful. Some say, At the present rate of conversions, how long will it take to convert the world? Men will try and prove to us that the increase of conversions is not equal to the increase of population, and therefore the present means, the preaching of the gospel, cannot be Gods means for converting the world. The answer to such strange calculations is very simple. We are only servants; we are not let into the secrets that belong to the Master. Servants have nothing to do with results and issues of work, only with faithfulness to duty. Moreover, we cannot measure results as God can. We could not make any true or trustworthy sum upon such a subject. And the uttermost apparent failure would not blot out one word of that command which ever animates Gods servants to consecrated toil, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature: he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned. God might, conceivably, have healed up the wounds of humanity by one touch of His mighty hand; He might have restored to harmony all the notes of creation, set ajar by sin, as in a moment; He might have pieced up again, set in order, all the broken fragments of the moral creation by one sublime exertion of His power. Did an evil force enter our social system, and disturb the relations of the planets, Gods flats could, in a moment of time, destroy that force, and restore the perfections of movement and of place. But God has no occasion for doing even that. He works in nature in accordance with the laws He has Himself impressed upon the creatures He has made. Instead of making a home for man in a week of seven days, He guided the working of the laws he had fixed in the original elements, and wrought a final witness as the issue of the conflicts and the unfoldings of ages. It may be conceivable that God could have forced our moral nature into a complete subjection to His will (I cannot conceive it, but perhaps some persons can); God could have driven sin away from His world with a breath. He has not, however, done so. He has been pleased persistently to act in the line of those laws according to which He created man, and especially in the line of that law, of personal libertyfree will, we call itwhich He made mans supreme dignity. So far as we can read the purpose of God in dealing with our world, He intends to bring men back to His love and favour entirely by the use of moral motives, moral influences. He means to move the heart of man by such exhibitions of Himself, and of His gracious relations, that the very heart of the world shall be won to Him. That is the meaning of the fact that all the moral influences affecting man for God seem to be gathered up into the one manifestation of God in Christ to the world. Moral force reaches its climax, its supreme development, in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. By that cross God touches the very inmost of the human heart. He speaks therein to man by the mightiest power that can reach him, the power of a self-sacrificing love. Jesus declared the sublime moral power that streams forth from Calvary when He said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. Now, if that is Gods highest power to move human hearts, and to draw men unto Himself; if God has, as it were, gone beyond Himself in the sacrifice of His Son; if that is His sublime Evangel, His gospel for the world, His way for winning souls;surely we cannot be wrong in preaching Christ the wide world over; we cannot be wrong in telling every human brother of the Lamb God has provided for a sin-offering. We cannot be wrong in sending out heralds to the most distant and most degraded places of the earth, to lift up, in sight of men everywhere, the cross of Jesus. Result or no result, success or no success, God surely knows the wisdom and grace of His own plan; it is enough for us, if, swayed ourselves by the moral power of the cross of Calvary, we give, we labour, we pray, that the whole world may one day be uplifted in the eternal light and love of that cross. The day is comingcertainly comingtowards it all holy living and all holy toiling are most positively tendingwhen the magnificent song of our text shall be sung by a ransomed and redeemed universeThe kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. This glorious hope has always been held before the Church, and it has exercised a most important influence on all its life and labour. That gospel which is the highest form of moral influence, gathers into itself, and uses up, all kinds of moral influence. It sways by the force of gratitude, deepening ever the service to which it calls by the thought of redemption, and ransom, and purchase by precious blood. It moves by personal affection; constraining by the force of our love to One whom we increasingly esteem as the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely. It excites the holiest ambitions; holds forth as inspiration the possibility of the noblest achievements; offers work of the highest character, and bids us aim at the spiritual conquest of the whole world. It touches our faculty of hope, paints for us a final victory in comparison with which the victories of all earths battle-fields are but as childrens soldier table-playa victory so sublime in its character, and so far-reaching in its issues, as shall make reasonable to our view all the years of waiting, all the faintings of hope deferred. The Church of Christ has found the blessing of this great hope for herself, for the nourishment of her own spirit, and the strengthening of her own faith. So far as the Church has been a living Church, it has found the value of this great hope. The more the Church rejoices in its privileges, the more does it long that its King should receive His full royal rights. When the Church has been flagging and failing, its renewal has come in visions of the glory of the day that is coming. Dimmed by the foul breath of the evil rife in an age covered over with crowding life-cares, the Church has known the dimness pass, and the covering be lifted off, when it caught sight again of the glory of that day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever. The Church has found the blessing of this hope in its times of decay and persecution. That is, whenever it has been a suffering Church. The story of Christs Church has been no even tale, no simple on-moving, and ever-growing towards its end. Sometimes the river has overflowed its banks, and hurried along with the swift current of revival and holy zeal; sometimes the waters have lain very low in the bed, and seemed scarcely to care to move onwards. Those were days of sluggishness and decline. Sometimes the full stream has moved slowly, noiselessly along, exhaling on either side its fertilising moistures. At times the kings of the earth have favoured Christianity, and it has had its days of prosperity and world-triumph. And, yet again, it has been a despised thing; it has known the holier days of trial and sorrow, of martyr fires, and wearying prison, and torturing rack. What has kept alive the faith, the fervour, the steadfastness of holy men and women in those suffering days? Surely it was their vision of the Lamb, who goeth forth conquering and to conquer. And not in her times of persecution only; in those other times of suffering, when the tides of evil rose high, and were driven on with fierce winds, when the Church seemed helpless to resist the desolating encroachments, and could only, with an infinite sadness, watch the sighthumanity drifting away into error, and superstition, and pride, and woe. Those are the most trying times for Christs Church. Then its faith is most severely tested. What holds the Church to its allegiance, save its persistent hoping for the day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ? Who that knows those wonderful letters written with such overflowing emotion by Samuel Rutherford but will remember how, in the shadows of his prison-house, his very soul thrilled within him in longing for the full royal rights of that King whom he so quaintly, but so tenderly, calls his sweet Lord Jesus? The Church has found the blessing of this hope in its days of toil and sacrifice. That is, whenever it has been a labouring Church. It has, indeed, always been a labouring and an aggressive Church. They would have us believe, in these days, that our forefathers were wrong in expecting the world would be converted through their sanctified labours. If they were wrong, it was a strange sort of wrong, for it exercised a most ennobling influence upon them. They are a good company. We may well join them. There is Paul, not counting his life dear if only he can get opportunities for lifting up Christ. Peter declaring he cannot but speak out the things he has seen and heard. Austin visiting the then benighted isle of Britain, so that he might lift up Christ to our forefathers. Luther, braving the opposition of those in authority, in rendering his testimony for Christ. But time would fail if I tried to speak of Huss, and Wickliffe, and Savonarola, and Bernard, and Whitefield, and Wesley, and Haldane, and Hill, and Moody, and all the host of devoted missionaries, who have gone forth, consecrating all life, all powers, to the service of their redeeming Christ. Witnesses for Christ when the witness was denied. Preachers of Christ when the Word fell on stopped ears. What was it sustained them in thus labouring, and ceasing their labour only with their life? It was the hope of that coming dayalways comingwhen the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Do you think that we, in these latter days, can afford to lose out of our lives the force, the impulse, the thrill, of this Divinely assured hope? Are we so strong that we can live our Christian lives, and render our Christian witness, well without it? In this cold, calculating, business age of ours, can our Christian life be vigorous and bright, and pure, without the passion of love and anticipation kindled by such a hope? In these days, when really devout and spiritual living is half scorned, can we be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, without the cheering of this hope? Longing to take our places among the Lords labourers; to be co-workers together with God in His redemptive scheme, light-holders for God; Safed cities crowning hill-tops, and guiding ever pilgrim spirits home to God. Longing to be among those who would have all men know the royal claims of Him whom we call Lord of lambs, the lowly; King of saints, the holy; among those who would lift up the cross in sight of a dying world; how shall we renew our zeal, refuse to be weary in our well-doing, lay ever more talent, more money, more time, more prayer, upon the altar of service, save by keeping ever in view the glory of that time when the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. We cannot do without these rapturous visions of the latter-day glory. The intensity, the holy passion, the consecrated zeal of a Christian life, fade out if we lose sight of that future. God has given us wonderful pictures of the scenes that are to be. Pearly gates, golden streets, waving palms, white-robed hosts; and then, reaching up beyond sensible figures into higher moral suggestions, God gives us the song of the days that are to be, when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. Perhaps these are the last days. The worlds coronation of Jesus may be nearer than we think. And what a day that will be! What a day for toilers, and for givers, and for men of prayer! What a day for the martyrs who have died for Christ! What a day for the missionaries, who have given their lives to witnessing for Christ! What a day for those who have been looking for its appearing in the only true way of looking, by earnest and faithful discharge of present duty for Christs sake! Sung by the chorus in the great oratorio, the words of our text have thrilled our hearts. But what shall be the chorus of the ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands? What will be the blended harmony of prophets and kings, and magi, and millions of the unlettered from east and west and north and south! Will you have a place in that great coronation of Jesus? Will you have a believers place? Will you have a workers place? Will you have a song of your own? Will you have a band round you of those whom you led to Christ? The day is coming. The glints of the dawning are already in the east. Soon the cry will go up, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Strauss Comments
SECTION 33
Text Rev. 11:1-14
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar; and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. 6 These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. 11 And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.
Initial Questions Rev. 11:1-14
1.
Compare the imagery of Rev. 11:1-2 with Zachariah chap. Rev. 2:1 ff. Discuss.
2.
Who are the two witnesses mentioned in Rev. 11:3?
3.
Is there any difference in the time during which the holy city shall be trod under foot (42 months), and the prophesying period of the two witnesses (1260 days)?
4.
What is the significance of the sack cloth in Rev. 11:3?
5.
What was the spiritual condition of Jerusalem as related in Rev. 11:8?
6.
What violation of Jewish burial custom do we find in Rev. 11:9?
7.
Does this second woe reveal that the havoc which is coming upon the earth is more intense than the first woe?
Further Preparations: Measuring the Temple; the Testimony of Two Witnesses
Chapter Rev. 11:1-14
Rev. 11:1
Abruptly the scene changes. John is commanded to measure the heavenly temple. The real Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and John is writing a quarter of a century after the destruction. This makes the perspective of The Revelation more perceptive as its scenes move back and forth between heaven and earth. Johns imagery is taken from Eze. 40:3. The measurement of time used in this section of scripture is borrowed from Dan. 7:25; Dan. 12:7. During this period of time Gods two witnesses will be prophesying (Rev. 11:3). The descriptive imagery of the two witnesses comes from Zec. 4:1-3; Zec. 4:11-14; Zec. 11:5-6. When their period of prophesying is finished they shall fall prey to The Beast. This Beast is described in the second part of The Revelation (chp. 12ff). Why was John commanded to measure the Temple? In view of Zec. 2:1 ff it is possible that the measuring was to set it apart from all that is unholy. He was to measure the sanctuary, that is where the holy of holies, etc., was located.
Rev. 11:2
The outside court, or the court of the Gentiles was not to be measured. John further sees that they will trample the holy city 42 months. (See appendix at the end of the commentary on Jerusalem: In History and Symbol!) For the first time in The Revelation a specific time is mentioned. The source of this time symbolism is Dan. 7:25; Dan. 12:7. This same period of time appears in three forms in Johns apocalypse 42 months in this verse, 1260 days in Rev. 11:3 and chapter Rev. 12:6, and a times, times and half a time in Rev. 12:14. Those who are pre-occupied with dating the events of The Revelation and the coming again of Christ, apparently know more about Gods time table than John did.
Rev. 11:3
Gods two faithful witnesses were empowered so that they will prophesy 1260 days having been clothed (in not in text) sack clothes. The period of their prophesying is the same as the 42 months when the holy city will be trampled in Rev. 11:2. The symbolism of sack clothes signifies repentance (see Jon. 3:5, Isa. 22:12, Jer. 4:8) who are the two witnesses mentioned in this verse? It is impossible to identify them with certainty.
Rev. 11:4
Some have identified them as Enoch and Elijah; others have identified them as Zerubbabel and Joshua, because of the two olive trees mentioned in Zec. 4:2-14. The most common interpretation is that they are Elijah and Moses. The present author believes that the most sensible position to take is to admit that we do not know! The teaching of the verse is clear enough regardless of who the witnesses are. In the midst of the persecution there still remains those who faithfully proclaim the Word of God. (For further examination of the two witnesses see Milligans, The Revelation of St. John, pp. 5969).
Rev. 11:5
Gods protection is extended to His faithful witnesses to the extent that if anyone wishes to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies; and if anyone should wish to harm them, he must (dei absolute necessity) be killed in the same manner. This verse is written in a first class conditional sentence which assumes the condition (of someone actually doing them harm) to be true to the actual state of affairs. John thus declares that being faithful to Gods word (as he was banned to Patmos) during the most intense stages of persecution will bring death to Gods witnesses.
The fire in the witnesses mouth could be the symbol of the Word of God as in Jer. 5:14I am making my words to become in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.
Rev. 11:6
It is this verse that some use to identify the two witnesses of Rev. 11:3 as Elijah and Moses. John states that these have power (the Greek word means both power and authority) to shut heaven in order that (hina clause or purpose clause) it may not rain during the days of their prophecy, and they have power (same Greek word as above) over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every (kind of) plague as often as they may wish. Elijah had the power to shut up heaven so that it did not rain (see 1Ki. 17:1); and Moses had the power over the waters to turn them into blood (see Exo. 7:20). Though we cannot identify the two witnesses with absolute certainty, the identification above is the most feasible of all known to this author. At least we can say that Elijah and Moses were prototypes for the two witnesses.
Rev. 11:7
When the period of their witnesses was finished the beast coming up out of the abyss will make war with them and will over come (niksei future indicative will as a matter of fact be the victor and the witnesses the defeated) and will kill them. Gods faithful witnesses will not only be defeated, but will be murdered for the crime of being committed to the Living God.
Rev. 11:8
Johns readers would immediately understand the imagery of this verse. Burials were the same day of the death in New Testament times (see A. C. Bouquet, Everyday Life in New Testament Times, Scribners, New York, 1953, pp. 149). In contrast to Jewish burial custom (and Christian) their corpse lie (no verb in the Greek text) on the open street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where indeed their Lord was crucified. The imagery of Sodom reveals iniquity, and Egypt spiritual and possibly physical slavery. Vincent (volume II Word Studies in the New Testament, op cit., see also Swete, op cit., p. 138) claims that the phrase the great city never refers to Jerusalem. But this seems to be improbable in light of the last identifying phrase where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev. 11:9
The whole world sees their corpse three and a half days, and they do not allow their corpses to be placed in a tomb. In the first image the singular form of corpse is used, but in the second image the plural is used because each body would require separate burial. The term translated do not allow (aphiousin means they were not permitted to bury the corpses.) The beast wanted the whole world to see that he had overcome Gods witnesses.
Rev. 11:10
How did the death of Gods two witnesses effect mankind? Mankind paid no more heed to the word of God than during the time of Noah and many of the prophets. The ones dwelling on the earth rejoice (chairousin present tense they are at present continually rejoicing) over them, and are glad (euphrainontai present tense continually making merry), and they will send gifts to one another; because these two prophets tormented (ebasenisan 1st aor. indicative disturbed their consciences) them that dwelt on the earth. The unChristian majority that dwelt on the earth rejoiced when the source (the two witnesses) of their tortured consciences was taken away. The testimony of the witnesses was unabated until they were killed. Relief came to the sinful hearts of the wicked only when they did not have to listen to the word of God which is sharper than a two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12).
Rev. 11:11
The exultation of the pagan world will be shortened. (Swete, op cit., p. 139). The imagery of the resurrected witnesses probably came from Ezekiels valley of dry bones (Eze. 38:1-14). The ungodly rejoicers got the surprise of their evil lives when a spirit of life (zs this is not merely biological life as this would require bios) from (ek out of God was the source of life as He always is) God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on the ones beholding (or looking on) them. Note the radical contrast from their making merry, and sending festival gifts to great fear. They thought that God and His faithful preachers were gone forever, but Gods purpose will not be thwarted by the most depraved form of evil dwelling in the hearts of men. Paul told young Timothy that the time would comeYea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2Ti. 3:12, see also 1Ti. 4:1 ff).
Rev. 11:12
After the resurrection of the witnesses (as Christs resurrection following His testimony on Calvary) they were called into the presence of God by way of an ascension (note Christs crowning victory through His ascension to the right hand of the father). Christ was also taken into glory on a cloud (Act. 1:9). The witnesses now had a divine vantage point from which to see their enemies.
Rev. 11:13
Even nature bore witness to the translated witnesses, through an earthquake. The ultimate result of its destruction was thatThe rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Note the radical change from joy to terror. In fact they were so terrified that they recognized the God of heaven. This is the first time, throughout the entire ordeal of the seals and up to the sixth trumpet, that sinful mankind acknowledged the Lord and gave Him glory! This was probably not conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ but rather action brought on by their extreme degree of fear.
Rev. 11:14
The preaching events brought the close of the second woe behold the third woe is coming quickly. (Reread Rev. 8:13 for the mentioning of the three woes.) The second woe was disclosed after the sounding of the sixth trumpet. The events revealed in chapter Rev. 10:1 Rev. 11:13 are the intervening occurrences before the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Rev. 11:15.
Review Questions Chapter 11
See Rev. 11:15-19.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Tomlinsons Comments
CHAPTER XI
THE MEASUREMENT OF THE TEMPLE
Text (Rev. 11:1-18)
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. 6 These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. 7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. 11 And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. 12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said,
The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because thou has taken they great power, and didst reign. 18 and the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.
Our attention is drawn in this chapter to the measuring of the temple, or the church as we shall find this temple to be.
Rev. 11:1 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.
This passage reminds us of a parallel one in the Old Testament, in the book that has been called the Apocalypse of the Old Testament. The parallel is found in (Zec. 2:1-2) Zechariah was a prophet to the remnant which returned out of Babylon after the seventy years captivity. The prophet sees a man with a measuring line in his hand, who upon being asked, whither goest thou? replied, To measure Jerusalem and to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
The significance of this parallel lies in the fact that Jerusalem was being rebuilt after its destruction. Likewise in the New Testament revelation the spiritual Jerusalem was being rebuilt after its destruction by the apostacy.
The spiritual Jerusalem of the New Testament is the church. Paul said, But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Gal. 4:26) There in the apocalypse of the Old Testament, Zion (Zec. 2:10) is being separated from everything not according to Gods word (or Babylon) and in the New Testament Apocalypse Gods people or Zion is being called out of the Babylon of confusion of apostacy.
As the temple in Zechariah was being made ready for Gods occupancy I will dwell in the midst of theeso in the apocalypse of the New Testament, the living church, the temple of God (1Co. 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God) or Zion(the city of the Living God, But ye are come to mount Zion, and into the city of the Living God (Heb. 12:22) is being rebuilt again and made ready for Gods occupancy and use.
In the Old Testament apocalypse we read, And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and in the last verse of the tenth chapter of Revelation, just before the beginning of the measurement of the temple, we read, Thou must prophesy, or teach, again before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
Shall we carefully analyze this verse. We note:
1.
First Who does this measuring.
It is not an angel who does the measuring but an apostle, even John himself. John is the sole remaining representative of the twelve apostles. In the giving of this little book in the beginning we read, that the church continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching (Act. 2:42). The apostles, in the beginning did the measuring of the church, Now after the long and terrible apostacy when the little book is again given to the world through the work of translation, John, an apostle measures the temple.
The church for centuries, during the dark ages, had been measured, not by the word of God, but by the decrees of church councils and the pronouncements of the popes, The measurement is committed to a representative of the apostolic group. Originally in the day of regeneration beginning at Pentecost. Jesus said of this body:
Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration (greek-palingenesio. or re-creation, making new the word occurs again in Tit. 3:5 not but works of righteousness which we have done, by his own mercy he hath saves us, by the washing of regeneration etc.)
When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Mat. 19:28)
Now, again, in the regeneration after the apostacy, they, the apostles, shall measure the church of Christ.
2.
Second shall we consider what measure is used. It is called a reed like unto a rod. A rod is often used as a symbol of correction.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron (Psa. 2:9)
I will visit their transgression with a rod. (Psa. 89:32)
A rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding, (Pro. 10:13)
A rod for the fools back (Pro. 26:3)
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. (Pro. 22:15)
And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. (Isa. 11:4)
So in correcting the departures from the truth a measure was given John by which he should measure the temple. The measure then is not a human standard, because it was given John. John did not make or choose this rod, nor did any of the apostolic body. The reed was given him. Therefore, it is a divine measure. A divine standard of measurement was given the apostles by Christ. That measure, or reed was the New Testament.
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. (Joh. 12:48)
The New Testament, written by the apostles, given to them by the inspiration through the Holy Spirit, who shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you, (Joh. 14:26), is the only divine standard with which the church, her worshippers, and her worship is to be measured.
3. Third, shall we consider what is measured. He was to measure the temple. This could not have been the Jewish temple in Jerusalem because it had been destroyed under Titus and his Roman legions in A.D. 70. So this refers, not to a material temple, (because we are still in the realm of symbolism) but a spiritual temple. We have already heard Paul in (1Co. 3:16) declare that obedient believers are the temple of the Living God.
In Ezekiel the fourteenth chapter, (which is too long to quote in its entirety here), the prophet sees a vision (he, too, is in the realm of symbolism) in which an angel was measuring with a reed a temple unlike any earthly, or material temple. The whole temple itself is exactly equal to the measurement of the reed, and each of its many chambers of which it is composed is also exactly equal to the measurement of the reed.
This strange and mysterious symbolism, representing what is apparently impossible perfectly symbolized the true church of Christ when it attains unto the fullness of the divine measure.
The whole temple is exactly the size, being neither larger nor smaller than the reed. So the true church of Christ corresponds minutely with the divine measurements of the New Testament description of that glorious institution. In other words, the New Testament church, Speaks where the New Testament speaks, and is silent where the New Testament is silent. It neither adds to where there is silence, nor subtracts from that which is spoken.
Again, as the temple in Ezekiels vision was made up of many chambers, each of which was the same size of the reed, or of the whole temple itself, so the church of Christ is composed of a multitude of congregations, or called out assemblies, each of which corresponds exactly to the reed of divine measurement, the New Testament.
The individual congregations should all speak the same things, said the apostle Paul. They should not differ in name, creed, worship and observance of the ordinances of Christ as do the denominationalism of the Sardis period.
Paul gives us the perfect seven of the divine pattern of the New Testament church. (Eph. 4:4-6) He says, There is
1
One body one organism, the church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18);
2
One Spirit life animating the one body, even the Holy Spirit. (Joh. 14:26) (1Jn. 4:1-3);
3
One Hope the certainty of Life eternal (Act. 23:6; 1Co. 15:19; Heb. 6:18-20)
4
One Lord one authority (Mat. 28:18 Luk. 2:11 Act. 2:25 Act. 10:36);
5
One Faith one confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (Mat. 16:16-18 Joh. 11:27-57; Joh. 12:1-50; Joh. 13:1-38; Joh. 14:1-31; Joh. 15:1-27; Joh. 16:1-33; Joh. 17:1-26; Joh. 18:1-40; Joh. 19:1-42; Joh. 20:1-31 Act. 8:37-40; Act. 9:1-43; Act. 10:1-43)
6
One Baptism one common practice, water immersion into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Mat. 28:19)
7
One God and Father of all God by creation and Father by recreation, Father of his one and only begotten Son (Joh. 3:16) and of all baptized believers by adoption (Rom. 8:15 Gal. 4:6-7)
We must also take note that not only were the temple and its worshippers measured, but its altar. It was on the altar that the sacrifice was offered, so the churches belief in the one atonement made by Christ is to be measured. This is very significant. The apostate church had taught the re-sacrifice of the Christ in the mass as conducted at the altar, though they claim it is unbloody. If it is a bloodless sacrifice it is entirely without efficacy, because without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22)
Neither was Christ to be re-sacrificed, because we read:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. . . . So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Heb. 9:25-28)
So we see He only returns once, so He could not return in every mass conducted. The Lords supper is the remembrance of a finished sacrifice. Only one absent needs to be remembered.
And does history record such a measurement? The most cursory examination of history will acquaint us with such a measurement. In the last chapter, the tenth, we found that the little Book, the Bible, was given to the world through the translation by the reformers, Wycliffe, Huss, Coverdale, Tyndale and Luther.
These reformers brushed aside the voice of the papacy, the writings of the fathers, tradition and decrees of various church councils as false reeds of measurement and accepted the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice.
Of course history also records that these reformers many times failed to continue to use this divine reed of measurement.
Luther substituted the Augsburg Confession and used it as a measuring reed. John Calvin resorted to the Westminster Confession of Faith; the Wesleys to the Book of Discipline, the church of England and Episcopalianism to the Thirty-Nine articles. But the principle survived and from all these groups there emerged in the dawn of the nineteenth century a movement of Restoration, which took as its divine reed of measurement Where the Bible speaks, we speak; and where the Bible is silent we are silent. These Christians of the Restoration movement understood what is involved in the symbol of measuring a building. They well understood that its limits are fixed in every direction. All that belonged to the church, as patterned after the New Testament model, was included; and whatsoever did not belong to that spiritual edifice was excluded.
Thus we, today are looking back upon a continued searching of the little Book for the old landmarks long obscured by the accumulation of the ecclesiastical debris of the centuries.
In this latter movement to restore the church in all her pristine glory and apostolic pattern there has been a seeking after the old paths and the whole church of that movement, as well as the thousands of individual call-out-assemblies are all one, each equal to the measurement of the divine reed.
Rev. 11:2. But the court which is without the temple leave (or cast out margin) and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles.
Note the word cast out, not leave out as in the King James version, is very forceful.
Those within by implication are Jews. We have already found in this book the word Jew is used to designate the true people of God, who are within. By the same token, and in contradistinction, the gentile world symbolizes those who are said to be without. In Rev. 22:15 those that are excluded are spoken of as without are dogs,that being the appellation applied to the Gentiles by the Jews, since dogs were ceremonially unclean animals.
In the physical temple of Jesus day the court without the temple was for the Gentiles, though they had precious little opportunity to enter to worship for the priests filled it with bleeting sheep, cooing doves and the barking of venders, accompanied by the jingle of the money changers!
The court without was not to be measured. Here is meant the court of the Gentiles which surrounded the temple itself. This is symbolical of the world, and since the court without is not to be measured then the world with its unregenerate sinners, of which the court was a type, was not to be measured, because it did not and could not come up to the divine standard of measurement.
And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. We will not go into the symbolism of the forty and two months at this time, but later. Five times this period is referred to in Scriptures.
The Holy City is a type of the true church, which is the city of the Living God (Heb. 12:22) and it is to be trodden down or oppressed for a period of forty and two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days. Since a day in prophetic symbolism represents one year, then this time period is one of twelve hundred and sixty years.
The Two Witnesses
Rev. 11:3-4 And I will give power unto my two witnesses and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three score clays, clothed in sackcloth.
By this verse and the context in which we find it we are evidently to understand these two witnesses are to testify concurrently during the same period of time that the Holy City is trodden under foot, and since they are to testify in sackcloth, they are to be in great tribulation during that length of time.
We may well pause to ask, Why two witnesses? Since we are living in a book of symbolism, the number two like other numbers found in this book must be symbolical.
Two, we may say, is the number of divine sufficiency in Gods testimony. Christ said, But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (Mat. 18:16)
Christ sent his disciples, who went forth witnessing, in pairs. Pairs are frequently encountered in the Scriptures. Moses and Aaron labored before all Israel; Joshua and Caleb brought back a favorable report concerning the land and together declared that We are more than able to go up and take the land; Haggai and Zechariah were twin prophets of the time of the rebuilding of the temple. On the missionary journeys Paul took another with him, sometimes Barnabas, at other times Silas and again Timothy.
On the evil side of things we meet with Jannes and Jambres.
Paul declared: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his council, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation. (Heb. 6:17-18)
We learn from this verse that they are Gods witnesses, so what they speak must be by divine inspiration.
The Two Olive Trees and Two Candlesticks
Furthermore we learn that these two witnesses are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks.
The purpose of a candlestick is to give light and that light is supplied by the burning of oil; evidently in this case, olive oil. The olive tree furnishes the oil required of the lamp to continue to burn and give light.
This reference to the two olive trees and two candlesticks harks back again to the apocalypse of the Old Testament, the book of Zechariah. They both are mentioned in the fourth chapter. Zechariah saw them, likewise in a vision where symbolism is the order of things. The angel asked Zechariah, knowest thou not what these be? and I said, no, my lord. Then said he, these are the two anointed ones (literally sons of oil) that stand by the Lord of the whole earth (Zec. 4:13-14)
This declares that Gods two witnesses are furnished continuously with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as typified by the constant flow of the golden oil through the golden pipes (Zec. 4:12)
I think we have enough information before us to identify the two witnesses. The little Book or the Bible is divided into two divisions or the Old and New Testaments. Here then, we have two testaments. The word testament signifies a witness, It is derived from the Latin word, testor, which means, I testify. The two testaments, then, are the two witnesses.
And both testaments, or witnesses are inspired by the Holy Spirit, the oil of the olive trees. Peter said of the Old Testament prophesy,
For the prophesy came not in old time by the will of men; but holy men of God spake as moved by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe. 1:21)
Again he declared in 2Pe. 3:1-2 :
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior.
Paul said: The household of God is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. (Eph. 2:20)
These two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments, testify of Christ. Jesus said of the Old Testament Scriptures Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. (Joh. 5:39)
In the new Testament, John, the author of Apocalypse said in (Joh. 20:31) These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life in his name.
One of the witnesses the Old Testament testifies of the Lord in type and shadow, and prophesy; the other the New Testament witness of the Christ in fact and fulfillment. These two witnesses are the Lords.
And to them He gives divine power to testify, because they are fed with the oil of inspiration, which is the Holy Spirit, one of whose names is the Comforter, or one who energizesgives power. Reading on:
Rev. 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; and if any man hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
They speak as one, for we read fire proceedeth out of their mouth. Jeremiah likens the word of God to a fire, and it is quite startling to learn that the fire of Gods anger is particularly directed against the prophets that speak and claim for their own utterances the authority of God, by saying, He saith. Hear Jeremiah:
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.
Behold I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. (Jer. 23:29-31)
Again the Lord said to Jeremiah: Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
He here uses the same word devour as Revelation employed in describing the destructive power of the fire of His word, or the two witnesses.
Paul says Every mans work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. (1Co. 3:13)
So Gods word shall try every teacher or prophet and every mans work, whether it be true or false.
Christ, you remember, fought against the teaching of compromise in the Bergamos period with the sword of His mouth, so it is significant that this destroying fire of his two witnesses is said to proceed from the mouth. And it is true that the word of God can both save and destroy. It can both justify and condemn. At the judgment bar of God the fate of all men will be decided by the word. Jesus said in His commission:
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mar. 16:15-16)
Rev. 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
In other words, while this is symbolic language, these two witnesses have the characteristics of Elijah, the prophet and Moses, the lawgiver. Like the former they have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and power like the latter over waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with plagues.
They two, collectively, have the power to do both.
Rev. 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony the thought here is, when they shall have made their testimony complete. This does not mean when they have ended testifying, but when it is complete or full.
The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and kill them. Where ever the word is fully, or completely proclaimed the beast will make war against the word to kill it. Did not Jesus tell his followers, When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. (Mat. 13:19)
A beast in Revelation is a symbol of a temporal power. The power that comes from the bottomless pit or the abyss we have already found to be Satanic, (Rev. 9:2-11). The beast then represents some devilish power or influence. This era, we shall find represents the great beast government upon which ecclesiastical dominion rides to great heights of power and dominion. According to the symbolism of this book, then, we are to understand that Gods two witnesses will be suppressed for a brief time by governmental authority, under the sway of Satan.
Rev. 11:8 The scene of their being overcome is next given: 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.
The last six words of this verse have caused some to think it refers to Jerusalem in Palestine, but this is not so, because we read, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. So the physical Jerusalem is positively not indicated here.
This term is used eight times in Revelation and is never used referring to the physical Jerusalem, It is used in contrast to the Holy City. Since the Holy City, we have found symbolizes the church, a wicked city would signify an apostate church and a corrupted religion.
The designations Sodom and Egypt are significant, Sodom with it sins and sorceries is a type of this apostate church, or city. Egypt, the house of bondage, typifies the followers of apostacy, in bondage to false teaching of that great city. Sodom speaks of moral and spiritual corruption, Egypt speaks of spiritual bondage and darkness, as well as cruelty and oppression.
Where our Lord was crucified is worthy of special attention. Later on in Revelation, we shall find that the apostate church is likened to a city resting on seven mountains. It is this city church which crucified our Lord!
The outstanding characteristic of the Roman church, whose seat of authority is the city resting on the seven Palatine Hills, is her innumerable crucifixions of our Lord. While she has crucified Him with the apostacy of false teaching and practice, we must ever remember that the heart and center of her worship, both of the living worshippers, the ministration of her priests, and the burial of her dead is the Mass.
And in the mass, under the false doctrine of transubstantiation, which claims the bread and wine are the literal body and blood of the Lord, she has Christ crucified millions, yes billions, of times. How well is it then designated, Where also our Lord was crucified. How much is written in this symbolic expression.
But since the next verse reveals how long these witnesses were to lie unburied, it now becomes the proper and logical time to interpret the expression which signifies how long these two witnesses shall prophesy before they are slain.
Back in Rev. 11:3, these two witnesses were to prophesy in sackcloth for a period of a thousand two hundred and three score days.
The Twelve Hundred and Sixty Days
Sackcloth was in Johns day a garment of mourning. It was a symbol of sorrow and tribulation. So we are informed then that the two witnesses, or the Word of God, shall testify in times of mourning and deep tribulation. There were to be oppositions, hinderances, restraints and efforts to stifle their testimony. Does history bear this out? Let him who runs also read.
The Roman Catholic church buried the manuscripts of the Word in the dust of neglect of its monasteries. Copies that were not thus lost were burned. Tischendorf found a monk at the convent of St. Catherine, as late as 1859 in the act of preparing to burn a manuscript which proved to be one of the three best preserved copies of the Bible. He induced the Czar of Russia to buy it and later it was sold to the British Museum for a quarter of a million dollars, where it now resides.
Besides neglect and destruction the Roman church took the Bible out of the hands of the common people and made it a crime for any one to possess a copy of it. Many martyrs died at the hands of the apostate church because of having read it and daring to preach its truths. Among such, a few names stand like mountain peaks above the plain of common humanity; namely John Huss, Wycliffe, Jerome, Savonarola, Latimer, Ridley etc.
Thousands were consigned to the stake for no greater crime than that of having in their possession the Holy Scriptures.
Then, besides all this, the Bible was buried in Latin, a dead language, which few understood. Even the masses were said in Latin. It has been a standing policy of the Papcy to refuse to circulate the two witnesses in the common vernacular. Truthfully, the witnesses did prophesy in sackcloth.
And this period of mourning was to be twelve-hundred and sixty days. This span of time is spoken of under various figures of speech, but all refer to the same length of years. In Dan. 7:25, the horn which arose out of the ten hors was to wear out the saints of the most High for a period of a time and times and half a time. This is generally understood to be a period of three years and a half years, or forty-two months, or 1260 days. Since a day in prophetic symbolism stands for a year, this would mean 1260 years.
In Rev. 11:2, the outer court was to be trodden down by the gentiles for forty-two months, or 1260 days, or years. In Rev. 11:3 the two witnesses were to prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days. The woman was fed of God in the wilderness for 1260 days, or 1260 years (Rev. 12:6). She is said to be nourished there for a time, and times and half a time, (Rev. 12:14) or three and one half years, or 1260 days or years. The same phraseology as used in Daniel.
So here we have five different passages in the Scriptures and all cover the same period of time in the history of the church, and all pertain to a long period of time of bitter persecution.
Since a day in prophetic symbolism represents a year, then horn referred to by Daniel will speak great words against the Most High for 1260 years. For 1260 years the Gentiles, or a world empire shall tread the church under foot. For 1260 years the Bible shall testify in sackcloth and, the womana type of the true church, shall flee into the wilderness, or be in hiding, where God shall feed her for that length of time.
Can we identify this period? History again is our right hand companion. The church suffered at the hands of two great powers, first, of Pagan Rome and second, of papal Rome, which came to preeminence and power upon the decline and fall of pagan Rome.
If the misfortunes of the Empire tended to enhance the prestige and power of the ecclesiastical government seated in Rome, much more did the final downfall of the Empire hasten that religious domination to fruition.
With the removal of the Emperor the bishop of Rome became ecclesiastical and temporal sovereign, The development, while gradual was none the less sure and irresistible. Paul in his time saw the mystery of iniquity already at work. Hear the apostle on this very beginning of departure from the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints and the rise of the man of sin:
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of his coming, even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. (2Th. 2:7-9)
Since the development is so imperceptible it is difficult to arrive at the exact year in the growth of papal power, which would be the beginning of the 1260 year period.
Earlier in this discussion of the apocalypse we briefly reviewed the life of Justinian who ascended the eastern throne in 527. He was a man of unusual ability, so much so that the time of his sovereignty became known as the Era of Justinian. He became the Restorer of the Empire by conquest, and the law given to civilization by his collection and publication of the Body of the Roman Law. But his activities did not end here. He took a strong hand in the affairs of the church also. Says Gibbon:
The reign of Justinian was a uniform yet various scene of persecution: and he appears to have surpassed his indolent predecessors, both in the contrivance of his laws and the rigor of their execution. The insufficient term of these months was assigned for the conversion or exile of all heretics; and if he still connived at their precarious stay, they were deprived under his iron yoke, not only of the benefits of society but of the common birthright of men and Christians. Gibbons Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire pages 528, 529Vol. v.
He further described how those who resisted these decrees and acts of persecution conducted themselves, On the approach of Catholic priests and soldiers, they grasped with alacrity the crown of martyrdom. Page 529, Vol. IV.
Gibbon then proceeds to relate how the church was drenched in the blood of the persecutions instigated by Justinian. Surely our two witnesses were then testifying in sackcloth. By A.D. 531, four years after his ascension to the Eastern throne, Justinian issued a decree which subjected the whole of Christiandom to the Roman pope.
DAubignes Reformation, Vol. 1, page 42 informs us that in A.D. 533, Justinian bestowed upon the Roman pope for the first time, the title of Rector Ecclesiae, or Lord of the churches.
Surely Pauls man of sin mentioned in 2Th. 2:3, has now been fully exposed to view and revealed to all history. The papacy, the mystery of iniquity, working from the days of the apostles, after centuries of struggle has come to the full bloom of ecclesiastical power.
The secular power has finally placed its stamp of approval upon the supremacy of the papacy and supported this royal sanction by inflicting persecution upon all who failed to bow the knee to papal Rome. The climax has now been reached in the long series of ecclesiastical encroachments upon the supremacy of Christ and the autonomy of the local church. The word of God is superceded by the word of papal Rome and the two witnesses begin their long period of testifying in the mourning of sackcloth.
At this time Daniels little horn has risen above its fellow sovereigns, the holy city, the true church begins to be trodden under the feet of Gentile government, both physical and spiritual. The true church is driven into the wilderness of hiding.
Now shall we continue our scriptural unfolding, or uncovering of the experiences of our two witnesses.
Rev. 11:8 And their dead bodies shall be in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev. 11:9 And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
In other words the death of these two witnesses will be such a conspicuous event that all nations shall take note of it and perceive it, and this event will bring rejoicing just as the angel says:
Rev. 11:10 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 dwell on the earth.
These witnesses prophesied, or taught the will of God and their warnings, exhortations, admonitions and denunciations against the apostacy tormented the dwellers of earth.
It has ever been so. The word of these two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments have always been tormenting to the wicked, morally or spiritually speaking.
The Bible may be a little Book, and those who proclaim it, few in number and of lowly mein, yet it is as Paul declares:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2Co. 10:4-5)
Now shall we take up the thread of history again. Going back to the date 533 A.D. when the man of sin was fully revealed in the ascension of the pope by secular decree to the Lord of the church, instead of Christ as head, we add 1260 years. This brings us up to the year A.D. 1793. Shall we let history tell us what notable event happened in that year. Did the testimony of the two witnesses suffer death at that time?
The church had become so apostatized and corrupt that the world swung like a pendulum to the other extreme, to skepticism, agnostician and outright infidelity. There came the age of free thinking and infidelity.
There were Voltaire and Rousseau in France; Frederick the great in Germany: Tom Paine, Hume, Bolingbroke and Gibbon in Britain, and Thomas Jefferson and Paine in America.
The head of all this infidelity centered in France. Voltaire predicted that in one hundred years the Bible would become extant. The crest of the storm broke in France. The nation arose in a mighty movement that became a crusade, the object of which was to abolish religion and enthrone atheism. France the mightiest nation on earth at the time, for the first and only time in history, by legislative enactment abolished all religion. The convention met and by law abolished not only the Bible, but God. Not even Russia, with all her infidelity has gone to this legislative extreme.
They abolished the old calendar and inaugurated a new one, the seven day week was suppressed, each month being divided into three periods of ten days each called decades and each day into ten parts. On Nov. 7, 1793 the revolutionists proceeded to abolish Christianity. They had dethroned the kings of earth; they proceeded to dethrone the King of heaven. The guillotine surplanted the cross. On Nov. 10, 1793 this madness culminated in the inauguration of the worship of reason. A mayor, or some popular leader, upon every tenth day would mount the altar and harangue the people concerning the achievements of the revolution and the privilege of living in the new era when no one was oppressed, either by the kings of earth or the King of heaven.
This convention began on Sept. 20, 1792 and ran for three years, to Oct. 26, 1795 or 749 days, to be followed by the Reign of Terror.
Gradually, saner heads began to take hold of the helm of state. One of the great movers to saner thinking was a deputy of the Third Estate, by the name of Robespierre. He wished to sweep away Christianity as a superstition, but he would stop at deism.
He did not believe a state could be established on atheism. He declared, If God did not exist it would behoove man to invent him. Shall we hear Myers at this juncture:
In a remarkable address before the convention on May 7, 1794, Robespierre eloquently defended the doctrines of God and immortality, and then closed his speech by offering for adoption this decree.
(1)
The French people recognize the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.
(2)
They recognize that the worship most worthy of the Supreme Being is the practice of the duties of man
The convention adapted the resolution with the utmost enthusiasm.
The two witnesses were to lie unburied for three days and a half, or three years and a half, since a day prophetically stands for a year, The enthronement of atheism lasted approximately three years and a half, when the French nation began to recover from its satanic madness. The atheistic decrees were repealed and Christianity acknowledged.
Rev. 11:11 And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon all them that saw them.
This signifies that the two witnesses regain their power and influence to testify. The witnesses were in sackcloth no longer. The age of religious toleration set in.
Summary
Thus we see that the man of sin was fully revealed in A.D. 533, when the pope became Lord of the church, dethroning, as it were the Christ. 1260 years later, the two witnesses were killed by the same legislative power which enthroned the Bishop of Rome as Rector Ecclesiae. But three years and a half later these atheistic enactments were repealed and an age was inaugurated which gave the two witness freer reign and activity than ever before.
The Bible began to be circulated around the globe. With the nineteenth century began a mighty movement to circumnavigate the globe with the Scriptures, until today they are translated into nearly eleven hundred languages and dialects. And the very house where Voltaire lived, who predicted the Bible would be an unknown book in one hundred years, became a printing house to print the Bible itself! This lends light to our next verse:
Rev. 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up higher, and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
This is still in the realm of symbolism. To be exalted up to heaven, symbolically, means to experience new power, influence and prosperity. An example of this usage is found in Christs statement concerning Capernaum:
And thou Capernaum, which art exalted into heaven, shall be brought down to hell. (Mat. 11:23)
And truly the enemies of the two witnesses have had ample opportunity to behold the exaltation of the two witnesses in the world wide circulation of the Bible throughout all the nations under heaven. Even the soldiers of the armies of the nations are furnished with copies of the Bible and that by the millions in number! Bible Societies date from this period which also marks the era of modern missionary endeavor.
No wonder the next verse follows naturally and logically.
Rev. 11:13 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.
Remembering always that the great city referred to is the apostate church in contradistinction to the holy city the true church, we also remember that the Roman Empire in its downfall divided into ten horns, or, kingdoms, of which France was one of the ten. So a tenth part of the city fell from papal domination and inaugurated the age of religious freedom and toleration.
And the same hour was there a great earthquake. An earthquake symbolized a great change. From a monarchy France changed to a republic. Says Myers:
The revolution having accomplished its work in France, having there destroyed Royal despotism and abolished class privilege, now set itself about fulfilling its early promise of giving liberty to all peoples. In a word, the Revolution became what has been called an armed propagandaShe would make all Europe like herself. Herself a republic, she would make all nations republic.
Myers Medieval and Modern History page 586
Myers further relates:
From the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 until his downfall in 1815 the tremendous struggle went on almost without intermission. It was the war of the giants. Europe was shaken from end to end with such armies as the world had not seen since the days of Xerxes.
Myers. Medieval and Modern History page 553.
Then there was another earth shaking event. Frances soldiers excited an insurrection in Rome, made the pope a prisoner and proclaimed the Roman Tiberine Republic. Napoleon declared the pope was no longer a secular prince and took possession of his domains. Pope pius straightway excommunicated the Emperor, who thereupon arrested him, and for three years held him a state prisoner. He further removed the college of cardinals to Paris. His ambition was that Paris would become the capital of Christendom and he would govern the religious as well as the political world.
At the same time the two witnesses were exalted in the new birth of freedom, an earth quake was shaking Europe. This was a religious and political earthquake.
The slaying of seven thousand men may well represent the wholesale destruction of royalty, of rank and nobility in France. The guillotine speaks eloquently here how thousands fell in the days of the Reign of Terror. Kings, Queens, Dukes-all fell. Paris became hardened to the sound of carts lumbering through the streets, carrying distinguished and insignificant people to the knife.
Around the guillotine gathered the terrible knitting woman of whom Dickens tells in his book The Tale of Two Cities. These knitters stopped in their counting of stitches only long enough to check the heads as they fell from the descending knife.
Rev. 11:14 The second woe is past; and behold the third woe cometh quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet Sounds
Rev. 11:15 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.
This is the seventh trumpet of the seventh seal, which brings the final victory and consummation of the age. Here is the last great triumph. It is the brightness of Zions glad morning, which ushers in the reign of Christ and the instrumentality by which this final victory is brought about is the exaltation of the two witnesses, or the world-wide conquest of Gods Word.
The heavenly citizens join in the paen of praise.
Rev. 11:16 The four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell on their faces, and worshipped God.
This is the first we have beheld these princes of heaven since the opening of this great vision of the seven seals and the seven trumpets with its parenthetical interludes. And what is their song? Hear them:
Rev. 11:17 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 has reigned.
They sing of the eternality of Christ, the great I AMthe self-existent One. While it may have seemed to the Saints that Christ was not reigning during this long period from Pentecost, when Christ sat down at the right hand of God, to the end of the gospel age, yet he was reigning and was able to bring to pass his will in the end. And now John reveals the distress of the nations at the time of judgment, and the reward of the saints.
Rev. 11:18 And the nations were angry and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged.
This is a vision of the judgment day. He continues:
And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great:
This the reward for which the saints waited who had cried How long O Lord, Holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
They are now blessed with the eternal reward while those who persecuted them also received the reward of Gods revenge. They are destroyed.
And shouldest destroy them which should destroy the earth.
The nineteenth verse begins a new series of visions which belongs to our next consideration. We have now studied two series of visions given to John.
The First was of the seven church periods as he was in the Spirit on the Lords Day.
(Rev. 1:10) the history of the spiritual welfare of the church is given, covering her life from Pentecost to the end.
The Second was of the political development of the Roman Empire as it effected the church. This is the period of the seven seals and seven trumpets, which also runs from Christs enthronement on the right hand of God, as proclaimed by Peter on Pentecost, to the blast of the seventh trumpet and the time of the dead, or the resurrection of the dead for judgment. Paul referred to this last trump when he spoke of the resurrection. He saw there the resurrection of the righteous:
Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1Co. 15:51-52)
So we see that our first two visions begin at the same starting pointPentecost, and ends at the same point of timeThe Judgment.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) And there was . . .Translate, And there was given to me a reed like a rod (we must omit the words and the angel stood), saying. It is not said by whom the reed was given, nor are we told who speaks the command. The whole transaction is impersonal. The reed, like a measuring rod, is given him, and at the same time the command is given to arise and measure the Temple, and the altar, and them that worship in the Temple. Here, again, we find the basis of the vision in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was brought, in vision, to a high mountain, and saw a man with a line of flax (for measuring long distances) and a measuring line (for shorter distances). But, more probably, the vision of Zechariah was in the seers mind (Zec. 2:1-2), for the vision there of the man with the measuring rod to measure Jerusalem is followed, in the fourth chapter (Zec. 4:1-6), by the vision of the two olive-trees, which are distinctly identified with the two witnesses in the present chapter (see Rev. 11:3-4). The Temple, altar, and worshippers are to be measured. The measuring implies the protecting of, or the token of a resolve to protect, a portion of the sacred enclosure from desecration. The measuring, like the sealing of Revelation 7, is a sign of preservation during impending dangers. To understand what is thus measured out for protection we must remember that there are two Greek words which are rendered Temple: the one (hieron) signifies the whole compass of the sacred enclosure, including the outer courts, porches, porticoes, and other buildings subordinated to the Temple itself; the other (naos) is the Temple itself, the house of God, the Holy and Holy of Holies. When it is said that Christ taught the people in the Temple, the first of these words is used; and it may be supposed that in one of the porches or courts of the sanctuary our Lord carried on His teaching. But when Zacharias is described as going into the Temple, the word is the second (naos), for he went into the Temple proper, and left the people in the outer court, or court where the brazen altar stood. It is the second of these words which is used here: the Temple proper, the naos, the house of God, is measured, together with the altar. We are not told which altar is intended. It is at least too hasty to say that it must be the altar of incense, as this alone was in the Temple proper; for the explicit direction to measure the altar sounds like an extension of the measured area, and may perhaps mean that some portion of the court reserved for Israel is to be included in the measurement. The next verse, however, seems to imply that every spot outside the Temple proper was given up to the Gentiles, and was not to be measured. It is perhaps wisest, therefore, not to settle too definitely. The gist of the measurement is the preservation of the true, invisible Church, the Church within the Church; and everything necessary to the worshipTemple, altar, worshippersall are reserved. There will always be the real and the conventionalthe true and the formal Christian; always those who profess and call themselves Christians, and those who hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. These last are the called and chosen and faithful (Rev. 17:14), the sealed who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and find therefore their safe lodging in the night of danger under the shadow of the Almighty (Psa. 91:1; comp, also the whole Psalm, especially Rev. 11:4-5; Rev. 11:9-13;.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 11
ANTICHRIST ( Rev 11:1-19 ) In the passages of the Revelation which we are now about to approach we will on many occasions meet the figure of Antichrist. This figure has exercised a strange fascination over the minds of men and many have been the speculations and theories about him. It will, therefore, be convenient to collect the material about Antichrist at this stage and to try to piece it into a connected whole.
We may lay it down as a general principle that Antichrist stands for the power in the universe which is against God. Just as the Christ is the Holy One and the Anointed King of God, so Antichrist is the Unholy One and the King of all evil. Just as the Christ is the incarnation of God and goodness, so Antichrist is the incarnation of the Devil and of evil.
The idea of a force opposed to God was not new. Antichrist had his predecessors long before the days of the New Testament; and it will help if we look first at some of the older pictures, for they left their mark on the New Testament picture.
(i) The Babylonians had a myth in regard to the creation of the world which they shared with all the Semitic peoples and with which the Jews must have come into contact. This myth painted the picture of creation in terms of a struggle between Marduk the creator and Tiamat the dragon, who stands for primaeval chaos. There was a further belief that this struggle between God and chaos would be repeated before the world came to an end.
This old belief in the struggle between the creating God and the dragon of chaos found its way into the Old Testament and is the explanation of certain obscure passages there. Isaiah tells of the day when God will slay the leviathan and the crooked serpent and the dragon that is in the sea ( Isa 27:1). In Jewish thought this ancient dragon of chaos came to be known as Rahab. Isaiah says: “Was it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the dragon?” ( Isa 51:9). When the Psalmist is recounting the triumphs of God, he says: “I will mention Rahab” ( Psa 87:4). “Thou didst crush Rahab like a carcass,” he says ( Psa 89:10). Here is one of the ancestors of the Antichrist idea and that is one of the reasons why the dragon idea reappears in the Revelation ( Rev 12:9).
(ii) There is the Belial–or, as it is sometimes called, Beliar–idea. The word Belial frequently occurs in the Old Testament as a synonym for evil. An evil man or woman is called a son or daughter of Belial. Eli’s wicked sons are sons of Belial ( 1Sa 2:12). When Hannah was silently praying for a child in the Temple, Eli thought that she was drunk but Hannah says that she is not a daughter of Belial ( 1Sa 1:16). The wicked Nabal is called a son of Belial ( 1Sa 25:17; 1Sa 25:25). One of Shimei’s insults was to call David a son of Belial ( 2Sa 16:7). The false witnesses produced by Jezebel against Naboth are sons of Belial ( 1Ki 21:10; 1Ki 21:13), as are Jeroboam’s revolutionary followers ( 2Ch 13:7). The exact meaning of the word is in doubt. It has been taken to mean prince of the air, hopeless ruin, worthlessness. Between the Testaments Belial came to be regarded as the chief of the demons. In the New Testament the word occurs only once: “What accord has Christ with Belial?” ( 2Co 6:15). There it is used as the antithesis of Christ. It may well be that this idea came in part at least from the Persian religion with which the Jews came into contact. Persian religion, Zoroastrianism, conceived of the whole universe as the battleground in which the struggle was fought out between Ormuzd, the god of light, and Ahriman, the god of darkness. Here again we have the conception of a force in the world opposed to God and fighting against him.
(iii) There is a sense in which the obvious Antichrist is Satan, the Devil. Sometimes Satan is identified with Lucifer, the son of the morning, the angel who in heaven rebelled against God and was cast down to hell. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!” ( Isa 14:12). It is easy to find instances in which Satan–the very name means the Adversary–acted in such a way as to overturn the purpose of God, for it is his very nature to do so. Such an instance was when Satan persuaded David to number the people in direct contravention of the command of God ( 1Ch 21:1). But though Satan is the direct opponent of God, he remains an angel, whereas Antichrist is a visible figure upon earth in which the very essence of evil has become incarnate.
(iv) There is a sense in which the development of the idea of the Messiah made the development of the idea of Antichrist inevitable. The Messiah, God’s Anointed One, is bound to meet with opposition; and that opposition is entirely likely to crystallize into one supreme figure of evil. We must remember that Messiah and Christ mean the same thing, being the Hebrew and the Greek respectively for The Anointed One. Where there is the Christ, there will of necessity be the Antichrist, for so long as there is sin there will be opposition to God.
(v) In the Old Testament there is more than one picture of the divine battle with the assembled opposition to God. We find such a picture in the struggle with Gog and Magog ( Eze 38:1-23), and in the destruction of the destroyers of Jerusalem ( Zec 14:1-21).
But, so far as the later Jews were concerned, the peak of the manifestation of evil was connected with one terrible episode in their history. This is commemorated in Daniel’s picture of the little horn, which waxed great even against heaven, which stopped the daily sacrifice, which cast down the sanctuary ( Dan 8:9-12). The little horn stands for Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria. He determined to introduce Greek ways, language and Greek worship into Palestine, for he regarded himself as the missionary of Greek culture. The Jews resisted. Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Palestine and captured Jerusalem. It was said that eighty thousand Jews were either slaughtered or sold into slavery. To circumcise a child or to possess a copy of the Law was a crime punishable by death. History has seldom, or never, seen so deliberate an attempt to wipe out the religion of a whole people. He desecrated the Temple. He erected an altar to Olympian Zeus in the Holy Place and on it sacrificed swine’s flesh; and he turned the rooms of the Temple into public brothels. In the end the gallantry of the Maccabees restored the Temple and conquered Antiochus; but to the Jews Antiochus was the incarnation of all evil.
It can be seen that the figure of Antichrist was taking shape already in the Old Testament; the incarnation of evil is an idea that is already there.
We now turn to the idea of Antichrist in the New Testament:
(i) There is very little mention of the Antichrist idea in the Synoptic Gospels. The only real occurrence is in the chapters which deal with the end and the signs of the end. There Jesus is represented as saying: “Then if any one says to you, ‘Lo, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” ( Mat 24:23; Mat 24:44; Mar 13:6; Mar 13:22; Luk 21:8). In the Fourth Gospel Jesus is represented as saying: “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive” ( Joh 5:43). There the idea of Antichrist is rather that of false teaching, leading men away from true loyalty to Jesus Christ, a line of thought which, as we shall see, occurs again in the New Testament.
(ii) One of the main pictures of Antichrist is that of the Man of Sin in 2Th 2:1-17. Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of that which he had already taught them by word of mouth and of that which was an essential part of his teaching. He says: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you this?” ( 2Th 2:5). In this picture there is first to be a general falling away; then the man of sin will come who will exalt himself above God and claim the worship which belongs to God by right, and work lying signs and wonders which will deceive many. At the moment when Paul is writing there is something which restrains this final manifestation of evil ( 2Th 2:7). In all probability Paul means the Roman Empire, seen by him as keeping the world from disintegrating into the chaos of the last time. Here Antichrist is concentrated into one person who is the very essence of evil. This rather connects itself with the Beliar idea of the Old Testament and with the conflict of light and darkness in the Persian world view.
(iii) The idea of Antichrist occurs in the Letters of John. It is, in fact, only there that the actual word occurs. In the last time Antichrist is to come; in the times in which John writes many Antichrists have come; therefore, says John, they know that they are living in the last time ( 1Jn 2:18). He who denies the Father and the Son is Antichrist ( 1Jn 2:22). In particular he who denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is Antichrist ( 1Jn 4:3; 2Jn 1:7). The supreme characteristic of Antichrist is the denial of the reality of the Incarnation.
Here again the main connection of Antichrist is with heresy. Antichrist is the spirit of falsehood which seduces men from the truth and leads them into mistaken ideas which are the ruin of the Christian faith.
(iv) It is in the Revelation that the fullest picture of Antichrist is painted and it occurs in more than one form.
(a) In Rev 11:7 there is the picture of the beast from the abyss, who is to slay the two witnesses in Jerusalem and who is to reign for forty-two months. This gives us the picture of Antichrist as coming, as it were, from hell, to have a terrible and destructive, but limited, time of power. In this picture there is at least some connection with the Daniel picture of Antiochus Epiphanes as the little horn. That is certainly where the period of forty-two months comes from, for that was the period during which the terror of Antiochus and the desecration of the Temple lasted.
(b) In Rev 12:1-17 there is the picture of the great red dragon, who persecutes the woman clothed with the sun, the woman who begets the man child. This dragon is ultimately defeated and cast out of heaven. The dragon is definitely identified with the old serpent the devil ( Rev 12:9). This has clearly some kind of connection with the old myth of the dragon of chaos who was the enemy of God.
(c) In Rev 13:1-18 there is the picture of the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns, which comes from the sea, and the other beast with the two horns, which comes from the land. There is no doubt that what is in John’s mind is the terror and the savagery of Caesar worship; and in this case Antichrist is the great begetter of persecution of the Christian Church. Here the idea is of cruel, persecuting power, bent on the utter destruction of Christ and his Church.
(d) In Rev 17:3 we have the picture of the scarlet coloured beast, with the seven heads and the ten horns, on which the woman called Babylon is seated. We are told that the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. In the Revelation Babylon symbolizes Rome and Rome was built on seven hills. Clearly this picture stands for Rome and Antichrist is Rome’s persecuting power unleashed upon the Church.
It is of great interest to note the change here. As we have seen, to Paul, when he wrote Second Thessalonians, Rome was the one power which restrained the coming of Antichrist. In Rom 13:1-7 Paul writes of the state as divinely appointed and urges all Christians to be loyal citizens. In 1Pe 2:13-17 the order to Christians is willingly to submit themselves to the government of the state, to fear God and to honour the king. In the Revelation there is a world of difference; times had changed; the full fury of persecution had broken out; and Rome had become to John the Antichrist.
(v) We note one last element in the picture of Antichrist. With the old Jewish idea of this anti-God power and with the Christian idea of a power who was the incarnation of evil, there combined an idea from the Graeco-Roman world. The worst of the Roman Emperors in the early days was Nero who was regarded as the supreme monster of iniquity, not only by the Christians, but also by the Romans themselves. Nero died by suicide in A.D. 68, and there went up a sigh of relief. But almost immediately there arose the belief that he was not dead and that he was waiting in Parthia to descend on the world with the terrible hordes of the Parthians to let loose destruction and terror. This idea is called the Nero redivivus, the Nero resurrected, myth. In the ancient world it was widespread more than twenty years after Nero was dead. To the Christians, Nero was a figure of concentrated evil. It was he who had put the blame of the great fire of Rome on to the Christians; it was he who had initiated persecution; it was he who had found the most savage methods of torture. Many Christians believed in the Nero redivivus myth; and frequently–as in certain parts of the Revelation–Nero redivivus and Antichrist were identified and the Christians thought of the coming of Antichrist in terms of the return of Nero.
THE VISION OF THINGS TO COME ( Rev 11:1-19 continued)
11:1-19 A measuring rod like a stall was given to me, with the instructions: “Rise and measure the Temple of God, and the altar and those who worship there. But leave out of the reckoning the outer Court which is outside the Temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months.
And I will give the task of prophesying to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands who stand before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and whoever tries to hurt them must be thus killed.
These have the authority to shut up the heaven so that rain may not fall during the period for which they prophesied a drought; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they wish.
When they shall have completed their witness, the beast which comes up from the abyss will make war with them and will overcome them and will kill them. Their corpses shall lie in the street of the great city, whose spiritual name is Sodom and Egypt, and where their Lord also was crucified. There are those of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations who are to see their bodies for three and a half days, and they will not allow their bodies to be placed in a tomb. Those who inhabit the land will rejoice over them and will make merry and will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets tortured those who inhabit the land.”
After the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon all who saw them. They heard a great voice from heaven saying to them: “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. At that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth of the city collapsed and seven thousand persons were killed, and the rest of the people were in fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second woe is gone and, behold, the third is coming quickly.
The seventh angel sounded a blast on his trumpet and there came great voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
The twenty-four elders, who sat upon their thrones in the presence of God, fell down upon their faces, and worshipped God saying: “We give you thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, that you have taken your supreme authority and that you have entered upon your reign. The nations have raged, and your wrath has come, and there has come the time to judge the dead, and to give their reward to your servants the prophets and to God’s dedicated people and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and to destroy those who are the destroyers of the earth.”
And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and in the Temple there was seen the Ark of the Covenant, and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great storm of hail.
It is better to see this chapter as a whole, before we make any attempt to deal with it in detail. It has been said that it is at one and the same time the most difficult and the most important chapter in the Revelation. Its difficulty is obvious and it contains problems of interpretation about whose solution there can be no real certainty. Its importance lies in the fact that it contains a deliberate summary of the rest of the book. The seer has eaten the little roll and taken into his mind the message of God; and now he sets it down, not yet in detail but in the broad lines of its development. So certain is he of the course of events that from Rev 11:11 he alters the tense of his narrative and speaks of things still in the future as if they were past. Let us then set out the scheme of this chapter which is also the scheme of the rest of the book.
(i) Rev 11:1-2. Here is the picture of the measuring of the Temple. As we shall see, the measuring is closely parallel to the sealing and is for the purposes of protection when the demonic terrors descend upon the world.
(ii) Rev 11:3-6. Here is the preaching of the two witnesses who are heralds of the end.
(iii) Rev 11:7-10. Here is the first emergence of Antichrist in the form of the beast from the abyss, and the temporary triumph of Antichrist which results in the death of the two witnesses.
(iv) Rev 11:11-13. Here follows the restoration to life of the witnesses and the consequent repentance and conversion of the Jews.
(v) Rev 11:14-19. Finally, here is the first sketch of the final triumph of Christ, the thousand years of his initial reign, the rising of the nations, the defeat of the nations and the judgment of the dead, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God and of his Anointed One.
We now proceed to examine the chapter in detail.
The Measuring Of The Temple ( Rev 11:1-2)
To the seer is given a measuring rod like a staff. The word for measuring rod is literally reed. There were certain grasses which grew with stalks like bamboo canes as much as six or eight feet high; these stalks were used as measuring rods. The word rod actually stands for a Jewish unit of measurement, equal to six cubits. The cubit was originally the space from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and was reckoned as seventeen or eighteen inches; so the rod is equal to about nine feet.
The picture of measuring is common in the visions of the prophets. We find it in Ezekiel, Zechariah and Amos ( Eze 40:3; Eze 40:6; Zec 2:1; Amo 7:7-9); and no doubt these previous visions were in John’s mind.
We find the idea of measuring used in more than one way. It is used as a preparation for building or for restoration and also as a preparation for destruction. But here the meaning lies in preservation. The measuring is like the sealing which is described in Rev 7:2-3; the scaling and the measuring are both for the protection of God’s faithful ones in the demonic terrors to descend upon the earth.
The seer has to measure the Temple, but he must omit from his measurement the outer court which has been given over to the Gentiles. The Temple in Jerusalem was divided into four courts, converging, as it were, upon the Holy of Holies. There was the Court of the Gentiles, into which Gentiles might come but beyond which they might not pass under penalty of death. Between it and the next court was a balustrade, into which were set tablets warning any Gentile that to come further was to be liable to instant death. Next came the Court of the Women beyond which women could not come; then the Court of the Israelites beyond which ordinary men could not come. Lastly, there was the Court of the Priests, which contained the Altar of the Burnt-Offering, made of brass, the Altar of Incense, made of gold, and the Holy Place; and into this court only the priests might come.
The seer is to measure the Temple. But the date of the Revelation, as we have seen, is somewhere about A.D. 90; and the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in A.D. 70. How, then, could the Temple be measured?
The solution lies in this. Almost certainly John is taking over a picture which had already been used. Almost certainly this passage was originally spoken or written in A.D. 70, during the last siege of Jerusalem. During that siege the party of the Jews who would never admit defeat were the Zealots; they would rather die to a man, as indeed they ultimately did. When the walls of the city were breached, these Zealots retired into the Temple to make a last desperate resistance there. It is practically certain that some of their prophets said: “Never fear. The Gentile invaders may reach the outer Court of the Gentiles and defile it; but they will never penetrate into the inner Temple. God would never allow that.” That confidence was disappointed; the Zealots perished and the Temple was destroyed; but originally the measuring of the inner courts and the abandoning of the outer court stood for the Zealot hope in those last terrible days.
John takes this picture and completely spiritualizes it. When he speaks of the Temple, he is not thinking of the Temple building at all which had been blasted out of existence more than twenty years before. For him the Temple is the Christian Church, the people of God. This picture meets us repeatedly in the New Testament. The Christians are living stones, built into a spiritual house ( 1Pe 2:5). The Church is founded on the apostles and the prophets; Jesus is the corner stone; the whole Church is growing into a holy temple in the Lord ( Eph 2:20-21). “Do you not know,” says Paul, “that you are God’s temple?” ( 1Co 3:16; compare, 2Co 6:16).
The measuring of the Temple is the sealing of the people of God; they are to be preserved in the terrible time of trial; but the rest are doomed to destruction.
The Length Of The Terror ( Rev 11:1-2 Continued)
The length of the terror is to be forty-two months; the time of the preaching of the witnesses is to be twelve hundred and sixty days; their corpses are to lie on the street for three and a half days. Here is something which occurs again and again (compare Rev 13:5; Rev 12:6); and occurs in still another form in Rev 12:14 where the period is a time, times and half a time. This is the famous phrase which goes back to Daniel ( Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7). We have to enquire, first, into the meaning of the phrase and, second, into its origin.
Its meaning is three and a half years. That is what forty-two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days–by Jewish reckoning–are. A time, times and half a time is equal to one year plus two years plus half a year.
The origin of the phrase comes from that most terrible time in Jewish history when Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, tried to force Greek language, culture and worship upon the Jews and was met with the most violent and stubborn resistance. The roll of the martyrs was immense but the dreadful process was finally halted by the rising of Judas Maccabaeus.
Judas and his heroic followers waged guerrilla warfare and won the most amazing victories. Finally Antiochus and his forces were driven out and the Temple was restored and cleansed. The point is that this dreadful period lasted from June 168 B.C. to December 165 B.C. (To this day the Jews celebrate in December the Festival of Hanukah which commemorates the restoration and the cleansing of the Temple.) That is to say this dreadful time lasted almost exactly three and a half years. It was during that time that Daniel was written and the phrase was coined which ever afterwards was stamped on the Jewish mind as indicating a period of terror and suffering and martyrdom.
The Two Witnesses ( Rev 11:3-6)
It was always part of Jewish belief that God would send his special messenger to men before the final coming of the Day of the Lord. In Malachi we hear God say: “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me” ( Mal 3:1). Malachi actually identifies the messenger as Elijah: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes” ( Mal 4:5). So, then, in our passage we have the coming of the messengers of God before the final contest.
These messengers have the task of prophesying; they will prophesy for 1,260 days, that is for three and a half years, which, as we have seen, is the period always connected with terror and destruction to come. Their message will be sombre, for they are clothed in sackcloth. It will be a message of condemnation; to listen to it will be like a torture and the people will be glad when the two witnesses are killed ( Rev 11:10).
(i) Some scholars have entirely allegorized this passage. They see in the two witnesses the Law and the Prophets, or the Law and the Gospel, or the Old Testament and the New Testament. Or, they see in the two witnesses a picture of the Church. Jesus had told his followers that they must be witnesses to him in Jerusalem, in Judaea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth ( Act 1:8). Those who explain the two witnesses by the witness of the Church explain the number two by referring to Deu 19:15, where it is said that if a charge is brought against anyone it must be confirmed by the evidence of two witnesses. But the picture of the two witnesses is so definite that it seems to refer to definite persons.
(ii) The two witnesses have been taken to be Enoch and Elijah. Neither Enoch nor Elijah was said to die. “Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him” ( Gen 5:24); Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind and in a chariot of fire to heaven ( 2Ki 2:11); and Tertullian (Concerning the Soul, 50) refers to a belief that they were being kept by God in heaven to bring death to Antichrist.
(iii) Much more likely the witnesses are Elijah and Moses. Elijah was held to be the greatest of the prophets, just as Moses was the supreme law-giver; and it was fitting that the two outstanding figures in the religious history of Israel should be God’s messengers at the last time. It was these two who appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration ( Mar 9:4). Further, the things said of them fit Moses and Elijah as they fit no one else. It is said ( Rev 11:6) that they have power to turn the water into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, and that is what Moses did (compare specially Exo 7:14-18). It is said that fire proceeds out of their mouth and burns up their enemies, and that they can shut up the heavens so that the rain is withheld. That is what Elijah did with the company of soldiers sent to take him ( 2Ki 1:9-10) and when he prophesied to Ahab that there would be no rain upon the earth ( 1Ki 17:1). We have already seen that Elijah was expected to return to herald the end; and it would not be difficult to regard God’s promise that he would raise up a prophet like Moses ( Deu 18:18) as a prophecy that Moses himself would return.
The Saving Death Of The Two Witnesses ( Rev 11:7-13)
The witnesses are to preach for their allotted time and then will come Antichrist in the form of the beast from the abyss; and the two witnesses will be cruelly slain.
This is to happen in Jerusalem; but Jerusalem is called by the terrible names of Sodom and Egypt. Long before this Isaiah had addressed the rulers of Jerusalem as the rulers of Sodom and the people of Jerusalem as the people of Gomorrah ( Isa 1:9-10). Sodom and Gomorrah stand as the types of sin, the symbols of those who had not received strangers (compare the story in Gen 19:4-11) and who had turned their benefactors into slaves ( Wis_19:14-15 ). The wickedness of Jerusalem had already crucified Jesus Christ and in the days to come it is to regard the death of his witnesses with joy.
So will the people of Jerusalem hate the two witnesses that they will leave their bodies unburied in the street. In Jewish thought it was a terrible thing that a body should not be buried. When the heathen attacked God’s people, to the Psalmist it was the greatest tragedy of all that there was none to bury them ( Psa 79:3); the threat to the disobedient prophet, a threat which came true, was that his carcase would not come to the sepulchre of his fathers ( 1Ki 13:22). Even worse, such will be the hatred of the people for the witnesses of God that they will regard their death as a reason for festival.
But that is not the end. After three and a half days–here we have the same period–the breath of life entered again into the two slain witnesses and they stood upon their feet. Still more startling things were to happen. In sight of all, the two witnesses were summoned up into heaven, re-enacting, as it were, Elijah’s first departure to heaven in the whirlwind and the chariot of fire ( 2Ki 2:11).
To add to the terror came a destructive earthquake which wrecked a tenth of the city and brought death to seven thousand of its inhabitants. The result was that those who had seen these terrifying events and were spared, gave glory to God. That is to say, they repented, for that is the only real way to give glory to God.
The great interest of this passage lies in the fact that the unbelievers were won by the sacrificial death of the witnesses and by God’s vindication of them. Here is the story of the Cross and of the Resurrection all over again. Evil must be conquered and men won, not by force but by the acceptance of suffering for the name of Christ.
The Forecast Of Things To Come ( Rev 11:14-19)
What makes this passage difficult is that it seems to indicate that things have come to an end in final victory, while there is still half the book to go. The explanation, as we have seen, is that this passage is a summary of what is still to come. The events foreshadowed here are as follows.
(i) There is the victory in which the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Anointed One. This is really a quotation of Psa 2:2, and is another way of saying that the Messianic reign has begun. In view of this victory the twenty-four elders, that is, the whole Church, break out in thanksgiving.
(ii) This victory leads to the time when God takes his supreme authority ( Rev 11:17). That is to say, it leads to the thousand year reign of God, the Millenium, a thousand year period of peace and prosperity.
(iii) At the end of the Millenium there is to come the final attack of all the hostile powers ( Rev 11:18); they will be finally defeated and then will follow the last judgment.
In Rev 11:19 we come back, as it were, to the present. There is a vision of the heavenly Temple opened and of the Ark of the Covenant. Two things are involved in this vision.
(i) The Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy of Holies, the inside of which no ordinary person had ever seen, and into which even the High Priest went only on the Day of Atonement. This must mean that now the glory of God is going to be fully displayed.
(ii) The reference to the Ark of the Covenant is as a reminder of God’s special covenant with his people. Originally that covenant had been with the people Israel; but the new covenant is with all of every nation who love and believe in Jesus. Whatever the terror to come, God will not be false to his promises.
This is a picture of the coming of the full glory of God, a terrifying threat to his enemies but an uplifting promise to the people of his covenant.
-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible
I. PRELUDE TO THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.
4. Outlined ground-plan of the events of the Seventh Trumpet; that is, of the whole of Rev 12:1 to Rev 22:5, Rev 11:1-13.
a. The mystic Jerusalem=the pure Church, ascertained by measurement, Rev 11:1-2 .
This chapter has been considered the very “cross of interpreters,” so various have been the interpretations. But a careful noting of its various points will, perhaps, clearly show that it is a miniature picture of the great antichristic STRUGGLE of which all of chapters 12-20 are the full portraiture. It is the preparatory programme the portico to the building, and a small model of its structure.
To discover this we note, first, in Rev 11:7, an anticipation of the full portraiture of the struggle in the beast, who can be no other than the beast of Rev 13:1-10. Then, in Rev 11:2, we have the holy city, or Christic capital, in contrast with the great city, or Babylon, the antichristic capital. We have then a clew of the great coming antithesis. A full tracing thence of the particulars, as we will give them in our notes, will make, perhaps, perfectly clear the fact that all the leading points given at length in the full prophecy of 12-20 will be found to have their correspondent points in this miniature. See tabulation at end of Rev 11:13.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. There was given me By what giver is not said, (as in Rev 6:11; Rev 8:2😉 doubtless by an invisible yet divine donor, the gift coming visibly as by panoramic spontaneous movement.
A reed The light-jointed plant that grows in marshy grounds. It was an emblem of feebleness, (Mat 11:7😉 used as a mock sceptre for Jesus, (Mat 27:29-30😉 as an instrument for writing by our John himself. 3Jn 1:13.
A rod A staff for walking; or a rod for chastising; or, probably, here, a sceptre or baton of office, as Aaron’s rod. Heb 1:8; Rev 2:27; Psa 2:9. This fragile reed, the emblem of a humble Christianity, was yet a sceptre mighty to take a divine measurement of human things. That measurement could be either, as here, severe and critical, or, as in Rev 21:15, an appreciation of a glorious wonder.
And the angel stood These words are to be rejected as a false reading. The angel disappears at the close of the last chapter, and the scene changes.
Before the seer appear, (note Rev 4:11,) in gradual development, the temple or holy house; the altar of incense, which was in it; then the court, which surrounded it; and, finally, the city, which embraced the whole. The main progress is from the less in size to the greater, but from the greater in sacred importance to the less.
Measure Take a divine and critical estimate of its present value and amount.
Saying In the Greek (omitting the angel) there is no immediate subject-noun with which this saying agrees, save rod. And some, as Wordsworth, have accordingly made the rod utter the direction and predictions which follow, just as the altar speaks in Rev 9:13. But even then the saying, no doubt, refers to the invisible giver of the rod.
The saying embraces the predictions, in future tense, to Rev 11:10; and then, at Rev 11:11, the seer commences his past tense, yet so commences as, with exquisite skill, to take in the predictions as part of the narrative. The whole could be read in the past tense as one narration.
Rise Not as if he had been sitting or kneeling, but as moving him to action from the reverie during which the change of scene had taken place.
Temple altar The inmost places of the true Church of God.
Them that worship The true living Church of the saints. The measurement is an authentication of their trueness. The authoritative rod, or sceptre, is also a reed, or pen, that writes a divine endorsement. Happy the Church whom the measuring reed endorses.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
IV. THE SEVEN TRUMPETS, Rev 7:1 to Rev 20:10.
Of the trumpets, the first four are mundane, or earthly; each of the four blasts draws down a judgment upon some creational point, as earth, sea, fountains and rivers; firmamental luminaries. It is the sins of men that draw down these bolts of wrath, rendering every point of creation hostile to our peace. “Cursed is the ground for thy sake,” (Gen 3:17,) is the key-note. This sad status of humanity has existed through all past ages; but it is here represented to form a base from which the history of the renovation commences.
The first four the earthly trumpets are each brief as well as terrible; the spiritual, the fifth and sixth, expand into wider dimensions and rise to more spiritual interests; while the seventh trumpet rolls forth its series of events, through all the future scenes of retribution and redemption to the judgment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And there was given to me a reed like a rod with one saying, “Rise, and measure the sanctuary (naos) of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. And the court which is outside the sanctuary leave out and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread the holy city under foot for forty two months”.
We note that John is told to measure ‘the sanctuary of God’. But no mention is made of him actually seeing a Temple. Nothing physical is described, and no Temple has previously been mentioned except the Temple of which His people are pillars, which is clearly a heavenly Temple.
This can be compared with a similar measuring with a measuring reed of a Temple, which occurs in Eze 40:3 onwards. There a man ‘whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze’ measured a heavenly Temple, which was situated on a high mountain away from Jerusalem, and an earthly altar (Eze 43:13) which connected with it. The Temple would be ‘the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet where I will dwell among the children of Israel for ever’ (Eze 43:7). The vision and the measurement was an indication that God was there, giving Israel another chance. If they were ‘ashamed of their iniquities’ and truly repented they could approach the heavenly Temple through the earthly altar. But ‘no alien, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh shall enter my sanctuary’ (Eze 44:9). Only the true people of God would be able to enter there (notice the exclusion of the uncircumcised in heart). This was a Temple only for the pure in heart.
That Temple was intended to be a source of blessing and life to all, bringing life where there was death. From the door of that house would run out ever increasing waters (Ezekiel 47), waters to the ankles, waters to the knees, waters to the loins, and waters to swim in (too deep to stand in). On the banks of this river would grow very many trees, and the waters would continue until they reached the Dead Sea (Eze 47:8) which would become a place for fish to swim in. Everything will live where the river comes, although a few places will be preserved as of old to yield their salt (Eze 47:11). The trees would be continually fruitful, producing new fruit every month, and their leaves would be for healing (Eze 47:12).
But that Temple was heavenly. It never became a physical reality on earth, except in a smaller Temple which was a shadow of it, for the people never proved worthy. Thus it was transferred to heaven, the heavenly Temple, wherein was the Lamb Who was slain, and in which were offered the prayers of the people of God.
But there was still a Temple on earth for Jesus, speaking in the context of the Temple, spoke of ‘the Temple of His body’ (Joh 2:21). He was revealing that He had come to replace the Temple. In effect to be a new Temple. The purpose of the Temple was to provide a means of access to God through sacrifices and prayer. Jesus revealed that He was the new means of access to God. His offering of Himself replaced the Temple sacrifices, and His intercession for His people replaced the ministry of the priests. He, and those who became His by response to Him, would thus form the new Temple of God on earth (1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:22). It was from Him, and from His people that the rivers of living water would flow out to the world (Joh 7:38). So the prospective Temple in Ezekiel becomes a reality in the living church on earth and in the heavenly Temple above, the latter only proving temporary before being replaced by God Himself (Rev 21:22).
In Zec 2:1 we also have an example of a man, this time with a measuring line in his hand (Ezekiel had both reed and line), who is to measure Jerusalem as a sign of its future prosperity (Zec 2:4). So such measuring is a guarantee of the future prosperity of the sanctuary.
The measuring of the sanctuary therefore is a sign of God’s care for it and a guarantee of its place in the future purposes of God.
But what sanctuary is this, then, which John has to measure? That it cannot be a literal earthly Temple comes out in that:
1) The Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed as Jesus foretold. No mention has been made anywhere in Revelation of a subsequent literal Temple.
2) This Temple, if it were to be a literal one, could not possibly be the centre of worship for solely true worshippers. Such a Temple would have within it people with a mixture of attitudes of mind and heart, some true some false, which is not the picture being conveyed here. Furthermore it would be run by priests of Israel according to Old Testament practises. Such an idea would be foreign to the principles applied in the letter to the Hebrews. There we are told that Christ has been once offered to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:28), so that there can be no more a sacrifice for sin (Heb 10:26). No truly spiritual Temple (which is required here) could be raised up.
3) The worshippers in this Temple are clearly true worshippers, the ‘true Israel’. In John’s eyes this must signify the church of Christ. The whole idea of the vision is that that which is inside is pure compared with what is outside. It is measured and therefore part of God’s proposed purpose.
4) A literal Temple could not realistically be divided in this manner. The Gentile invaders (‘trodden down’ signifies invaders) would not stay outside the sanctuary for three and a half years. The myth of the inviolability of the Temple was one that had destroyed Israel twice, it is hardly likely to have been repeated by John. One of the most moving things about the destruction of the Temple in 70AD was the way its defenders believed, even when Jerusalem was taken, that God would not allow the Temple to be desecrated, so that they fought to the last minute awaiting His deliverance. But God did not act and does not so act. Thus the picture is not to be taken literally. Like much in Revelation it is symbolic. Only the church of Christ are promised that their destruction will be prevented by God (‘for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened’ (Mat 24:22)).
5) The only Temple known in Revelation is heavenly (Rev 3:12; Rev 7:15; Rev 11:19; Rev 14:15-17; Rev 15:5-8; Rev 16:1; Rev 16:17). It would be strange therefore if another actual physical Temple were suddenly introduced as being built as a permanent structure on earth.
6) Jesus Himself revealed that the Temple would be replaced by Him as the true Temple (Joh 2:19).
To what sanctuary then does the angel refer? The New Testament knows of only one Temple of God, the church of Christ. That the church is God’s new Temple comes out regularly throughout the New Testament, and it is visualised as one Temple made up of many parts. Paul says in 2Co 6:16, ‘We are the Temple (naos) of the living God, even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people”.’ And in Eph 2:21, in a passage with connections with Rev 21:14 through the words ‘the foundation of the Apostles’, Paul sees that Temple in the process of building, ‘in whom each several building, fitly framed together, grows into a holy Temple (naos) in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit’.
So it is the church as a whole which is the sanctuary of God, and each member of the church is part of that sanctuary. In it they worship together. In 1Co 3:16-17 Paul declares, ‘Do you not know that you are a sanctuary (naos) of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the Temple of God, God will destroy him, for the Temple of God, which you are, is holy’. Thus he can argue, ‘What! Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own? (1Co 6:19). To Christians there was only one sanctuary (naos) of God, His people.
So the fact that the sanctuary (‘naos’) is to be measured ties in with this teaching of Paul’s, confirming that what is to be measured is God’s own true people. This is confirmed by the fact that both the sanctuary ‘and the altar’ are mentioned. The altar is mentioned because underneath ‘the altar’ are the souls of those who have been martyred for Christ (Rev 6:9-11). As they are not yet in Heaven they are seen as part of this Temple which is not yet in the heavenly Temple. They are still one with the church on earth, enjoying their ‘rest’ before the resurrection. It is significant that both the sanctuary and altar were also measured by Ezekiel. But there were no instructions to build the Temple, only the altar.
This is why in this sanctuary in Revelation there can be no ‘court of the Gentiles’, no outer court, for it houses the true Israel of God (see commentary on Rev 7:4) which is neither Jew nor Gentile (Gal 3:28; Gal 6:16; Col 3:11; 1Co 10:32; Eph 3:6), and all who would be part of it must cease to be part of ‘the nations’ (1Co 10:32). The distinction has been cancelled out in Christ. No outer court is now needed for in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female (Gal 3:28). The courts of the Gentiles and of the women are not required.
In the future ‘overcomers’ will become pillars in the heavenly Temple (Rev 3:12), but meanwhile they make up the earthly Temple. The measuring thus indicates their separation to God and their distinctiveness from the world, and gives them assurance that God has prepared then for what is to come.
And like Ezekiel’s Temple out of it would flow rivers of living water (Joh 7:38). This demonstrates that the church on earth represents Ezekiel’s Temple, in as far as its building was not seen as fulfilled in the second Temple built by Zerubbabel. The latter Temple did to some extent send out life to the world in the spreading of the Law and the Prophets and the acceptance of proselytes into the faith of Israel, but it was not until the church became God’s Temple that rivers of living water flowed out from the Temple to the world in such measure.
Ezekiel’s Temple was a heavenly ‘ideal’ Temple, which came down on the mountain well away from Jerusalem as God revealed by it that His presence was once more in Israel. It was ‘approachable’ through the earthly altar set up in Jerusalem, but the second Temple was only a shadow of it. The latter fulfilled the aim of a new Temple for Israel, but failed to achieve its potential. The church on earth partly fulfils the spiritual consequences of that heavenly Temple and was successful but temporary, for the new Heaven and the new earth will finally fulfil its potential as the dwelling place of God with His people.
This is why John sees the final actualising of that Temple in the new Heaven and the new earth. For the river of lifegiving water, with its healing in the leaves of trees (although in Revelation there is an improvement for it is the tree of life), is located by John in the new Jerusalem of Rev 21:1 to Rev 22:7 which is the bride of Christ. That has become the dwelling place of God, His greater Temple (for no literal Temple will be needed there (Rev 21:22)). That is where Ezekiel’s Temple will finally rest. But meanwhile it is represented on earth by the church, the people of God. In the context of this chapter the church in Jerusalem is foremost in mind, but as a microcosm of the whole church.
We note that this description of the measuring of the Temple and the altar in Rev 11:1-2 follows immediately the declaration that there will be delay no longer. So we must see in the measurement of it, as with the Temple in Ezekiel, recognition of its acceptability to God as His dwelling place among His people as they face their final hour. Just as Ezekiel saw the heavenly Temple come down to earth, in vision, so does John here, but he is reinterpreting the vision of Ezekiel. In both cases it is to result in something far more than just a Temple, a life-giving stream which produces spiritual healing for the nations (Rev 22:1-2).
That is why in John’s vision only the sanctuary is to be measured, and those who worship in it. This is the true church in Jerusalem. They belong to God as a royal priesthood. They alone are satisfactory to God. The ‘outer court’, including the Holy City, is to be handed over to the unrepentant nations. The only part that earthly Israel can have at this stage if they are outside of Christ is with the nations. These are the times of the Gentiles. While the church of Christ prove to be overcomers, the Holy City itself is given to the nations. This clearly stresses that it is the church which God considers to be important in the final days, not any idea of ‘Jerusalem’ as a chosen city. That is given to the nations. A new Holy City will come into its own in the new Heaven and the new earth (Rev 21:2).
‘And the Holy City they (the nations) will tread under foot for forty two months’. Only the sanctuary and altar, the people of God, are preserved by God, the remainder of the Holy City is handed over to the nations. This thought would horrify the soul of any Jew. The treading down of Jerusalem is always a sign that God is no longer dealing with Israel there (Luk 21:24 – and compare how in Ezekiel God deserts the Temple prior to its destruction, which He guarantees).
‘For forty two months’. It should be noted that John gives the time in months when dealing with the enemies of God and in days when dealing with the people of God. Thus months are used in Rev 9:5; Rev 9:10; Rev 11:2; Rev 13:5 while days are used in Rev 2:10; Rev 11:3; Rev 11:9; Rev 11:11; Rev 12:6. The forty two months are the same as the 1260 days, taking 30 days to the month, a regular approximation used in ancient days. ‘A time and times and half a time’ means a similar thing here (Rev 12:14). The reason for the difference in usage is to emphasise that God watches over His own day by day.
Three and a half years is looked on in Scripture as a period of trial and testing under the protection of God. Elijah the prophet prayed for God to withhold rain and this occurred for three years (1Ki 18:1 with Rev 17:1) which, following the six months of dry weather preceding the drought (the Mediterranean summer) brought it to three years and six months. The New Testament interprets this as a period of ‘three years and six months’ (Luk 4:25; Jas 5:17). So three and a half years had early come to signify a time of judgment, persecution and want. During this period Elijah was guided by God to places where he would be provided for.
A similar period of ‘a time, times and half a time’ is a feature of the prophecy of Daniel (Dan 7:25), but there it probably indicates ‘a period of less than seven years’. It refers to the period when the ‘little horn’, a fierce, conquering king, attacks ‘the saints of the most High’ and seeks to ‘change times and law’. This is followed by the judgment and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:26-27).
In Dan 9:27 we also have reference to the last half of Daniel’s seventieth seven when ‘the sacrifice and oblation will cease’ (in Christian terms true worship will be forbidden), and a desolator arrives on the wing of abominations, but three and a half years is not specifically mentioned and it is questionable whether the ‘seven’ means seven years.
Some refer to Dan 12:11, where a period of ‘one thousand two hundred and ninety days’ occurs ‘from the time that the continual burnt offering will be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up’, connected also with a period of one thousand three hundred and thirty five days (Rev 11:12), both approximately three and a half years. But those probably refer to the abomination committed by Antiochus Epiphanes. It does, however, demonstrate that the period points to a period of trial for the people of God.
In Dan 12:7 it refers to the time when the man clothed in linen held up his right hand and left hand to heaven and swore by Him Who lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times and half a time, ‘and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished’. Thus in all these cases it is a period of tribulation for the people of God, as well as being a period of desolation for the world, but it is not necessarily referring to the same period. Note that in Revelation ‘the sanctuary’ is not to be violated. That is because it refers to the true people of God not to a literal Temple. The desolator can, and does, seek to destroy it, but he cannot enter its heart. It is inviolate. Not a hair of its head will perish (Luk 21:18).
But while this reference in Revelation to forty two months (and 1260 days, and a time times and half a time) is probably to some extent a connecting point with the prophecies of Daniel, John deliberately uses different terminology. Daniel neither specifically mentions forty two months nor one thousand two hundred and sixty days. Thus there is no direct connection. The failure by John to make the time the same as prophesied in Daniel must be recognised. He could so easily have done so, for Daniel does mention 1290 days and 1335 days to show that the people of God survive the three and a half years and come through it. John is therefore using the concept of the ‘three and a half years’, and the significance that lies behind it, in his own distinctive way.
The main connecting point between Daniel and Revelation as far as verbal parallel is concerned is the ‘time, times and half a time’ (used in both), which John sees and interprets as three and a half years (1260 days) (Rev 12:14 compare 6) in line with his use of three and a half years. But while John is here referring to a period when the people of God will suffer tribulation, as Elijah did, he is not referring it to a period at the end of time.
In Rev 13:5 he also uses the idea to depict another period of tribulation which he refers to his own day. He is not slavishly following Daniel. The period of ‘three and a half years’ regularly signifies a period of particularly trouble, but such occur through history. There is not only one ‘three and a half years’. The idea occurs a number of times indicating special periods of attack on God’s people, but it is not necessarily the same period timewise each time. Its significance as half of a ‘seven’ indicates its lack of divine perfection.
However the reference in Revelation 11 does gain significance from Daniel, and in Revelation signifies the final three and a half years before the end. As in Daniel the official, open worship of God will cease and the people of Christ will be driven underground, with the authorities under the beast from the abyss seeking to destroy them. History repeats itself.
So, to summarise. The church of God, and especially the church in Jerusalem, are measured by God as preparing them for what lies ahead. By this they are shown to be His dwelling place, His sanctuary, and under His protection. As against them the nations will in the final days tread down Jerusalem. Those who dwell in Jerusalem, other than the church, will thus be without protection and subject to the iron hand of the nations. They are outside the protecting hand of God. However, as we shall see, He still seeks to bring them within His purposes.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Measuring of the Sanctuary and the Two Witnesses ( Rev 11:1-14 ).
It is significant that these events take place within the second ‘woe’ when wholesale death pervades the Middle East (Rev 11:14). They describe God’s final plea to both physical Israel and those of the nations in Jerusalem to turn to Him in the final days of the age, a plea which meets with at least partial success. John knows that before the end God will show special concern for His rejected people Israel as the times of the Gentiles come to a close.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Two Witnesses Rev 11:1-14 describes the testimony of the two witnesses who are slain in the street and resurrected by the power of God.
The Views of the Early Church Regarding the Two Witnesses – Many people have speculated about the identity of these two witnesses in this chapter of Revelation. We can find one view regarding the identity of these two witnesses written in The History of Joseph the Carpenter, an ancient writing of the early church. This early Church document claimed the identity of these two witnesses as being Enoch and Elijah.
“But with reference to Enoch and Elias, and how they remain alive to this day, keeping the same bodies with which they were born; and as to what concerns my father Joseph, who has not been allowed as well as they to remain in the body: indeed, though a man live in the world many myriads of years, nevertheless at some time or other he is compelled to exchange life for death. And I say to you, O my brethren, that they also, Enoch and Elias, must towards the end of time return into the world and die–in the day, namely, of commotion, of terror, of perplexity, and affliction. For Antichrist will slay four bodies, and will pour out their blood like water, because of the reproach to which they shall expose him, and the ignominy with which they, in their lifetime, shall brand him when they reveal his impiety.” [84] ( The History of Joseph the Carpenter 31)
[84] The History of Joseph the Carpenter, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, vol 8: The Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementia, Apocrypha, Decretals, Memoirs of Edessa and Syriac Documents, Remains of the First Ages, American ed., eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, Grand Rapids; Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997, electronic edition), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2009).
Thus, we see that even the early church writers were making comments regarding their identity.
Rev 11:1 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.
Rev 11:1
[85] Todd Bentley, Journey Into the Miraculous (Victoria, BC, Canada: Hemlock Printers, Ltd., 2003), 330-1.
Rev 11:2 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.
Rev 11:3 Rev 11:3
Deu 17:6, “At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.”
Deu 19:15, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.”
Mat 18:16, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”
2Co 13:1, “This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
1Ti 5:19, “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.”
Heb 10:28, “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Opening of the Seven Seals and the Sounding of the Seven Trumpets Rev 6:1 to Rev 11:19 records the opening of the seven seals and the sounding of the seventh trumpet that accompanied the seventh seal.
The Purpose of the Seven Seals and the Seven Trumpets – The opening of the seven seals by the Lamb of God and the sounding of the seven trumpets by the angels serve as the testimony of Jesus Christ to the world that He is the Son of God. Just as Jesus Christ has testified to John the apostle in chapter one, and to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, He now speaks to the rest of the world in the only language that corrupt and wicked world will listen, which is through calamities and tribulation. This is why it is called the Tribulation Period. We see God’s effort to bring people to salvation through these events because there are a number of verses in this section that say, “yet they repented not of their evil works” (Rev 9:20-21, Rev 16:9-11). However, the bright side of this Tribulation Period reveals that a multitude of people will be saved during this difficult seven-year on earth.
The Message of the Book The book that was in the right hand of God and taken by the Lamb contains a story. The opening of the book’s seven seals reveals this story as a series of events that are coming upon the earth to judge mankind for its depravity, which depravity was most clearly revealed by the crucifixion of the Son of God, who is thus described here as the Lamb that was slain. In other words, God will use these events to judge the earth, which events are consummated by the Second Coming of Christ described in the opening of the sixth seal. Therefore, the opening of the first seal ushers in these judgments
1. View of the Sevens Seals Representing the Entire Church Age – One popular view is to interpret the seven seals as the sequence of events that will take place during the Church age leading to its consummation, which would begin during the time of the early church. For example, Michael Wilcox compares the order of events described in this passage of Scripture to the Eschatological Discourse of Mat 24:1-31 by suggesting that Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are the same discourse, with Matthew’s Gospel giving an earthly perspective, while the book of Revelation describes the same sequences of events from a heavenly perspective. [65] This view could be interpreted as such:
[65] Michael Wilcox, The Message of Revelation: I Saw Heaven Opened, in The Bible Speaks Today, eds. J. A. Motyer and John R. W. Stott (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, c1975, 1986), 74-77.
a) The First Seal ( Rev 6:1-2 ) – The first seal reveals the first church age in which the Roman Empire, and the Catholic Church that emerged out of this empire, were the primary persecutors of the saints of God (Rev 6:1-2). It is symbolized by the crown, showing its intent to conquer and rule over all peoples and places. Unlike the sword carried by the second horseman, the bow symbolizes its purpose to conquer, but not kill, those whom it dominates. The white symbolizes the color of the papacy.
b) The Second Seal ( Rev 6:3-4 ) – The second age of the Church saw the rise of Islam during the seventh century, with its symbol of the sword, showing its purpose was to kill men rather than to rule over them (Rev 6:3-4). This great persecutor of the Church initially targeted all Jews and Christians, as well as other peoples, but it has continuously killed its fellow Muslims throughout the ages. The red may symbolize the blood it sheds in behalf of its religion.
c) The Third Seal ( Rev 6:5-6 ) – The third age of the Church is capitalism, with its purpose of controlling the world’s economy by a few wealthy individuals (Rev 6:5-6). The scale represents its system of buying and selling to control men and nations. The black color is seen in the traditional black suit worn today by the leaders of businesses within this capitalistic system. This system arose with the rise of industrialization of western nations. All three of these systems, Roman Catholicism, Islam, and Capitalism, carry the spirit of anti-christ.
d) The Fourth Seal ( Rev 6:7-8 ) – The pale horse, with its riders Death and Hell (Rev 6:7-8) represent the fourth age, which immediately precedes the Great Tribulation Period. This is the period in which the earth enters into travail as birth pangs, which Jesus called the “beginning of sorrows” (Mat 24:8). This period takes place about one hundred years before the world enters into the Great Seven-year Tribulation Period. Perhaps this period began with World War I. It is a time when the three world systems of Catholicism, Islam and Capitalism are working in full force, and in conflict with one another, but all having the common mindset of hating the Jews and the Christians.
e) The Fifth Seal ( Rev 6:9-11 ) – The fifth seal reveals all of the saints slain during the Church age until its culmination, crying out for God’s vengeance (Rev 6:9-11). Their role in this series of events is to intercede in behalf of one another to move God to avenge them and bring judgment upon the earth.
f) The Sixth Seal ( Rev 6:12 to Rev 7:17 ) – The sixth seal clearly describes the seven-year Tribulation Period upon this earth, which culminates with Christ Jesus returning to earth to conquer and to rule and reign from Jerusalem for a thousand years (Rev 6:12 to Rev 7:17). It is during this period of Church history that many of the Jews will turn to Jesus Christ as their Messiah. God will seal them along with His saints to keep them during the Tribulation Period, described in Rev 6:17 as “the great day of his wrath” and in Rev 7:14 as “the great tribulation.”
g) The Seventh Seal ( Rev 8:1 to Rev 11:19 ) The seventh seal serves as a prelude to introduce the seven trumpets. At this time the prayers of the saints rises up before the throne of God and the angel casts fire from the golden altar down upon the earth in order to bring about judgment upon those who have resisted God and persecuted the saints.
2. View of the Seven Seals Representing the Events of the Last Days Another view of the seven seals is to interpret them to symbolic the particular events that will take place during the period of time immediately preceding and including the Tribulation Period, rather spanning over a period of two thousand years. For example, John Ogwyn takes the sequence of events as a description of last days in Matthew 24 and makes them parallel to the sequence of events in Revelation. [66] This view could be interpreted as such:
[66] John H. Ogwyn, Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled (Charlotte, NC: Living Church of God, 2003) [on-line]; accessed 19 September 2010; available from http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/media/booklets/ru.pdf; Internet, 19-25.
a) The First Seal ( Rev 6:1-2 ) The opening of the first seal reveals a white horse and its rider that go forth with a bow to conquer. This event would parallel Mat 24:5, which refers to the many false prophets that will go forth during the period before Christ’s Second Coming to deceive the Church.
b) The Second Seal ( Rev 6:3-4 ) The opening of the second seal reveals a red horse and its rider that go forth to kill. This event would parallel Mat 24:6-7 a, which refers to the many wars that will take place immediately before the Tribulation Period.
c) The Third Seal ( Rev 6:5-6 ) The opening of the third seal reveals a black horse and its rider that go forth with a pair of scales. This event would parallel Mat 24:7 b, which refers to famines, pestilences and earthquakes in divers places across the world.
d) The Fourth Seal ( Rev 6:7-8 )
e) The Fifth Seal ( Rev 6:9-11 f) The Sixth Seal ( Rev 6:12 g) The Seventh Seal ( Rev 8:1
The Opening of the First Six Seals Rev 6:1-17 tells us of the Lamb opening six of the seven seals in the book of Revelation. The seventh seal will not be opened until Rev 8:1. It is important to note that Jesus Christ is identified as a Lamb that has been slain. Within these seals are going to be released four spirits that will go across the earth and slay the saints of God. This is why the fifth seal reveals these martyrs under the altar of God.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The first four seals that are opened in Rev 6:1-8 describe the release four horses with their riders. These four horsemen are commonly referred to as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The number four signifies the work of man. Thus, these four horsemen represent four aspects of the antichrist to persecute the Church and bring destruction upon mankind.
We find a similar account of this same scene in Zec 6:1-8 in the Vision of the Four Chariots. In the account in Revelation there is a white, horse, a red horse, a black horse and a pale horse. In Zechariah there are red horses, black horses, white horses and grisled and bay horses. Zec 6:5 tells us that these horses represent “the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.” Thus, we can assume that the four horses in Revelation also represent these same four spirits that have been sent forth.
I discuss the views of several scholars below. Some scholars suggest that these four horsemen are to be sent forth upon the earth immediately after the Rapture of the Church. Others suggest that they have been sent out at different periods of Church history. My suggestion is to agree with this second view that these four horsemen represent four spirits that have been sent forth upon the earth during the last two thousand years of Church history. The white horse would represent the spirit of Catholicism, which began during the Christianization of the Roman Empire under Constantine. The red horse could represent the spirit of Islam, which began in the seventh century. The black horse would represent capitalism, which began after the Reformation when nations began to develop industry and strong economies; or the black horse could represent Communism, which had its roots in the teachings of Karl Marx and was instituted in Russia during the early twentieth century. The pale horse could represent the distress and travail that the earth will enter into prior to the Tribulation Period. All of these spirits have led to the persecution of the Church across the world. This is why the fifth seal reveals the martyrs who have been slain over this period of time. Note that the martyrs are crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” This suggests that they have not been slain since the start of the Great Tribulation, but perhaps during the last two thousand years of Church history.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Interlude between the Blowing of the Sixth and Seventh Trumpets Robert Mounce notes that Rev 10:1 to Rev 11:14 serves as an interlude between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpets. He notes how there are similar interludes between the openings of the sixth and seventh seals (Rev 7:1-17) and between the pouring forth of the sixth and seventh bowls (Rev 16:13-16). [81]
[81] Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, in The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 298-299.
Rev 10:7 Comments – Scholars believe that 1Co 15:52 is a description of the Rapture of the Church which immediately precedes the seven-year Tribulation period. Irvin Baxter makes the comment that this last trumpet is a reference to the seventh trumpet that sounds in the book of Revelation. [82] We read in Rev 10:7, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” He suggests the “mystery of God” refers to the Church of Jesus Christ, that mystery that was hidden in ages past. The finishing of this mystery would be the church age, which ends at the time of the Rapture of the Church.
[82] Irvin Baxter, Jr., Understanding the End Time: Lesson 12 The Seven Trumpets (Richmond, Indiana: Endtime, Inc., 1986) [on-line]; accessed 1 October 2008; available from http://www.endtime.com/Audio.aspx; Internet.
1Co 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Rev 10:9 Comments – Both John the apostle and Ezekiel are given books to eat. Both experience sweetness at first, then bitterness.
Eze 3:3, “And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness .”
Eze 3:14, “So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit ; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.”
In Rev 10:9, John describes the effects of bitterness in his belly. Ezekiel is probably describing the same experience when he says that he became bitter, in the heat or indignation of his spirit.
Rev 10:9-11 Comments – Note that Ezekiel ate the book in Eze 3:1-4 for same purpose, and he experienced the same taste in his mouth.
Eze 3:1-4, “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.”
Perhaps the symbolism of the sweet and the bitter is found in the comments of Sadhu Sundar Singh.
“The cross is like a walnut whose outer rind is bitter, but the inner kernel is pleasant and invigorating. So the cross does not offer any charm of outward appearance, but to the cross-bearer its true character is revealed, and he finds in it the choicest sweets of spiritual peace.” [83]
[83] Sadhu Sundar Singh, At the Master’s Feet, translated by Arthur Parker (London: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1922) [on-line]; accessed 26 October 2008; available from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/singh/feet.html; Internet, “V The Cross and the Mystery of Suffering,” section 1, part 6.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Of the Two Witnesses and the Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet.
Measuring the temple of God:
v. 1. 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.
v. 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.
v. 3. And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
v. 4. These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. This is an interlude which is full of comfort for all Christians, and prepares them for the coming of the last woe. Only the first thought is one that still belongs to the preceding vision in its contents: And there was given to me a reed like a rod, with the words, Up, and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those that worship there; and the outer court of the temple exclude and do not measure it, because it has been given over to the Gentiles, and they will trample upon the Holy City forty-two months. The Temple of Jerusalem, of which the temple here described is a picture, or type, had a number of sections, the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests. The outer court, in this case, is described as being given over to the heathen, to the enemies of the Lord. The inner Temple, the Temple proper, then, is the true Church, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; while the outer Temple seems to represent the so-called visible Church, which has often been torn apart and trampled upon by heretics and antichrists. Forty-two months, three and one-half years, or 1,260 days: that is the symbolical length of the period in which the last woe would exert its power upon men. It is a long time, and yet it is limited by the power of the Lord. None of the powers of evil are permitted to go beyond the time permitted them by the Lord; His Christians may not be tempted beyond that they are able.
To this fact there is added another assurance: And I shall grant to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed with sackcloth; these are the two olive-trees and the two lamp stands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. In the midst of the general apostasy the Lord still has His witnesses, faithful preachers and teachers, who during the reign of Anti-Christ would lift up their voices and testify of the Savior and of the true Gospel. Their garments, indeed, would be made of black hair-cloth, the appropriate dress of humiliation, for there would be reason enough for repentance, also in the midst of the Church. The reference seems to be to men who, like Moses and Elijah, would lift up their voice in warning to stem the tide of anti-Christian doctrine and practice which threatened to engulf the Church. Two olive-trees or two lamp-stands these two faithful witnesses were, providing the oil for the light of God’s grace and Spirit in the Church. Through their witness and through their suffering the servants of the Lord become lights in the world and of the world.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Rev 11:1
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod. We are not told by whom the reed is given, but in Rev 21:1-27. the angel has the reed, and so also in Eze 40:1-49., upon which the incident seems founded (see Eze 40:1-49.; and cf. the reference to the outer court in Eze 40:17). The reed is “like a rod;” that is, like to a staff. It is for a measuring line, as in Zec 2:1. And the angel stood, saying. Omit all except “saying,” as in the Revised Version. is used absolutely, not as qualifying , “reed,” as Andreas (cf. Rev 4:1; Rev 14:7; Rev 19:6). Rise, and measure the temple of God; rather, rouse and measure, etc. The imperative verb does not imply anything as to the previous position of St. John. “The temple” is , the shrine or dwelling place of God (as in verse 19; also Rev 3:12; Rev 7:15), the inner temple, as distinguished from the outer court next mentioned. It scarcely seems possible to doubt that the temple is here figuratively used of the faithful portion of the Church of Christ. The word is plainly thus used in Rev 3:12 and Rev 7:15; and is frequently found with this signification in St. Paul’s writings, which were probably known to St. John. Dusterdieck and others think that St. John refers literally to the temple at Jerusalem, and to the earthly Jerusalem. But, if so, this portion of the Apocalypse stands self condemned as a prediction which was falsified within a year or two of its enunciation; for in verse 13 it is expressly stated that the tenth part of the city fell. And nowhere else in the book do Jerusalem and the temple signify the earthly places. The object of the measurement is generally thought to be to set apart or mark off that which is measured from that which is felt without; but opinions vary as to why the temple is thus set apart, some thinking that it is the literal temple which is given over to destruction, others believing that the measuring is a token of the preservation of the Church of God. But may not the command have been given to St. John in order to direct his attention to the size of the Church of God? This is the common meaning of the expression throughout the Bible; it is so in Zec 2:1-5, a passage upon which this is possibly founded; and it is so in Rev 21:15. Moreover, there seems a good explanation of the reason why such an incident, thus explained, should occur here. The six trumpets have spoken of the large portions of mankind against whom they were directed; the sixth has declared that men did nevertheless not repent. The seventh trumpet is about to announce yet more terrible woe for the worldly; and, previous to this, a brief but vivid description is given of the oppression to be suffered by the Churcha description inserted here in order to lead up to, and demonstrate the absolute necessity for, the terrible final judgment. Among the ungodly are even some who are nominally members of the Church, who are typified by the outer court. No one could be more conscious that only a portion of the Church”the elect”was to be saved than the writer of the Epistles to the seven Churches (Revelation 1-3.). Might not the seer and his hearers be inclined to ask, “Who, then, can be saved? Are there any who escape when so much is said about the punishment in store for men?” In answer to such questions, the seer is bidden to remember, what is apt to be forgotten in the dejection caused by the contemplation of the huge amount of wickedness which undoubtedly exists in the world, viz. the large number of good men who form God’s staple. It is to be noticed, also, that no mention is made of the command being actually carried out. It is as if the uttering of the command were sufficient to direct the attention of St. John to the fact which was to be conveyed to him, and that, therefore, the necessity for carrying out the injunction existed no longer. It therefore seems probable that “the temple” must be interpreted symbolically. It is the dwelling place of God, the place in which he is worshipped; that is, the multitude of true believers, or the faithful Church. St. John is bidden to measure it, in order to sustain the faith and hope of himself and his hearers. It is placed in antithesis to the outer court, the faithless portion of the visible Church of God, which is given over to the Gentilesthe type of all that is worldly. And the altar, and them that worship therein. The altar of incense alone stood within the ; but this may be only an accessory detail in the general description, and not to be pressed to a particular interpretation. “Them that worship therein” directs our thoughts to the individual members of the one body which collectively is “the temple.”
Rev 11:2
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; it hath been given (Revised Version). Not merely “leave out,” but “cast out.” The “court which is without the temple” was entered only by Jews. It seems, therefore, here to signify part of the Church, but that part which is separated from the inner circle of true believers, and given over to the world, which is here symbolized by “the Gentiles.” The Gentiles, the nations, throughout the Apocalypse, signifies either
(1) all mankind whatsoever; or
(2) that portion of mankind which is left when the true Church of God is withdrawn, and therefore which embraces the unrighteous part of mankind in contrast to the godly (cf. Rev 2:26; Rev 14:8; Rev 16:19; Rev 18:23; Rev 22:1-21 :22). The latter is the signification here. And the holy city shall they tread underfoot. The holy cityJerusalemalways in the Apocalypse the type of the Church. “They shall tread” need not necessarily refer to “the nations,” though the context naturally leads to this signification; but it may be impersonal, amounting to no more than “the holy city shall be trodden underfoot.” St. John seems to apply the words of our Lord concerning the literal Jerusalem to the description of the fate in store for the typical Jerusalem (cf. Luk 21:24). “The nations” are the instrument by which the Church is trodden underfoot, and the mention of the Gentiles in connection with the apostate portion of the Church leads to the description of the oppression of the faithful by the world. The seer is bidden to take courage by a contemplation of the numbers of those preserved by God, but is warned, nevertheless, not to expect from that fact immunity for the Church from the persecution of the world. Forty and two months. , “and,” is inserted contrary to the common practice when the larger number precedes (so also in Joh 2:20; Joh 5:5). This period of three years and a half is certainly symbolical. It is the half of seven yearsa perfect number. It therefore denotes a broken, uncertain period; a space of time which is certainly finite, but the end of which is uncertain. This seems to point necessarily to the period of the world’s existence during which the Church is to suffer oppression. This period is mentioned
(1) in verse 3 under the form of twelve hundred and sixty days, where it denotes the same period that is referred to here;
(2) in Rev 12:6 as twelve hundred and sixty days, and in Rev 12:14 as “a time, and times, and half a time,” in both of which passages the signification is the same as that given above;
(3) in Rev 13:5 it is called, as here, forty-two months, and describes the same period. The expression is founded on Dan 7:25 and Dan 12:7. In the latter place the time signified is certainly the period of the world’s existence.
We therefore see
(1) that its natural meaning, in connection with the number seven,
(2) its signification in Daniel, and
(3) its apparent use in all passages in the Apocalypse, tend to cause us to interpret the symbol as above.
Rev 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses. Omit “power.” What is given follows, viz. “they shall prophesy,” etc. The voice, speaking in the name of Christ, says, “My: The two witnesses of me;” , “the,” as though they were well known. There is much diversity of interpretation in regard to “the two witnesses.” It seems reasonable to understand the two witnesses as representative of the elect Church of God (embracing both Jewish and Christian) and of the witness which she bears concerning God, especially in the Old and New Testaments. The following considerations seem to support this interpretation:
(1) The vision is evidently founded on that in Zec 4:1-14., where it is emblematical of the restored temple, which only in the preceding verse (Rev 11:2) is a type of the elect of God’s Church (vide supra).
(2) The Apocalypse continually represents the Church of God, after the pattern of the life of Christ, in three aspectsthat of conflict and degradation; that of preservation; that of triumph (see Professor Milligan’s Baird Lectures, ‘The Revelation of St. John,’ lect. 2 and 5.). This is a summary of the vision here.
(3) Much of the Apocalypse follows our Lord’s description in Mat 24:1-51. In that chapter (Mat 24:13, Mat 24:14) we have, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Again, a brief description of this vision.
(4) It is not probable that two individuals are meant; for
(a) as we have shown throughout the Apocalypse, the application is invariably to principles and societies, though this may include particular applications in certain cases;
(b) it is inconceivable that Moses and Elias, or any other of the saints of God, should return from Paradise to suffer as these two witnesses;
(c) our Lord expressly explained the reference to the coming of Elias, and declared that he had already come; and
(d) there seems no more reason for interpreting these two witnesses literally of two men, than for interpreting Sodom and Egypt in their ordinary geographical signification in Mat 24:8.
(5) The details of the fate of the two witnesses agree with the interpretation giventhe whole vision being understood as symbolical. Thus
(a) the picture of the two witnesses is evidently formed after the pattern of Moses and Elias, on account of the conspicuous witness they bore and the hardship they suffered, as well as their preservation and final vindication. Moreover, Moses and Elias are typical of the Law and the prophets, or the Scripturesthe means (as stated above) by which the Church chiefly bears witness of God.
(b) The time during which they prophesy;
(c) the clothing in sackcloth;
(d) the appellation of candlesticks and olive trees;
(e) their power to hurt;
(f) their apparent death;
(g) the torment they cause;
(h) their resuscitation;
(i) their vindication;
(k) the immediate advent of the final judgment;all agree (as shown below) with the interpretation given.
(6) Witness is constantly connected in the Apocalypse and elsewhere with the Church, and generally with suffering, sometimes with triumph (cf. Rev 1:2, Rev 1:5, Rev 1:9; Rev 6:9; Rev 12:11, Rev 12:17; Rev 20:4).
(7) In Rev 19:10 we are told, “The testimony [witness] of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” exactly the quality with which the two witnesses are credited (Rev 19:3), and which is the work of the Church. And they shall prophesy; that is, “prophesy” in its literal meaning of forthtelling God’s will and his judgments on the wicked, and so of preaching repentance. This is emphatically the work of the Church, and is accomplished chiefly through the Scriptures. It is this prophesying that torments (see Rev 19:5, Rev 19:10). A thousand two hundred and three score days. Or, forty and two months (Rev 19:2). During the period of the world’s existence (see on Rev 19:2) the Church, although “trodden underfoot,” will not cease to “prophesy.” Clothed in sackcloth. Thus, symbolically, is expressed the same fact as in Rev 19:2. The Church there is “trodden underfoot” during the period of the world; here it is said that she is to perform her office during this time “clothed in sackcloth.” The treatment by the world of both the Church of God and the Word of God is represented by the apparel of mourning and woe, which is the lot of the Church on earth.
Rev 11:4
These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks. The “two olive trees” and the “two candlesticks” are here identical. Thus, while St. John uses the figure of Zechariah, he does not apply it in every detail. In the prophet, but one candlestick is mentioned. “The two olive trees,” which supply the material for the candlesticks, are fit emblems of the Old and New Testaments; the candlesticks typify the Jewish and Christian Churches. These are identical so far as being God’s witnesses; the Church derives her stores from the Word of God, the light of the Word of God is manifested through the Church. Standing before the God of the earth; the Lord of the earth (Revised Version). The participle is masculine, though the preceding article and nouns are feminine, probably as being more in keeping with the masculine character under which the two witnesses are depicted. Perhaps he is described as the “Lord of the earth,” since the witnesses are to prophesy before all the earth (cf. verse 9 and Mat 24:14).
Rev 11:5
And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; if any one willeth to hurt them, etc. Most probably a reference to the act of Elijah (2Ki 1:10). Perhaps there is a double reference in the fire proceeding out of their mouth; it is the fire of their witness, which refines and purifies and convinces some; it is also the fire of condemnation, which follows those who reject the testimony. The figure is found in Jer 5:14, “I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them” (see also Hos 6:5; Ecclesiasticus 48:1). And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed; any one shall will (future) is read in the Revised Version, and is supported by , A, 38; , (present) is found in B, C, P, Andreas, Arethas. “In this manner;” that is, by fire. Such, throughout the Scriptures, is the form under which the final judgment of those who reject God’s message is shadowed forth. The description is not more opposed to a general interpretation than it is to an individual interpretation of the two witnesses.
Rev 11:6
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; the power the heaven the waters every plague (Revised Version). The whole verse is descriptive of the powers entrusted to Moses and Elijah, and is intended to convey the idea that the power which supported them would likewise support the two witnesses. It is doubtful whether the meaning should be pressed further than this. If we do so, it may, perhaps, be said that (in the words of Wordsworth) “if any one despises God’s witnesses, they have the power, like Elias, to shut heaven, and exclude all who reject them. The dews of Divine grace are withheld from all who scorn them.” It is thus a fulfilment of our Lord’s words, “Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath” (Mat 13:12). And again, besides the punishments which are finally to fall on the ungodly, it is the case that the rejection of God’s will is followed on this earth by troubles which would be avoided were men to listen to the witness borne of him.
Rev 11:7
And when they shall have finished their testimony. This is a difficult passage. How can the Church’s testimony be said to be finished while the earth still exists? The explanation seems to lie in the words of our Lord, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luk 18:8). Christians are forewarned that, as the ages roll on, faith will wane. Though the Church be apparently destroyed, she is not really dead, but will rise again. As our Lord, after finishing his testimony, completed his work by his death and subsequent ascension, so the time will come when the Church shall have Completed all that is necessary, by offering to the world her testimony, and shall then be so completely rejected as to appear dead. Her enemies will rejoice, but their time of rejoicing is cut short (see below). After three and a half days comes her vindication, and her enemies are struck with consternation; for it is the end, and they have no further opportunities for repentance. Thus Heugstenberg says, “They shall only be overcome when they have finished their testimony, when God has no further need for their service, when their death can produce more fruit than their life.” The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them; the beast that cometh up out of the abyss. The article points to the beast which is described elsewhere in the Apocalypse (Rev 13:1; Rev 17:8), and which is mentioned here by proleipsis. “The fourth beast,” which is read in A, may have been suggested by Dan 7:7. has “the beast which then cometh up.” The beast is Satan, perhaps manifested in the form of the persecuting world power (see on Rev 13:1). His nature is indicated by the use of the noun , “a wild beast,” the opposite, as Wordsworth says, of , the Lamb. The beast ascends out of the abyss for a brief reign upon the earth, and is “drunken with the blood of the saints,” as described in Rev 17:1-18., but he ascends only to go into perdition (Rev 17:8). It is well to remember that the whole vision is symbolical. The intention is to convey the idea that the Church, in her witness for God, will experience opposition from the power of Satan, which will wax more and more formidable as time goes on, and result in the apparent triumph of the forces of evil. But the triumph will be brief; it will but usher in the end and the final subjugation of the devil.
Rev 11:8
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; their dead body (in the singular), according to A, B, C, Arethas, and others. The plural is read in N, P, Andreas, Primasius, and others. Omit “lie upon the highway their Lord.” “The great city” is referred to in Rev 16:19; Rev 17:18; Rev 18:10-19. Its signification is always the same, viz. the type of what is ungodly and of the world, and it is always consigned to punishment. Jerusalem, the type of what is holy, is never thus designated. Here we are plainly told the spiritual, that is, the symbolical nature of the designation. Sodom and Egypt are chosen as the type of what is evil (cf. Deu 32:32; Isa 1:10; Eze 16:46; Eze 20:7, etc.). It was in this city, that is, by the influence of this world power, that the Lord was crucified. In describing the fate of the Church, St. John seems to have in mind the life of Christ. His witness, the opposition he encountered, his death for a brief time at the completion of his work, his resurrection and ascension, and triumph over the devil, are all here reproduced. “The bodies lie in the street” symbolizes, according to Jewish custom, the most intense scorn and hatred.
Rev 11:9
And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves; and from among the peoples and tribes, etc., do [men] look upon, etc., and suffer not, etc., in a tomb (Revised Version). The fourfold enumeration points to the wide distribution of the state of things symbolized (cf. Rev 4:6; Rev 5:9, etc.), and seems of itself almost sufficient to demonstrate that the two witnesses are not two individual persons who are hereafter to appear. The period is but three days and a half; again, as in Rev 11:2, Rev 11:3, a broken, that is, a finite but uncertain period; but, as compared with the three years and a halfthe period of the world’s existencevery short. (On the signification of the last clause, see on Rev 11:8.) It is the usual Eastern mark of contempt and degradation. The whole verse, together with the preceding and succeeding verses, describes symbolically, but graphically, the scorn and contempt to which the Church and God’s Word will be subjected by men.
Rev 11:10
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; rejoice and make merry, that dwell (present, though future in meaning; the present tense rendering the description more graphic). Those dwelling on the earth are the ungodly, the worldly. “They send gifts,” in accordance with Oriental custom on joyful occasions (cf. Rev 11:9). “The prophets, the witnesses, tormented;” probably rather by the delivery of their message, which would affect the conscience of men, than by the plagues referred to in Rev 11:6, though both may be meant. Alford, Bengel, and Dusterdieck favour the latter view of the two; Hengstenberg takes the former.
Rev 11:11
And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet. “The three days and an half,” viz. these mentioned in Rev 11:9, which see. Not merely “life from God,” but the “Spirit from God” (cf. the vision in Eze 37:1-28., especially Eze 37:9, Eze 37:10). “The Spirit of life” has been in the Church of God previously, but she has become “dry bones;” “the Spirit” is now breathed anew into her, and she is restored and magnified before the world. And great fear fell upon them which saw them. “Beheld” () occurs in the Apocalypse only here and in the next verse. Fear, on account of the vindication of those whom they had treated with contumely, and on account of the judgment, to follow, which was even now shadowed forth.
Rev 11:12
And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. The reading , “I heard,” for , “they heard,” in a correction of , and in B, Coptic, Armenian, Andreas, may have arisen from the similarity of the passage to Rev 6:6; Rev 9:13. Dusterdieck, who reads, “I heard,” points out that in Rev 6:11; Rev 9:4, the phrase used in addressing others is, “It was said unto them.” Thus the fate of the Church is that of her Lord, and it is the fate of each individual who may witness of God. Suffering, apparent extinction, perhaps, but ultimate triumph and ascension into the presence of God is their common inheritance. If so be that they suffer with him, they are also glorified with him (Rom 8:17). Alford remarks that “no attempt has been made to explain this ascension by those who interpret the witnesses figuratively of the Old and New Testaments, or the like.” Is it not the resurrection of the just, of the witnesses of God, and their exaltation at the beginning of the last judgment? Thus St. Paul says, “But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming. Then cometh the end” (1Co 15:13). This “end” is immediately referred to by the seer. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them; in the cloud. The parallelism with Elijah and Christ (see Rev 9:5, Rev 9:6, Rev 9:8) is carried still further. The Church is triumphantly vindicated and glorified as they were; the only difference is that now all men behold it. The cloud is not that which hides them from view, but rather, like that in Rev 14:14, something which exalts and enhances the glory of the witnesses. The effect upon the worldly is told in Rev 14:11, Rev 14:13.
Rev 11:13
And the same hour was there a great earthquake. In the visions of the seals it is set forth, under the sixth seal, how the destruction of the world is accompanied by earthquakes, etc.; the fear of the wicked is portrayed, and the preservation of the just takes place at the same time. Here, under the sixth trumpet, we have the same events shown forth, the triumph of the godly being mentioned first, though the rest happens “in that same hour.” This is the conclusion of the sixth judgment, the consequence of the non repentance mentioned in Rev 9:21. The intervening narrative (Rev 10:1-11:12) serves to show that opportunities of knowing God’s will are given to men, as well as warnings of judgment in ease of disobedience. Rev 9:13 of Rev 11:1-19. might follow Rev 9:21, but for the desire of the seer to demonstrate the long suffering goodness and mercy of God. And the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand. Both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version have in the margin, “names of men, seven thousand,” and some writers make much of the expression. Thus Alford says, “As if the name of each were recounted;” and Wordsworth, “Persons known and distinguished.” But, in truth, the phrase is a Hebraism, to which we can attach no special significance (cf. Act 1:15; Rev 3:4). Whatever may he the system of interpretation adopted, this passage presents many difficulties. The whole account appears to relate to the judgment day, and it is therefore more peculiarly prophetic than many parts of the Apocalypse, and for that reason its meaning must needs be more or less obscure. The account in this verse informs us that a part (a tenth) of the city (that is, of the wicked) suffers destruction; that the number so destroyed is described as seven thousand; that the rest (nine tenths), in fear, recognize the power of God, to which they had hitherto refused attention. What is the final fate awarded to the nine tenths we are not told. We have, therefore, to inquire the meaning of the numbers given. Now, it seems inherently impossible to interpret these numbers literally, and, moreover, as we have repeatedly seen, it is not the habit of the writer of the Apocalypse to indicate exact numbers. We must, therefore, try to discover the symbolical meaning which St. John attached to these expressions, the qualities rather than the quantities which he intended to signify. In the Bible the tenth part invariably signifies the tithethe portion due from the community to God or to the ruler (cf. Gen 28:22; Le Gen 27:32; Num 18:21; 1Sa 8:15, 1Sa 8:17). it seems probable that this was the idea intended to be conveyed, viz. that God was now exacting his due, that men who had refused to recognize what was due from them to God were now forced to recognize his sovereignty by the exaction for punishment of a tithe, and as an evidence that all are under his sway. But, it may be objected, are not all the wicked punished at the judgment? This verse really seems to hint at a possibility of some course by which, even at the last moment, a chance of escape may be presented to men. But it does not distinctly state this; it seems, indeed, purposely to leave the fate of the rest of the ungodly untold. All it does assert is that God comes to the wicked as a Conqueror or a King, and exacts what is due to himself. But, further, why are seven thousand men slain? Again interpreting symbolically, seven involves the idea of completeness (see on Rev 1:4; Rev 5:1, etc.). A thousand signifies a large number, though not an infinitely large number, for which we have “thousands of thousands,” etc. This number, therefore, informs us that God’s vengeance overtakes a large number, and that that number is complete, none escaping who deserve to be included. Perhaps this is mentioned as a precaution against any possibility of mistake in the interpretation of the “tenth part.” It is as though St. John would say, “In that hour God exacted vengeance, demanding what was due to his justice; but do not imagine that that vengeance reached only a small part of mankind. It was far extending and complete, though I do not attempt to define its exact limits, which cannot be known until the judgment day itself shall reveal everything.” And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The rest gave glory, being, perhaps (though not necessarily), repentant (cf. Jos 7:19; Joh 9:24; Rev 4:9; Rev 14:7; Rev 16:9). Possibly we have here a hint of God’s uncovenanted mercies (vide supra), though there is nothing sufficiently definite to encourage men to postpone the day of repentance. No mention is made of the ultimate fate of “the remnant.” “The God of heaven,” in contrast to things of the world, upon which their affections had been hitherto set (cf. Rev 16:11). In these two places alone of the New Testament is this expression found; but it is not uncommon in the Old Testament (cf. Ezr 1:2; Neh 1:4; Dan 2:18).
Rev 11:14
The second woe is past. The full description of this woe occupies Rev 9:13-11:14. The account describes the natural spiritual punishment which is inflicted upon men in consequence of their sins (Rev 9:13-21). This is insufficient to lead men to avert the final judgment by timely repentance. We have then a further description of God’s long suffering, and the rejection of his mercy, accompanied by an assurance of the safety of the faithful (Rev 10:1-11:10). This brings us to the end of the world (Rev 11:11-14), just as the sixth seal led to the same termination (Rev 7:12-17), and both are followed by the seventh, which gives a reference to the eternal peace of heaven. And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. Omit “and.” It is not said, in the case of the other “woes,” that they come quickly. In his description of the preservation and glorification of the Church under the form of the “witnesses,” the writer had been led to anticipate in some degree what follows under the seventh trumpet. Thus the seventh comes quickly. When events have progressed so far that the faithful Church is ascended to heaven with her Lord, then immediate]y follows the eternal rest set forth under the seventh trumpet. But this period is described as “the third woe,” because it is the period of time final punishment of the wicked; and it is the judgment of the ungodly which is the theme of the trumpet visions, although mention is incidentally made of the preservation and reward of the just. This is the time foretold in Rev 10:7. Just as in the case of the seals, the period of the seventh seal is recorded but not described, so here, in the case of the seventh trumpet, its advent is recorded, and its nature is indicated in verse 18, but no further description is given of the woe; only a slight reference to the bliss of those who are secure in heaven. Thus St. John does not attempt a complete picture of either the blessings of heaven or the woes of hell.
Rev 11:15
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying. The participle “saying” is masculine, , in A, B; the feminine, , is read in , C, P. Though the latter would be more correct, grammatically, yet irregular construction in such cases is not uncommon in the Apocalypse. The voices were possibly those of the angels rejoicing in the triumph of the kingdom of God. Or perhaps they proceeded from the four living beings, since the elders are next mentioned (Rev 11:17) as offering the praises of the redeemed Church which they represent. At the opening of the seventh seal there was silence in heaven; here, at the sound of the seventh angel’s trumpet, voices are heard “in heaven,” but there is silence as to the fate of the wicked, with whom the trumpet visions have been chiefly concerned. In the revelation of the fate in store for the Church, as well as in that of the doom awarded to the ungodly, the visions stop short of describing circumstances connected with the life after the judgment day. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. , in the singular, is found in , A, B, C, P, and versions, and is adopted by the Revised Version. , the plural, is read in two cursives. We can understand the first part of this verse by referring to Rev 12:10. God’s power and authority is established by the final overthrow of Satan. It naturally follows the account, in Rev 12:12, Rev 12:13, of the vindication of God’s witnesses, and of the glory rendered by the rest of mankind. With God the Father is associated Christ, by whose means the overthrow of the devil is effected, and by whom his servants overcome (cf. Rev 1:6; Rev 5:9; Rev 7:14; Rev 12:11). This is the final victory; henceforth “he shall reign forever and ever.”
Rev 11:16
And the four and twenty elders. “The elders” represent the Church (see on Rev 4:4); they are those who were made “a kingdom” (Rev 1:6); they therefore fitly take up the burden of praise to him who has now established his universal and everlasting kingdom. Which sat before God on their seats; which sit before God on their thrones (Revised Version). Thus they are described in Rev 4:4. Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. (So also in Rev 4:10; Rev 5:14; Rev 19:4.)
Rev 11:17
Saying, We give thee thanks. The only instance in the Apocalypse of the use of this verb. It is found in Joh 6:11, Joh 6:23, and Joh 11:41, but in none of the ether Gospels, though frequently in the Epistles. “The elders” are peculiarly indebted to God, since the establishment of his kingdom is the victory of the Church. O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; the Almighty. Omit “and art to come” (Revised Version), with , A, B, C, P, Andreas, Arethas, Primasius, Syriac, Armenian, etc. (cf. Rev 1:4; Rev 4:8). Perhaps the future is purposely omitted, since God’s “coming” is now an accomplished fact (cf. also Rev 16:5). Because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign (Revised Version). God never ceased to reign, though for a time he abrogated his power. This power he has now reassumed, and the elders thank him for it, for it is the assurance of the end of the suffering of the Church of God. So in Rev 4:11 the elders declare that he is worthy to receive the power which he now visibly exercises. It has, indeed, been exercised before. The preservation of the Church set forth in the visions of the seals, and the punishment of the ungodly shown under the trumpet visions, are effected by means of this power; but now that power is visibly exercised.
Rev 11:18
And the nations were angry (cf. Psa 2:1, which appears to be in the mind of the seer, for Psa 2:9 of the same psalm is referred to in Rev 12:5). “The nations” raged in the period of their persecution of the Church, as set forth under the visions of the seals. They were angry, says Hengstenberg, at the progress of the kingdom of God, after the Word was made flesh. And thy wrath is come; thy wrath came. This verse points conclusively to the judgment day, the events of which, however, as before remarked (see on Rev 11:15), are merely indicated, not fully described. This is the last final infliction upon the wicked, the seventh of the trumpet plagues. And the time of the dead, that they should be judged; to be judged. Vitringa and others understand this judgment to refer to the dead martyrs who are now vindicated; but the meaning probably extends to all the dead, both classes of whom are referred to in the following part of the verse. 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 to give their reward and to destroy, etc. Though , “the small and the great,” is in the accusative ease, it is in apposition with the preceding datives, , , “prophets, saints, those that fear.” The wicked are those who “destroy the earth,” since it is on their account that the world is destroyed; they “destroy the earth” also by corrupting it, which is the force of . In what way this destruction of the wicked is accomplished we are not told.
Rev 11:19
And the temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven (Revised Version). “The temple” (), the dwelling place of God (cf. Rev 11:1; Rev 3:12; Rev 7:15). Again, but a glimpse is afforded; and yet more is revealed than at the conclusion of the former series of visions; while the chief description is reserved to a later part of the Revelation. And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; or, ark of his covenant. This seems to be introduced in order to render more emphatic the steadfastness and unchangeableness of God. As in the case of the witnesses, the figure is taken from the Old Testament, and the symbol would be pregnant with meaning to Jewish Christians and ethers who had learnt to think of the ark as the sacrament of God’s abiding presence and continual help. He who now promises aid to his people, and threatens judgment upon the wicked, is the same God who formerly had displayed his power on behalf of his people Israel. And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail; there followed (Revised Version). The usual token of any special manifestation of God’s presence, or direct dealing with men (see on Rev 6:1).
This, then, forms the conclusion to the series of trumpet visions. These visions, evoked by the cry for vengeance in Rev 6:10, have demonstrated the need for patience and endurance on the part of Christians, by indicating the punishments meted out to the wicked on this earth and at the final judgment, together with the final triumph of the faithful. The seer next proceeds to elaborate a fact alluded to in the measuring of the temple in Rev 10:2, and to point the moral that it is possible for Christians within the Church to lose their final reward by their apostasy.
HOMILETICS
Rev 11:1-14
“My two witnesses.”
Following on the reception of the little book from the angel’s hand, the seer is directed to measure the temple of God, the altar, and the worshippers. The outer court is not to be measured; for it, with the holy city, is to be trampled underfoot forty-two months. During this period (or a like period) there are to be two witnesses for God, clothed in sackcloth, who, though they have power with God, are slighted by men; against them a great onrush is to be made. They are silenced, and that effectually, by being put to death. The honour of burial is not to be theirs. This the world refuses. Rejoicing that it has stilled their disturbing voices, their bodies are to lie exposed, and the helplessness of their cause is to be the subject of merriment and ridicule. But lo! after a period of three days and a half, they again come to life, to the terror of their persecutors. Their ascension follows on their resurrection. As they have been made partakers of the sufferings of Christ, so also are they of the glory that should follow. What does all this signify? Dean Alford declares that no solution has as yet been given of it. The late Bishop of Manchester (Dr. Fraser) says, “I have no interpretation of this vision, nor any but the most vague and general key to its meaning.” Those who regard the tenth chapter as indicative of the Reformation look at this one as pointing out the main features of the epoch which should follow it. We readily, as we have often done in previous homilies, recognize the correspondence between prophecy and event. This is what we might expect. But the correspondence is not such as to warrant us in saying that this or that event is the fulfilment of the Word, although it may be a partial one. Nor is it in any one’s power to decide when the twelve hundred and sixty days begin. If they represent as many years, and are, according to the prophecy, to follow on from the events in the preceding chapter, and if those events signify the Reformation, then there are twelve hundred and sixty years to follow on the Reformation. In other words, we are at least seven hundred or nine hundred years from the end. But we have long ago given up this sort of attempt to assign dates, as at once impracticable and unprofitable. We see in the chapter before us a symbolic setting forth of that which is ever, ever fulfilling itself again and again before our eye. It is a stay to our faith to study the principles here disclosed.
I. THE EXTENT AND LIMIT OF THE TRUE CHURCH OF GOD ARE CLEARLY DEFINED. (Rev 11:1, Rev 11:2.) At the time of this prophecy the literal temple was no more. The once holy city was defiled by the “abomination of desolation.” Then the true temple, the true holy city, existed in “the Church of the living God.” The outer enclosure is not to be reckoned as a part of the temple in this divinely appointed remeasurement. All this most impressively sets forth the fact that Zion’s external buildings cover a much wider space than the real heart worshippers whom God will own. There may be, and there are, large masses of people at the outer fringe of our Christian services. But if now a heavenly messenger were to come among us who was appointed to measure the real living temple of God, would it not turn out that, of a very large part of our surroundings, the order would be, “Measure it not”? This measurement from on high is ever going on. And if the great Lord of the Church saw fit to show us in a vision who are in his Church and who are not, many would be without whom we thought were in, and many within whom we thought were out. But not by any human hands can the true temple of God be built; nor yet by any human eye can its limits be discerned.
II. THE SPACE WITHOUT THE TEMPLE AND CITY OF GOD IS LEFT FOR A WHILE IN HOSTILE HANDS. “It hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” We know not what period of time is thus indicated; nor from what moment it begins. We know only three things concerning this matter:
1. That the worldly power will act in opposition to and preponderate over the Church.
2. That this will be for a limited time.
3. That this permissive limit is fixed by our God.
Thus far all is clear. The world in its facts answers to the Word in its statements. If we attempt to go beyond this, we shall be in confusion.
III. DURING THE WHOLE OF THIS PERIOD OUR LORD WILL PRESERVE HIS FAITHFUL WITNESSES. “My two witnesses.” Why two? “Is it not written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true?” Although the number should be small, there should always be enough to preserve in the world a testimony for God. Further, the symbolism is based on the vision of Zechariah (4). Therein we have two olive trees conveying oil, and two lamp stands holding light. Just as in the times following the Captivity there were anointed ones to stand by the Lord of the whole earth, so throughout the times of the Christian Church there will be men anointed by him to maintain on his behalf a faithful testimony; whose witness bearing would be at once “means of grace and centres of light” (Vaughan). We have several details here given respecting them.
1. They are to prophesy in sackcloth. So much of their witness has to be a protest against sin in the world and against corruption in the nominal Church, that their work often bears upon it an impress of sadness which cannot be removed till the corruption ceases.
2. They are to have Tower with God and for him. As Moses and Elijah had power to smite the earth or to shut up heaven, so with those who should come “in the spirit and power of Elias.” They would make men feel that God is among them still.
3. Their work is also to give out a testimony to man. Even under the Old Testament, when a priestly order was in accordance with Divine appointment, God set it aside because of its corruption and inutility, and brought on the scene prophets to declare his will. Much more now, under the New Testament economy, where every human priesthood is but a pretence and a sham, will he carry on his work by the voice of the prophet, that men may learn through the ear that which they will fail to see by a histrionic parade.
4. Around these witnesses there should be a special guard. (Verse 5.) No one can willingly wound or plot against any witness for God without suffering for it, either in his reputation or in his peace, Nor can any one seek to injure a Church that is true to its Lord, without bringing on himself, sooner or later, the judgments of God. God surrounds his witnesses as with a wall of fire.
5. This guard will be around them till they have finished their testimony. (Verse 7.) “Man is immoral till his work is done.” There are forces of ill, concealed, pent up, restrained, which, if they were but let loose, would soon make havoc of the Church; but an all controlling Power keeps them in check, and as long as God has anything for a witness to say, that witness will be spared and empowered to say it.
6. At some time or other there will be such an onrush of the great world power as to seem, for a while, to silence this witness bearing. Just as our Lord was hedged round with an impenetrable guard until his hour was come, so shall it be with his witnesses. Just as there came a time when his voice was stilled in death and the enemy triumphed, so shall it be with them. There is yet to be permitted such an onrush of the powers of darkness as shall seem for a while to carry all before it, and the voices of the witnesses shall be stilled.
7. The silencing of the witnesses will cause their foes to triumph. (Verses 8-10.) These prophets were the torment of the ungodly (verse 10). Hence the world’s hatred. In proportion to its hatred of the message and the messengers will be its gladness when the messengers can trouble it no more. Ill will run riot. The wickedness of a Sodom will be renewed. The Holy Ghost has forewarned us what to expect. Tares will ripen; evil men will grow worse and worse. Perilous times will come. “When the Son of man cometh, will he find the faith on the earth?”
8. The triumph of the foe is but for a season. (Verses 11, 12.) Just as the Master put to shame all his foes by rising again on the third day, and afterwards ascending to heaven, so, after a like period, will that power, which the enemy thought was at an end, revive again. The world shall yet see that those whom it vilified are those whom God has glorified.
9. The Divine glorification of his witnesses will be accompanied with a mighty visitation of judgment on the world. (Verse 13.) They who think to stop the mouths of God’s witnesses will have to meet a Power before which they will melt away in terror, and the very earth on which they were committing these crimes will be made to reel beneath their feet. Providence will affright these who sneered at the voice of the prophet. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, and the Lord shall have them in derision” (Psa 2:1-12.). “And the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” In all these nine points of detail the chapter gives us not only that which is true now and then, but that which is continuously true in one part or other throughout the Christian age; and instead of the chapter seeming to be shrouded in unintelligible mystery, it is actually radiant with a light that makes all things clear. For note, in conclusion:
(1) It behoves us to ask the questionAre we in the real Church of God as well as in the nominal one of Christendom?
(2) Should we not be ambitious to join the band of holy witnesses for God?
(3) If we are testifying for God, let us not expect all ease or comfort. Every part of our message runs counter to the prepossessions of the ungodly. If we do not meet, again and again, with direct opposition, we have reason to suspect that we do not with sufficient clearness and boldness testify against sin.
(4) Let us take comfort from the thought that not one of God’s witnesses can possibly be swept away until his testimony is finished.
(5) Let none be deterred from loyalty to the Lord Jesus because Of the repeated onsets which may be made upon them, nor on account of the scorn which will ever and anon be cast upon the witness bearers. For furious as the wrath of the enemy may be, it is curbed.
Rev 11:15-18
The seventh trumpet and the song which is to follow.
Although we have found manifold reasons why we cannot fix dates in interpreting the Apocalypse, we find equally manifest reasons for doing that which is of far more importanceeven for indicating the principles which it discloses. The previous section taught us that the extent and limit of the Church of God are perfectly measured; that God will preserve for himself a succession of witnesses during the mysterious and protracted period of the Church’s witness bearing; that at some time or other there would be such an onrush of evil as if a beast were let loose from the deep abyss; that, for a while, the witnesses would be silenced; but that God would interpose, and cause providence to work where prophecy had failed, until the last obstruction to the final triumph of the Church should be taken out of the way. Then the seventh trumpet shall sound; under that seventh trumpet the end should come; and following on the end there shall be heard heaven’s triumphant song. We therefore regard the words from the fifteenth to the eighteenth verses inclusive as overleaping the rest of the book; as, in fact, retrospective, giving us a hint of the sublime satisfaction which all holy souls will feel, in the review of God’s dealings, when all those events are accomplished which the remaining chapters are about to specify. Here we propose to indicate these only in briefest outline, as the several details will be hereafter dealt with one by one.
I. HOWEVER GLOOMY AND PROTRACTED THE PERIOD MAY BE THROUGH WHICH GOD‘S WITNESSES MAY HAVE TO PROPHESY, LIGHT WILL BREAK AT LAST. From Rev 6:9, Rev 6:10, and Rev 8:3, Rev 8:4, we see that a great burden of prayer has been for long, long years spread out before God, the cry of which is, “Thy kingdom come.” In the verses before us we catch a glimpse of the time when this prayer shall have been fulfilled, and when the fulfilment will call forth a shout of praise (verses 15-18). And in the words of this song, which is sent up in praise to God on account of the conflict being at an end, we get an indication of what had happened ere the strife ceased, as they look upon the struggle from its further side; cf. verse 18, “The nations were angry”the spirit of revolt against God rose to its height (Psalm it.)”and thy wrath came;” i.e. its manifestation. In the kingdoms of olden time, when the cup of iniquity was full, the judgments of God came and swept them away. So it will be again. We nowhere get any warrant from Scripture for supposing that God will govern in a future age on any different principles from those on which he has governed in the past, or on which he governs now. But those principles will be manifested more dearly than they have been. “And the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” This is spoken of as belonging to a bygone time. So that the passage brings us, by anticipation, to the other side of the judgment of the dead, actually past the dread scene in Rev 20:11-13. “And to give their reward to thy servants the prophets”those who bore faithful testimony for God for the twelve hundred and sixty years, dad in sackcloth”and to the saints”to the holy ones who were in covenant relation to God by sacrifice”and them that fear thy Name,” “in every nation under heaven” (cf. Act 10:35), “both small and great.” All life’s “poor distinctions” will vanish most utterly away in the light of the great white throne. “And to destroy them that destroy the earth.” Those who destroy the earth by corrupting it with their sin, God will destroy by desolating with his judgments. This expression again overleaps the scenes of Rev 12:1-17 :22, and includes all those wild and weird forms of ill which are referred to in the remaining eleven chapters of this book. These are:
(1) The dragon (Rev 12:3, Rev 12:9).
(2) The first beast (Rev 13:1).
(3) The second beast (Rev 13:11).
(4) Three unclean spirits (Rev 16:13).
(5) Babylon the Great (Rev 17:1-18.).
(6) The ungodly (Rev 20:12-15).
(7) Death and Hades (Rev 20:14). (See the homilies under these several passages.)
When the decisive judgment on all these is over, then does Jehovah take to himself his great power, and reign. And then the four and twenty elders, seated on their thrones, as if associated with their Lord in regal state, and sharers in his triumphs, rejoice over the grand issue, when every enemy is still as a stone.
II. THE PARAGRAPH BEFORE US INDICATES NOT ONLY WHAT THE ISSUE WILL BE, BUT ALSO THE MAIN EVENTS WHICH WILL PRECEDE IT. (Verse 18.) (These will be found to be dealt with in the homilies on the passages indicated above. The order of those events will be found to be indicated in the homily on Rev 22:20.) These verses are, in fact, as stated above, an anticipatory summary of the whole.
III. WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS SEE THE ISSUE OF THE GREAT CONFLICT, THEY WILL BE FILLED WITH JOY, AND WILL GIVE VENT THERETO IN ADORING PRAISE. The results of the resurrection, of the judgment, and of the sentence, will perfectly satisfy all righteous souls (Rev 12:7). Let us note here that only righteous souls will be satisfied. No unrighteous man ever will be satisfied with what God does. Such will be speechless, because they know that God does only what is right, and the fact that a righteous administration condemns them can never bring them rest. So that it is not the fault of the administration if it brings torment to the ungodly, but of the ungodliness. But as for the righteous, even here they gave thanks at the remembrance of God’s holiness; how much more will they do this when it
“… shall break thro’ every cloud
That veils and darkens his designs”!
Then, with the clearer vision with which they will be endowed in their glorified natures, with the views of the manifold wisdom of God which the unfoldings of providence shall yield, with the glory of the Son of God unveiled before them without a cloud, when redemption’s work is completed, when all the chosen are gathered, when the righteousness and love of God are perfectly vindicated, when all the ransomed ones are found as an unbroken unity at the feet of him who died for them,then will the hallelujahs of the glorified rise up in holy song! All conflicts will be past, believers will be ushered into that rest which remaineth, and the “joy of their Lord” will be complete.
In conclusion:
1. Let us not be astonished at any violent outbreaks of evil which may perplex and bewilder many. The Holy Ghost hath said, “perilous times shall come.”
2. Let us not judge of the progress of the work of God by the aspect of the world at any one moment. As reasonably might one think, when he watched the ebbing tide, that the sea was disappearing!
3. Let us not forget, that however dark the avenues through which the Church of God may have to pass, yet
(1) this book has sketched them in all their darkness, and
(2) has shown us also the brightness that lies beyond them.
4. However fierce the conflicts of our age may be, never let us falter in the witness which we bear for God and the right. Ours is a good fight. “In your patience possess ye your souls.” The light will break at last.
5. Finally, if we would be kept in perfect peace, let our minds ever be stayed on him who “rides upon the storm.” In his own time he will say, “Peace, be still,” and the tossing billows shall subside to an eternal calm.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Rev 11:1, Rev 11:2
The measuring of the temple.
Whether this chapter be the history of events that had already taken place when it was written or were then happening; or whether it consists of predictions inspired of God of events then future, though near at hand in the history of Judaism and of the Church; or of events yet future in the experience of the whole Church, as many affirm; or whether, yet again, the whole chapter be an inspired allegory which, under the likeness of actual historical events, or of incidents recorded in the ancient Scriptures, were intended to convey to us spiritual teachings applicable to all times;who can positively and certainly say? And like doubt hangs over the interpretation of the forty and two months told of here and elsewhere, whether they are to be taken literally, symbolically, or according to the reckoning of those who count each day to mean a year. We stay not, however, to discuss these questions, but prefer to take these verses which tell of the measuring of the temple as echoes of those earlier teachings of this book, and of many other Scriptures beside, which tell us of the Lord’s perpetual presence in his Church, his strict investigation and his perfect knowledge of all who constitute her membership, and of all that occurs therein. “The Lord is in his holy temple; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men:” of such words does this command to “Arise, and measure the temple” remind us, and in the sense they suggest we desire to consider them now. Let us observe, therefore
1. THE MEASURING. We have a similar command in Eze 40:1-49., when in like inspired vision that prophet beholds the glorious restored temple of God. And so in Rev 21:1-27. of this book we read of the angel who had the golden reed to measure the holy city. But as in those other representations we cannot think that material earthly buildings are meant, or any literal measurements whether of city or temple, so here we regard the temple as telling of that glorious spiritual fabric of which we so often read under like imagery in the Epistles of St. Paul; and the measuring is a metaphor to signify that careful investigation and scrutiny whereby true knowledge is gained as to the nearness or otherwise of that which is measured to its proper standard and ideal. For it is to be noted:
1. God has an ideal for everything, a standard to which he would have it conform. He had in the creation of the world, and we are told how he saw all that which he had made, and declared that it answered to his ideal, and that it was “very good.” And he looks down from heavenso we are toldto see what is done upon the earth; he taketh account of all that men do. All other creatures fulfil their ideal, there is no need to take account of them; but man, endowed with the terrible power of contradicting and refusing his Maker’s will, as well as of assenting to itand he could not have the one without the otherit is needful that the Lord should “behold” and “try” his actions by an unerring standard in order that he may be the more readily led to try them in like manner himself, and so conform them thereto the more nearly.
2. Christ is the ideal Man, and therefore called “the Son of man.” He did in all things so answer to his Father’s intent that he was the “beloved Son in whom” God was “well pleased.” That is the standard to which we are to look, and by which we are to regulate our lives. Happy they who follow him closely “whithersoever he goeth.”
3. And this “measuring” is continually going on. There is an inward monitor as well as an outward one. Conscience affirms, consents to, and confirms what the Word of God declares, and is perpetually holding up both the standard and ourselves, and making us inwardly if not outwardly blush when we see the contrast between the two.
4. How grateful we should be for this! “Lord with what care thou hast begirt us round!” so sings holy George Herbert; and one evidence of this care is in the constant bringing before our consciences the rigid rule of right. But note next
II. THE MEASURED THAT ARE SPOKEN OF HERE. The temple, the altar, and the people.
1. The temple of God. No doubt St. John, as a devout Jew, and one who had often frequented with joy the courts of the Lord’s house at Jerusalem, had that templefor it was still standing, though soon to fallbefore his mind. And it was to him a symbol and type of all Israel, if not of the whole Church of God (cf. St. Paul, “In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple unto the Lord”). He is telling of the Church of God throughout the whole world and in all ages of time. Therefore we may take “the temple of God” as representing the Church in its outward form. Now, God has his ideal for this. What is it? The Catholic declares the true Church to be the great body of the baptized, organized into one organic whole. The individualist asserts that there is no such body that man can know of, but that the Church consists of “living stones,” that is, of individual souls who have been quickened into the life of God by personal faith in Christ. And there are multitudes of subdivisions under each of these two ruling beliefs. But all such outward forms will be measured, tested, tried. And what will the standard be to which conformity will be demanded? Christ’s herald said, “Now also the axe is laid at the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Mat 3:10). By this supreme test will all our Church organizations be tried. What fruit have they borne in that which is the end of all religionthe making of bad men good, and good men better? Have souls in such Churches been quickened, converted, cheered, built up, and helped heavenward? If so, well. If not, then not well. No antiquity, orthodoxy, catholicity, popularity, beauty, wealth, or any other such plea will stand if God’s standard be not answered to, and his demand for “good fruit” be not met. The axe will fall, and the tree will go down.
2. The altar. This also was to be measured. We may take “the altar” as the symbol of the worship of the Church. Around it Israel gathered; on it the fire was perpetually burning; from it was taken the fire which enkindled the incense that went up in the immediate presence of God. It was the centre of Israel’s worship: there was but one altar for them all. It therefore does set forth the worship of the Church according to the Divine ideal, and the altar was to be measured, that that worship might be compared with that ideal. Is our worship fervent? On that altar was an ever burning fire. Upon the heads of the disciples at Pentecost descended fire, telling that Christ’s people were to be known by their ardour. And the altar fire tells that worship is to be fervent. Is it spiritual? Does it ascend up to God as the smoke of the sacrifice mounted up and up into the heavens,symbol, beautiful, striking, appropriate, of that uplifting of the heart, that real outgoing of the soul after God, which belongs to all true worship? And, above all, is it sacrificial? The altar was for sacrifice. Worship that has not this element in it will be rejected when that measurement of the altar told of here takes place. And let no one think that having correct views as to the atonement of Christ, and making mental reference thereto, or verbal, by adding on, as we should, to all our prayers, “through Jesus Christ our Lord”let no one think that that fulfils the ideal of altar worship. No; our worship may ring with the mention of that ever blessed Name, and our views may be of the most unexceptional sort, and there be not one atom of “sacrifice” in our worship. And often and often, as in the Lord’s prayer, that Name may not be heard at all, and ideas about the atonement may be very crude, and yet the worship be full of sacrifice, and will bear well the measuring which is to be applied to all our worship. Sacrifice means giving up something which we should like to keep. Was not Christ’s sacrifice such? Is not all sacrifice such? If, then, worship do not carry with it the giving up of anything, save the little time that it occupies to get through with it; if sin be not given up, nor self, nor that which we have and could spare, and our brother needs;if there be naught of this, where is the sacrifice? how will our worship bear God’s test?
3. The people. “Them that worship therein”so we read. Now, the Divine ideal for these may be learnt by noting what was not to be measured. And we are told in verse 2 that “the court which is without the temple measure it not.” It was to be cast out, left out of the reckoning altogether. Now, the outer court of the temple was the addition of Herod; he was given to erecting magnificent buildings, and the addition of this outer court did undoubtedly add much to the splendour of the whole fabric. But such court had no place in the tabernacle nor in the temple of Solomon or that of Zerubbabel. But Herod had made this outer court in the temple at Jerusalem. It was thronged by all manner of people. There it was the money changers had their tables, and they who bought and sold doves. The Gentiles might come there, though they might not pass into what was especially the temple, and which was sacred to Israelites only. And so it represented all those outer court worshippers, those mixed multitudes which are found associated with God’s true people everywhere of them, but not truly belonging to them. The courts of the temple were separated literally. No Gentile durst pass the boundaries which parted the outer court from the rest of the temple on pain of death. But there is no such visible, material, separation in the throng of worshippers in the professing Church of God. We cannot draw the line nor apply the measure. But all the same there is such a line drawn, and it is clearly visible to the eye of God. He can discriminate, though we cannot, between those who profess and those who possess true religion, and one day he will make this difference plain. Tares get in amongst the wheat, bad fish amid the good, the foolish virgins were associated with the wise; and the worshippers in the true temple of God today are mingled with those whose place is in the outer court. But as in the parables referred to separation did come at last, so will it be for the Church of today, when the Son of man sends forth his angels, and they “gather out of his kingdom all that do offend, and they that work iniquity.” The question, therefore, for us all isWhere do we belong! In that outer court were many who were well disposed towards Israel’s God, and professed more or less of attachment to his worship; but they were not true Israelites. And the like is true still. “Let a man examine himself, and so let him” take his place in the Church of God.
III. THE MEANING OF ALL THIS. It was because a time of sore trial was imminent, close at hand. For “forty and two months” the court and the city were to be trodden underfoot by the nations. The invasion and overthrow of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the escape of the Christian Church to Pella, supply illustrative historical incidents of the treading underfoot told of here, and of the measuring, like the sealing of Rev 7:1-17., for the purpose of separating and preserving God’s faithful ones. God ever has, even in the worst of times, a remnant of such; like the “seven thousand” who had not bowed the knee to Baal. And he takes notice of them, and will keep them securely, whilst those who are not as they are subjected to his sore judgments. The measuring means preservation for the faithful, judgment for all else. “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people.” The measuring is ever going on. Let us each askOn which side of that unerring line am I?S.C.
Rev 11:3-13
The two witnesses.
In the absolute impossibility of certainly ascertaining what definite historical events were in the mind of St. John when he penned these mysterious chapters of his Apocalypse, we are driven, as perhaps it was designed we should be driven, to take them as an inspired parable or allegory, and so gather from them lessons for our own times. We have done so in regard to the “little book” told of in Rev 10:1-11.; and in regard to the measuring of temple, altar, and worshippers, told of in the first ten verses of this chapter; and we purpose dealing with this record of the two witnesses in a similar way; for we know of no other in which our consideration of them can be of any service to us. This entire episode, stretching from Rev 10:1 to Rev 11:13, has to do with these witnesses; Rev 10:1-11. showing their preparation by means of the book; Rev 11:1, Rev 11:2 showing the people before whom they would witness; and now the Rev 11:3-13 tell more especially of the witnesses themselves and their witness for God, and then that of God for them. It might seem as if in Rev 11:4 we had an authoritative explanation of these two witnesses, as it points us back to the prophecy of Zec 4:1-3, and tells us that what he saw was now fulfilled. But Zechariah’s symbol merely tells of the characteristics of these witnesses; that they were to be as the olive trees weresupporters and sustainers of the life to which they ministered. The olive trees so ministered to the lamps, and these witnesses so ministered to the people of God. They were also to be as lamps, letting their light shine in such wise as should glorify God. St. John’s word, “These are,” etc., therefore means no more than that these are represented by, and correspond to, the two olive trees, etc. But we may, we believe, find the antitypes of those ancient symbols and types of St. John’s allegory in our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church. They are the two witnesses, and are one to the other as the trees and the lamp; but before the world, both witness. Look at the life of our Lord and the history of his Church; all that is told of here may be read therein. Christ himself is called in this book, “The faithful and true Witness;” and he himself said of his Church in her ministry, “This gospel shall be preached for a witness in all nations;” and it is written of old, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord.” Hence in Christ and his Church we may find these witnesses, and in what is here recorded of them we may see the mutual fellowship that exists between them. See this
I. IN MINISTRY. For both that of Christ and his Church was a ministry:
1. Of prophecy. Not in the sense of predicting the future, but in uttering forth the will of Godpreaching and proclaiming God’s message to mankind. In both there were works of Divine power, signs and wonders; but these were of but subordinate importance as compared to their ministry of the Word. Our Lord was the great Teacher, and he bade his disciples “preach the gospel.”
2. Of brief duration. Who knows what precisely is meant by these mysterious twelve hundred and sixty days? It is the same period of three years and a half whether told of as days here or as months in ver.
2. It is the half of seven, the number denoting completeness and perfection. There may be allusion to the time of our Lord’s ministry on earth, or to that of the investment of Jerusalem by the Romans, or, taking the year day theory, to some twelve hundred and sixty years during which this ministry is to be carried on. We prefer to take the numbers as telling of a time limited and brief. Such was our Lord’s ministry; such the duration of the Church in Jerusalem ere it fled away to Pella; such, in comparison with the eternal ages in which the blessed results of their ministry shall be realized, is the ministry of the Church of today and all past and future days.
3. Characterized by much of sternness and sorrow. “Clothed in sackcloth”so is it described. Was it not so with our Lord? He was “the Man of sorrows.” And has it not been so with his Church oftentimes, just in proportion as they have been faithful to their Lord? See the life of Paul, of Peter, of the martyr Church in many generations, under both pagan and papal Rome. How can it be otherwise when we think of the ends that are to be securedso momentousand of the tremendous hindrances in the way of securing these? Such ministry is no holiday pastime, no decorous profession merely, but one that for our Lord and his apostles, for his martyrs and for all his faithful, seems oftentimes to be “clothed in sackcloth.”
4. But it is of resistless force. Like as was the ministry of Elijah and Moses. Elijah literally called down fire from heaven, and Moses did that which is here said of these witnesses. And in a real, though not literal sense, verses 5 and 6 are true. Was not our Lord’s word as a fire to his enemies? How it scathed and tormented them! And were not his words fulfilled when Jerusalem was overthrown? And so of the other witness, the Church. What has become of her persecutorsRome, Spain, and many more? Has it been well with those who have hurt the Church of God? “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye”so hath God said, and historic fact vindicates that word. And so of the withholding of the rain. Elijah did this literally; but was not the righteous and universal judgment on the hardened ones whereby, as our Lord said, “seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand”was not this a yet more real and terrible withholding of the rain and shutting of heaven against them? Christ was “set for the fall” as well as “the rise” of many in Israel; they would have it so. And the words of the other witness have had like effects. “Whose sins ye retain, they are retained,” said the Lord to his Church. “What thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” he also said. And was not this word fulfilled when such as Paul turned from the Jews who had rejected him and went unto the heathen? What would become of a nation, a community, if the good all went away? What became of Sodom when Lot left it; of Jerusalem, when the Church of Christ left it? Parodies of this power of the Church were seen in the interdicts which proud popes and prelates would at times lay on the lands that believed in them. The threat of such interdict seemed like shutting heaven against them, and they dreaded it with a great dread. And the plagues Moses inflicted on Egypt have their counterpart in the sorrows that have come on men in all ages who have sought to hurt the Lord’s anointed ones, and to do his witnesses harm. Yes; this ministry of the witnesses has had resistless force accompanying it, before which its foes have fallen again and again. Let none of us be found fighting against God.
II. IN SUFFERING. We seem in verses 7-13 to have a piece of the gospel history, of the life of our Lord, given to us. For he was met with the hostile rage of hell. The “beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit” did make war against him. And for a time hell seemed to have vanquished the Christ. For he was betrayed, condemned, and crucified. And with contempt like to that of refusing burial was our Lord treated. “He was despised and rejected of men.” It was their “hour, and the power of darkness.” And the Church, his co-witness, has had fellowship in his sufferings, and been once and again “made conformable unto his death.” The same foe, the same rage, the same suffering, the same seeming vanquishment, the same scorn, these have been her lot as well as her Lord’s. And over both have been the like short-lived exultation. Herod and Pontius Pilate became friends over the condemned Christ. His enemies breathed more freely when they knew he was dead. How they mocked him as he hung on the cross! Their joy, as well as their hatred and scorn, are clearly audible in those hideous insults which they heaped upon him. And again and again have the persecutors of the Church exulted in imagined success. Pagan and papal, still worse than pagan Rome, have alike flattered themselves, once and again, that heresyas they deemed itwas completely put down. They have been “drunk with the blood of saints,” and in their wild orgies have rejoiced and made merry as the manner of such is to do. Let us, whose lot has fallen in these quiet days, learn lessons of thankfulness that no such suffering as the Church has had to endure falls to our share, and that, when such suffering had to be borne, grace sufficient for the day was given. What an implied promise of ever present help there is in that! And let us be ashamed to shrink from any suffering allotted to us, seeing how incomparably less it is, which, in witnessing for God, we may be called upon to bear. And let us remember, and be comforted by the remembrance, whence and when such sufferings come. Whence? From hell, and such as were the men of Sodom and Egypt, and the murderers of the Lord. If friendship with such would save us from suffering, would we be their friends? God forbid! And when? It was when the evil they could do could do no harm (see verse 7). The witnesses had finished their testimony. What a shutting of the door after the horse has been stolen! God’s witnesses had done their work; it did not matter now what their foes might do against or with them. God’s servants are immortal, yea more, are left unhindered, until their work is done.
III. IN TRIUMPH. (Verse 11.) Our Lord’s resurrection, the fear which fell on his foes, his ascension, Pentecost and its marvels, are all referred to here as patterns of the triumph of the witnesses. In these great events are found the archetype and model, and not merely the mere illustration, of what St. John tells of. It is easy to see what answers in the history of our Lord to what is here said. He was glorified, declared to be the Son of God with power, by means of them. And in his triumph his people share, so that, in a very real sense, what is said of him can be, and is, said of them. Church revivals, of which there have been many, are instances of fellowship in Christ’s triumph. Often have hell and Satan, and all that are theirs, thought that Christianity and the Church were crushed. Voltaire vowed that it should be his ecraser l’infame, and he thought that by his writings it should surely be done, and in the awful days of the revolutionary terror it seemed as if his vaunt were not vain, but valid. But revival came. In the blessed Reformation times, what a resurrection unto life for the faith and the Church there was! In the Diocletian persecutions it seemed as if all were lost, but in brief while, Constantine avowed himself a Christian, and the faith which was once persecuted was now praised and preferred everywhere. And today in many quarters, it is feared that faith is dead. Perhaps some fear it for themselves. But behold this parable of the witnesses. Over the grave of all such “Resurgam” may, should be, written. “Failure” is a word unknown in the vocabulary of God, but ultimate and complete triumph is absolutely sure.
CONCLUSION. Witnesses for Christ, does not this bid us be of good cheer? Enemies of Christ, does not the word of his witnesses “torment” you? Does it not rankle within you, driving away your peace, refusing to let you alone in your sins, however much you might wish it would? It scorches and burns inwardly, as if the fire unquenchable were already kindled. Blessed be God that the witness of the Word doth torment, pricking you to the heart, and causing perpetual pain. Yield to it, as did Saul the persecutor, who, by yielding, became Paul the apostle. “The Word is quick and powerful;” it goes straight to the conscience, making many a Felix “tremble” and many an Agrippa resolve “almost to be a Christian.” But remember, it may do all this and not save your soul. Oh for that one little step which yet remains to be taken! that actual “arising and going to your Father”! that real coming to Christ that you may have life! If the Word torments, it is only that it may arouse you to listen; it is only that you may take it to you as your guide, your light, and your comforter. Trifle not with that Word which must one day judge you. May Christ give it entrance while it is still light and not fire”a light to cheer and to enlighten, not a fire to burn and to consume”! (Vaughan).S.C.
Rev 11:19
The rent veil.
In the foregoing part of this chapter, which tells of the two witnesses, we have seen how the path along which they were led resembled that of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. They had fellowship with him in ministry, in suffering, and in triumph. It is ever so with the servants of Christ. And now in this verse our thoughts are sent back to those miracles which were attendant upon his death. In Mat 27:50, Mat 27:51, etc., we are told of the veil that was rent from the top to the bottom, and of the earthquake, and of the opened graves. And so in this chapter, which tells of the winding up of the Jewish dispensation, we see the innermost recesses of the temple thrown open, and all that it contained laid bare to men’s sight and approach, as it had never been before. So was it when on the cross Christ said, “It is finished!” so is it now in this vision in which the end of all that old order of things is portrayed. But what meant that rent veil there, and this opened temple and ark of the covenant disclosed to all eyes? They have a meaning. “To the few eyes that witnessed that rending of the temple veil it must have been a most mysterious spectacle. Our Lord died at the third hour after midday, the very hour when eager crowds of worshippers would be thronging into the courts of the temple, and all would be perparing for the evening sacrifice. Within the holy place, kindling, perhaps, the many lights of the golden candlestick, some priests would be busy before the inner veil which hung between them and the holy of holiesthe dark secluded chamber within which once lay the ark of the covenant, with the cherubim above it shadowing the mercy seat, which no mortal footstep was permitted to invade, save that of the high priest once only every year. How strange, how awful, to the ministering priests, standing before that veil, to feel the earth tremble beneath their feet, and to see the strong veil grasped, as if by two unseen hands of superhuman strength, and torn down in its centre from top to bottom; the glaring light of day, that never for long centuries gone by had entered there, flung into that sacred tenement, and all its mysteries laid open to ruler gaze!” Now, that which this disclosure of the most holy place meant when our Lord was crucified, is meant also by what St. John tells us here in his vision. But more than this is meant. For when the veil of the temple was rent no ark of the covenant was seen. That had long ago disappeared, having been either burnt or carried off when Jerusalem and the temple were overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar. Hence neither in the second temple, nor in that of Herod, in the days of our Lord, was there any ark of the covenant. It seems never to have been replaced (cf. Esdras, Josephus, Tacitus). But here, in St. John’s vision, the ark of the covenant is seen again. Fuller meaning, therefore, is to be found in the vision than in the rent veil. Much is common to both; something, however, belongs peculiarly to each. Let us, therefore, note
I. WHAT IS SPECIAL TO EACH. And:
1. As to the veil rent in twain. “It is not fanciful,” says one, “to regard it as a solemn act of mourning on the part of the house of the Lord. In the East men express their sorrow by rending their garments, and the temple, when it beheld its Master die, seemed struck with horror, and rent its veil Shocked at the sin of man, indignant at the murder of its Lord, in its sympathy with him who is the true Temple of God, the outward symbol tore its holy vestment from the top to the bottom” (Spurgeon). But, with far more certainty, we may see in it the symbol of our Lord’s sacred humanity. The Epistle to the Hebrews expressly tells us this in Heb 10:19, Heb 10:20, where we read, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” “The weak, human, mortal flesh was the state through which he had to pass before he could enter into the holiest in the heavens for us, and when he put off that flesh the actual veil in the temple was rent in twain.” That perfect human life, this life in our suffering humanity, opened to our sight and to our feet the way to God. Recall the ancient type. Ere ever the high priest could enter into the holiest of all, he must push aside or lift up the separating veil which hung before it. Now, that veil symbolized Christ’s flesh, that is, his life in the fleshhis earthly, human life. And, ere he could enter into the holiest for us, he must live that life, must pass through it as through the veil And this is what he did. And now, relying on that blood of Jesus which atones for us with God, because it evermore makes our flesh, that is, makes our life, pure, trustful, consecrated, as was his lifeso, by this “new and living way” we must draw near, keep drawing near, to our Father and our God. His way into the holiest is our way, only the way for him was far more severe than ours. For he had to be perfectly holy, “as a lamb without blemish and without spot,” and to suffer as none other ever did or could. But our marred and imperfect holiness is accepted for the sake of his, which was all perfect, and so, even through the coarse and tattered veil of our flesh, we shall enter, by his grace, into the presence of God.
2. The vision of the ark of the covenant. We may take this as telling
(1) of the unchangeableness of God. When St. John wrote, the very foundations of the earth seemed to be shaken and in course of being moved. That Judaism of which the temple was the centre was dying, dying hard. Jerusalem and her people were in the last throes of their national existence, and the old order was changing every hour and, amid sore travail, giving place to new. To many eyes it seemed as if all was lost, and the end of all things was at hand. Now, what a reassuring vision this would be! The ark of the covenant that enshrined God’s holy Law; the ark that was covered with the mercy seat, that told of the eternal grace of God; that ark of the covenant, now seen in beatific vision, said to the beholder, “The Lord liveth, the Lord holy and full of compassion, just, yet delighting in mercy, he liveth.” Moreover it told
(2) of the certainty of victory over all foes. It was the ark of God’s strength, God’s resting place, where he dwelt between the cherubim. Under its shadow Israel had dwelt, as under the shadow of the Almighty. At its presence the rushing river rolled back its flowing flood, and piled up its awestruck waters, and held them bound until all the people of God had passed by. At its presence the walls of Jericho had fallen fiat, and under its leadership Israel had gone on from victory unto victory. It had made them invincible a thousand times. And now the persecuted people of God beheld this ark of the covenant once again. “When the enemy came in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifted up the standard against him.” It was an omen of victory, a prophecy of good, a lifter up of all hearts that were cast down. It meant all that.
II. WHAT IS COMMON TO BOTHto the veil of the temple rent and this vision of the ark of the covenant. One chief meaning belongs to boththat meaning which our Lord declared when on the cross at the moment of his death he cried, “It is finished!“ The veil and the shrine wherein the ark was seen represent the whole of the Mosaic ceremonial, the system of types, the Levitical Law, the whole body of Jewish ordinances. And the rent veil, and the vision of the ark alike show that all that is done with and forever. Freedom of access is given to all, and we are bidden therefore to come boldly to the throne of grace. “The veil is not rolled up, but rent, so that it cannot be put up again;” and in this vision there is no sign of it at all. Now, this means that all that separates the soul of the believer from God is clean gone forever.
1. All legal ordinances. And yet how slow men are to believe thisto believe that the worshippers whom God seeks are those who worship him in spirit and in truth! It is not papists alone, but so-called Protestants also, all too many of them, who have not yet realized what the rent veil, and the ark of the covenant visible to all, mean. Hence the often hurried sending for ministers of religion to pray by the sick and dying. Hence, too, those many evidences which we meet with that men’s minds are not yet emancipated from reliance on certain persons, ordinances, and the like; and that they yet know not that none can make them more acceptable to God, or as acceptable, as when they themselves come through the blood of Christ.
2. All guilt. This separates indeed, and would forever do so, had not the veil been rent and the way opened.
3. All depravity. The evil bias of our naturethat in us which makes us do the things we would not, and forbids our doing those we would. And:
4. The flesh itself; for this veil, too, will one day be rent, and then our soul, escaped as a bird out of the hand of the fowler, shall go into the presence of God forever. Conclusion. Then if all that separates, every veil, be done away, let me draw near, as I am bidden to doin prayer, in praise, in communion; asking or giving thanks for blessings on my soul, in pardon, peace, purity, consolation, strength; blessings on others, those whom I love, those who love me, and for all for whom I am bound to pray. We may, we should, we must.S.C.
HOMILIES BY R. GREEN
Rev 11:3-13
The continuous witness.
The Lord calls forth his faithful witnesses, and makes promise that their voice and testimony shall not be silenced, even though the holy city be trodden underfoot. Mark
I. THE UNFAILING TESTIMONY. Throughout the entire period during which the usurping worldly power shall oppress and tread down the adherents to the truth, the voice of testimony is heard. It cannot be silenced. Forty and two months is the holy city trodden underfoot; a thousand two hundred and three score days do the witnesses prophesy. Not any particular two; but the confirmatory two. The number may be minished; but the voice is clear. One herald is sufficient to make a proclamation.
II. THE PAINFULNESS OF WITNESSING AGAINST EVIL AND THREATENING JUDGMENT IS BUT TOO OBVIOUS. The witnesses prophesy, “clothed in sackcloth.” So must all who stand in opposition to evil find the painful bitterness of their sad duty.
III. THE DIVINE DEFENCE OF THE WITNESSES. “If any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth.” The Lord defends his witnesses; his anointed must not be touched. The word of their mouth is itself a penetrating sword of flame; nor can the adversaries of the truth escape those external judgments which fire always represents, and which the God of truth uses for the punishment of evil doers. This is further seen in
IV. THEIR PUNITIVE POWER. But it is of a nature correspondent to the entire character of the gospel. “They shut up heaven.” Sad indeed is it for them who stay the holy work of the heavenly witnesses. For if their work be hindered, it is as the shutting up of the heavensno spiritual rain, no teaching. The world is the sufferer. The loss is unspeakable. By the removal of the earth preserving saltthe Worda plague is brought upon the earth. Alas! though the testimony is continuous through all the time of the worldly oppression, yet the witnesses are finally slain! Here the vision may be for the comfort of the witnessss to the truth themselves. And we reflect
V. UPON THEIR TEMPORARY DESTRUCTION AND FINAL TRIUMPH. They are slain, and so far the world triumphs. So it did with the one faithful and true Witness. Or we may see here a temporary triumph of the evil worldly spirit, and the final supremacy of the truth. Probably the former. But in either case the faithful witnesses to the truth are assured in this, as in many other ways, of the final reward to their fidelity and the final triumph over them who make them their foes.R.G.
Rev 11:15-19
The final victory.
Again, as frequently in the course of the writing, the assurance of the final triumph of the truth over all opposers is clearly, definitely, and unequivocally givengiven to the comfort and joy of the toiling, patient, enduring followers of the Lamb. Great voices in heaven are heard, and they proclaim one all sufficient and grand truth: “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” This word runs through the ages. It is the word of prophecy. It has ever and ever will comfort the hearts and stimulate the faith of the Christian warrior. It is the song of assurance with which the hosts of the contending forces of “him that sitteth on the white horse” are cheered and urged to unflagging zeal. Always before the eye of faith this assurance of victory floats. It is the summing up of all the prophetic words in one. It needs no exposition. The figure is too plain. It borders on the realistic.
“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run,
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till suns shall rise and set no more.”
Universal, complete, and final, shall that conquest of the nations be. It is a complete rout. The long continued struggle is at an end. The truth has triumphed over error; righteousness over sin. The King long “set” upon the “holy hill of Zion” is now acknowledged as the lawful Heir, the rightful Sovereign. The holy oracles themselves define this complete reign over the individual, national, and universal life.
I. THE SUPREMACY OF THE DIVINE RULE SHALL BE UNIVERSALLY ESTABLISHED AND ACKNOWLEDGED. “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.”
II. THE DIFFUSION OF DIVINE TRUTH SHALL BE UNIVERSAL. “The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”
III. THE PRINCIPLES OF THAT GOVERNMENT SHALL PERMEATE NATIONAL LIFE, LITERATURE, AND INSTITUTIONS. “The little leaven shall leaven the whole lump.”
IV. UNDER THIS GRACIOUS RULE NATIONAL ANIMOSITIES SHALL BE AMELIORATED. “The swords shall be beaten,” etc.
V. CONFLICTING AND ANTAGONISTIC FORCES SHALL BE HARMONIZED. “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid,” etc.
VI. HUMAN LIFE SHALL BE BEAUTIFIED, ADORNED, AND BRIGHTENED. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert blossom as the rose.”
VII. TO THE MILD AND BENEFICENT SWAY OF THE REDEEMER SHALL BE HANDED OVER THE OUTLYING AND OUTCAST NATIONS OF THE EARTH. “He shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.”
VIII. THIS REIGN SHALL BE CHARACTERIZED BY THE MOST BLESSED CONDITIONS. “In his day shall righteousness prevail, and abundance of peace, so long.” etc.R.G.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS
Rev 11:1-19
The cause of right on earth.
“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 underfoot forty and two months,” etc. What does this chapter mean? Has it any intelligible meaning? Is it to be taken literally or ideally? One of our most modern, able, and distinguished biblical criticsArchdeacon Farrarhas said concerning it, “There neither is, nor ever has been, in Christendom, in any age, or among any school of interpreters, the smallest agreement, or even approach to an agreement, as to the events which the seer had in view … There are no two writers of any importance who even approximately agree in their interpretation.” Shrinking, as I do, from contributing anything to the unsightly pile of interpretations which have been given to this chapter, I shall merely use it as the heavenly Teacher used the lilies of the field and the birds of the airto illustrate truth. The subject which it serves in some extent to set forth is the cause of right on earth. It illustrates the fact
I. THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THIS EARTH HAS ITS MEASURING RULE. “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying [one said], Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” Two things are suggested.
1. That in the human world there is right and wrong. There is the temple of God, the altar, and “them that worship therein.” At the same time, there is the court that is outsidethe “court which is without the temple “a sphere discarded by the right and trampling on the holy. This, however, is only for a time.
2. That right here has its measuring line. Take the “temple” here as the emblem of right on the earth, and the “reed” as that of the moral Law of Godthe Law that measures moral character. Such a Law we have here, here in the conscience, here in the Decalogue, here in the life of Christ. This measuring line concerns qualities rather than quantities; it analyzes all the elements of character and decides their qualities. It is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of being; it is a moral analyst to test the quality of every thought, affection, and deed; a moral gauge to measure the height, breadth, depth, of all. Supreme sympathy with the supremely good is the Law. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” etc. “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity [love], it profiteth me nothing.” This is the “reed” to measure the moral temple of the soul and all its worshippers. Right here requires testing; so much passes for right that is wrong that a measuring line is necessary for testing.
II. THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THIS EARTH HAS ITS MIGHTY DEFENDERS. “I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy.” Who are the two witnesses? Moses and Elijah? Caleb and Joshua? John the Baptist and Christ? Enoch and Elijah? Peter and John? No one knows, although hundreds pretend to say. Did I believe that the chapter had a literal or historic meaning, I would accept the theory that they were the collective representatives of the Jewish and Gentile converts in preference to any other. I take them here to illustrate the mighty defenders of the cause of right in this world. The cause of right has ever required defenders, for in every age it has countless hosts of antagonists. It has had its Elijahs, and its Johns, and its Pauls, its Luthers, its Cromwells, its Garibaldis, etc., men who have stood up, spoken in thunder, and shed their blood for the right. The vision here suggests three things concerning these defenders of the right.
1. They do their work in sadness. “Clothed in sackcloth.” To fight for the right has never been an easy work, and perhaps never will be. They fight not in radiant robes, but in sackcloth. It is not a light work to stand up against a corrupt world and struggle against an age grinning with selfishness, sensuality, and cupidity.
2. They contribute Divine light. “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks.” Language borrowed from the Book of Ezekiel. The olive trees fed the lamp, and the candlesticks diffused the light. Were it not for the Divine defenders of the right, grand heroes in moral history, all the lamps of truth would go out, and the whole race would be mantled in midnight. They are the lights of the world.
3. They exert tremendous power. “If any man will [desire to] hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt [shall desire to hurt] them, he must in this manner be killed,” etc. (see verses 5, 6). The true defenders of the right are invested with a terrible power. Their words flash devouring flames, so shake the corrupt moral firmament under which their contemporaries are living, that the very heavens seem shut up and the rolling streams of life seem turned into blood. It is said that Moses turned the Nile into blood, that Elijah prevented rain descending on the earth for the space of three years. The true defenders of the cause of right are the organs of Omnipotence; their words are mighty through God. To them is committed the work of causing the moral heavens to melt with fervent heat, and spreading out “a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
III. THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THE EARTH HAS ITS TERRIBLE ANTAGONISTS. “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,” etc. (verses 7-10).
1. The antagonists of the right are malignant. They not only murder, but they exult in their cruelty. They are “wild beasts” that fight and kill; they arise from the abyss of depravity. The spirit of persecution is an infernal virus that gallops through the veins of the intolerant persecutor, and physical violence is the weapon. Not only did their malignity destroy, but revelled in the cruelty and destruction: “shall rejoice over them, and make merry.” Their feet are “swift to shed blood;” like savage beasts of prey, they revel in the tortures of their victims. Who can study martyrology without being astounded at the ruthless cruelty that runs in the blood of those that hate the right? They rent the heavens with the cry, “Away with him! away with him!”
2. These antagonists of the right are ever frustrated. It is said, “After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet,” etc. (verse 11). Observe:
(1) Their victims were divinely reanimated. If the bodies of the two which lay crushed upon the “street” were not reanimated, their spirit, which was Divine, appeared in others. The bodies of good men fall to the dust, but the spirit that animated them lives in others. The spirit of Elijah enters John the Baptist in the wilderness. The spirit of truth and goodness is a resurrection spirit; it enters those who are in the graves of sin, and they start to life and stand forth a mighty army to defend the right. Such a resurrection may well alarm the persecutors. “A great fear fell upon them which saw them.”
(2) Their victims ascended to heaven. “And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud” (verse 12). Heaven is ever open to welcome and receive the faithful defenders of the right. With their ascension terrible calamities befall the earth. “And the same [that] hour was there a great earthquake” (verse 13). The eternal hour of retribution towards their persecutors moves on; the earth quakes, and thousands are engulfed in ruin. “Be sure your sin will find you out.”
IV. THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THE EARTH IS DESTINED TO TRIUMPH. After the passing of the first two woes there is yet another to come, and after the close of the sixth trumpet the blast of the seventh is heard. “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were [followed] great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms [kingdom] of this [the] world are [is] become the kingdoms [kingdom] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever” (verse 15). Two things seem now to occur.
1. The rapture and adoration of the good. Sainted men and angels are represented rising from their seats, falling on their faces and worshipping, and the reason of their worship is that the kingdoms of this world have passed into the actual possession of Christ. “The kingdoms of this world.” What have they been? What are they now? Hellish mimicries of eternal right and power. Like muddy bubbles on the great stream of life, they have broken into the clear and fathomless river of rectitude, and will appear no more, and this will continue “forever and ever””unto the ages of the ages.” Well, then, might the righteous worship and thank God. “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come,” etc. (verse 17).
2. The increased accessibility of heaven. “And the temple of God was opened in heaven” (verse 19). When right shall become universally triumphant, heaven will come near to man. The holy Jerusalem will come down from heaven; heaven and earth will become one.
CONCLUSION. Suspect not the failure of right; have faith in its winning power. It has life in it, indestructible life, life that will germinate in every land, which will multiply and cover all parts of this globe. “The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord.” “There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall stroke like Lebanon and they of the city shall flourish like gross of the earth.”D. T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Rev 11:1. From this to the nineteenth chapter, we have the third and longest period of this prophesy, distinguished by the seven vials, as the former periods were by seven trumpets, and seven seals. As this is a period much more extensive than either of the foregoing, it seems to have a more full and copious description; and the state of it is represented by several prophetic images; as by measuring the temple; by the prophesy of two witnesses; by the vision of a woman flying into the wilderness; ch. Rev 11:12 : the representation of one wild beast rising out of the sea, and of another coming out of the earth; ch. 13. So that there are two distinct representations of the state of the church during this period; and another representation of the persecuting power from whence this afflicted state of the church should proceed: and in the end of this, as in each period, we have a representation of the church’s deliverance out of its afflicted state. In particular, the afflictions of the church are to end with this period in the most happy and glorious state of peace and prosperity, of truth, purity, and protection; and are not to be renewed in a very short time by a new period of troubles and afflictions to try the faith and patience of the saints, as in the former periods. It appears therefore, that the representation of the two witnesses, of the woman in the wilderness, and of the beast, are several exhibitions of the same time or period, in different views. The time for the witnesses to prophesy in sackcloth, is a thousand two hundred and threescore days, ch. Rev 11:3. The woman is nourished in her place in the wilderness for a time, and times, and half a time, or three years and a half; equal to one thousand two hundred and sixty days, according to the ancient year of three hundred and sixty days; and so the prophesy itself interprets it, Rev 11:6. It is further observed concerning the period of the beast, that power was given to him to continue forty and two months, a time equal to three years and a half, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days. These are therefore to be looked upon as different descriptions of the same period, for the more distinct explication of the prophesy, and the greater certainty of its true meaning. The days in question must be interpreted of years, as is not only agreeable to the general style of prophesy, but to the plan of the particular prophesy before us. The order of the prophesies of this book shews, that these one thousand two hundred and sixty days contain the whole time of the third period, or all the time wherein the witnesses prophesy, the woman is in the wilderness, and the beast has power given unto him; that is, all the time of the last state of the church’s sufferings, to that glorious state of the church, when Satan shall be shut up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. In this period the seven vials of God’s wrath are to be poured out, and all the historical events that relate to them accomplished. This period is to last till the mystery of God shall be finished: these events are too many, and the times in which they are to be accomplished too long, to be comprised within one thousand two hundred and sixty natural days. The order of the periods shews, that this third is not to begin until the two former are passed; until the nations which had destroyed the Roman empire had divided it among themselves; till the imperial government of Rome was passed away, as the preceding forms of government were before it; and till another form should be established in Rome, which, on some accounts, should be called the seventh; and, on others, the eighth form of government: when Rome, once the powerful mistress of the world, after she had lost her dominion, and, as it seemed, without hope of recovery, should be restored to power and empire again, which was to continue during the one thousand two hundred and sixty days of this period, and then to be utterly overthrown, and never to rise again. Now, as a great variety of concurrent circumstances shew the beginning of this period to have been about the year 756, when the popes were invested with the temporal dominion of Rome, in which only time the several descriptions of this period do all exactly agree, the one thousand two hundred and sixty days of this prophesy are to last so long as this dominion is to continue: which seems evidently to shew, that we are not to understand one thousand two hundred and sixty natural days as the time of this period, but so many prophetic days, or years. See the following notes. See also the Appendix for other views of this subject.
And the angel stood, saying, That is, the angel mentioned in the foregoing chapter, whom some commentators interpret of Luther. In the former part of this chapter, from the 1st to the 14th verse, says Bishop Newton, are exhibited the contents of the little book mentioned in the preceding chapter. In this verse St. John is commanded to measure the inner court,the temple of God, &c. to shew, that, during all this period, there were some true Christians who conformed to the rule and measure of God’s worship. This measuring might allude more particularly to the reformation from popery, which fell out under this sixth trumpet; and one of the moral causes of it was, the Othmans taking Constantinople, which occasioned the Greek fugitives to bring their books with them into the more western parts of Europe, and proved the happy cause of the revival of learning; as the revival of learning opened men’s eyes, and proved the happy occasion of the reformation. But, though the inner court, which includes the smaller number, was measured, yet the outer court, which implies the far greater part, was left out, (Rev 11:2.) and rejected, as being in the possession of Christians only in name, but Gentiles in worship and practice who profaned it with heathenish superstition and idolatry: And they shall tread under foot the holy city; they shall trample upon and tyrannize over the church for the space of forty and two months.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 11:1 . . By whom, remains just as undetermined as Rev 8:2 , Rev 6:11 . De Wette, Ew. ii., think of the angel of ch. 10, who, however, has fulfilled there that to which he was called; Beng. [2791] refers it to Christ, but to this, Rev 11:3 ( . ) does not constrain.
. That a reed serves as a , [2792] is to a certain extent explained as to its form, by its resemblance to a rule.
, without construction, as Rev 4:1 . Of course, the giver of the is meant; but it is incorrect, if one, as even Beng., regard the as the formally determined subject, and then by metonymy reaches its giver.
. From the it does not follow, that previously John was “in another posture of body,” [2793] perhaps kneeling; the otherwise than in Mar 5:41 ; Joh 5:8 ; Luk 5:23 corresponding to the Heb. , [2794] is only excitatory with respect to the closely connected . [2795]
It is not the purpose of the measuring, as the antithesis in Rev 11:2 undoubtedly shows, to make visible the relations of space, which, besides, is not conceivable in the measuring of the , as in Eze 40:1 sqq. the temple-building beheld by the prophet in its completion was measured in all its parts, because he is to learn its dimensions accurately, [2796] but just as in Amo 7:7 [2797] that is measured which was destroyed, with respect to what is to be exempted from destruction, so John must here measure what is mentioned in Rev 11:1 , because this is to be exempted from the destruction to which what is not measured (Rev 11:2 ) is abandoned, and is therefore to be preserved. In this formal understanding, Grot., Eichh., Ew., De Wette, Lcke, Hengstenb., etc., agree, much as they diverge from one another in its more detailed interpretation. It is, therefore, incorrect to find the intention of the new building in the measuring; whether in Bengel’s sense, who here finds a confirmation of Eze 40 , viz., the prophecy of the building of the temple of Ezekiel at Jerusalem actually to occur at the end of days; or in the sense of the allegorists, who understand the . . of the true Church of Christ, and refer to its glorious new building, in connection with which the old Protestant expositors [2798] regard the destruction of that which was consecrated (Rev 11:2 ; Rev 11:13 ), as the Roman-Catholic degeneration, Jerusalem (Rev 11:8 ) as papal Rome; while the Catholics have in view the removal of the O. T. sanctuary, and the separation of wicked members of the Church, Rev 11:2 . [2799] See in general on Rev 11:13 .
. That part of the entire which contained the holy of holies, the holy place, and the porch; the proper temple-building, [2800] in distinction from the entire space of the outer courts, cf. Rev 11:2 . Incorrectly, Weiss: [2801] “The congregation of believing Jews.”
. Only the altar of incense can be meant; since only this, and not the altar of sacrifice, [2802] stood in the . [2803] For the argument of Hengstenb., that the itself is to be understood figuratively of the Christian Church, because here the altar of incense in the same is removed, there is no occasion. But, also, on the other side, the argument of De Wette is unsuitable, that in Rev 6:9 , Rev 8:3 , what is said pertains not to the altar of sacrifice, which does not occur at all in the Apoc., but to the altar of incense; for since the . . (Rev 11:1 ) is different from the . . . (Rev 11:19 ), just so little has the (Rev 11:1 ) to do with the heavenly altar, Rev 8:3 , Rev 6:9 .
, viz., . Vitr. refers to . , and explains the by apud , since he interprets . . by metonymy: [2804] “the place in which the people were accustomed to adore God,” and thus finally derives “the court of the Israelites.” To this view, conflicting with the idea of the , and with Rev 11:2 , which, besides, appears entirely confused by the fact that Vitr. [2805] understands by the . properly Christ, he comes in order not to be compelled to conceive of the in the , and at the altar found therein as exclusively priests, of whom many of the older Catholics, as C. a Lap, alone think. But as certainly as also the . . is to be sought in Jerusalem (Rev 11:8 ), and the whole chapter is to be referred to the impending destruction of the city, [2806] just so certainly does the position of those in the itself appear as one of the ideal features, which explain the whole prophecy, and extend it to the sphere of a mere foretelling of a future event. That John beholds true believers from Israel transferred to the . . , otherwise standing open only to priests, is interposed because of his knowledge of the priestly character of all believers, Jews and Gentiles. [2807] But as in ch. 7 he reports the sealing of believers out of Israel, as a necessary preparation for the judgment impending over Israel; so here, where the judgment breaks upon Israel those believers together with the proper dwelling of God are measured , just as he protects the . . before its sinking in judgment. [2808] [See Note LXVII., p. 332.]
[2791] Cf. also Ew.
[2792] Cf. Eze 40:3 : ; LXX.: . Cf. Rev 21:15 .
[2793] Beng.
[2794] Num 10:35 ; LXX.: . Psa 3:8 ; LXX.: . Mic 6:1 ; LXX.: .
[2795] Cf. Ew., De Wette, etc.
[2796] Cf. Rev 21:15 sqq.; also Zec 2:5 sqq. is similar.
[2797] Cf. Hab 3:16 .
[2798] Par., Vitr., etc.
[2799] C. a Lap., Stern.
[2800] Mat 23:35 ; Mat 27:51 .
[2801] Stud. u. Krit ., 1869, p. 30.
[2802] Grot., Vitr., Hengstenb.
[2803] Eichh., Heinr., De Wette, Stern, Ebrard.
[2804] Cf. also Grot.
[2805] Cf. Zeg., etc.
[2806] See on Rev 11:13 .
[2807] Rev 1:6 , Rev 5:10 . Cf. also Rev 7:15 .
[2808] Cf. also De Wette, Lcke (p. 354).
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXVII. Rev 11:1 . , . . .
Alford argues at length in criticism of Dsterdieck’s interpretation, by which the measuring is referred to the literal and earthly Jerusalem: “I would strongly recommend any one who takes that view, to read through the very unsatisfactory and shuffling comment of Dsterdieck here; the result of which is, that, finding, as he of course does, many discrepancies between this and our Lord’s prophecy of the same destruction of Jerusalem, he is driven to the refuge that while our Lord describes matters of fact, St. John idealizes the catastrophe, setting it forth, not as it really took place, but according to its inner connection with the final accomplishment of the mystery of God, and correspondently with the hope which God’s O. T. people possessed, as contrasted with the heathen power of this world which abides in ‘Babylon.’ But if ‘Babylon’ is the abode of the world, why not ‘Jerusalem’ of the Church? If our interpreter, maintaining the literal sense, is allowed so far to ‘idealize’ as to exempt the temple of God itself (Rev 11:1 ) from a destruction which we know overtook it, and nine-tenths of the city (Rev 11:13 ) from an overthrow which destroyed it all, surely there is an end to the meaning of words. If Jerusalem here is simply Jerusalem, and the prophecy regards her overthrow by the Romans, and especially if this passage is to be made such use of as to set aside the testimony of Irenus as to the date of the Apoc. by the stronger testimony of the Apoc. itself [so Dsterdieck from Lcke], then must every particular be shown to tally with known history; or, if this cannot be done, at least it must be shown that none contradicts it. If this cannot be done, then we may fairly infer that the prophecy has no such reference, or only remotely, here and there, and not as to its principal subject. Into whatever difficulty we may be led by the remark, it is no less true that the of Rev 11:2 cannot be the same as the of Rev 11:8 . This has been felt by the literal interpreters, and they have devised ingenious reasons why the holy city should afterwards be called the great city. Dsterd.: ‘Because it is impossible in one breath to call a city ‘holy,’ and ‘Sodom and Egypt.’ Most true; then must we not look for some other city than one which this very prophecy has called most holy?” He understands the . and its as referring to “the Church of the elect servants of God, everywhere in this book symbolized by Jews in deed and truth. The society of these, as a whole, is the agreeably to Scripture symbolism elsewhere, e.g., 1Co 3:16-17 , and is symbolized by the inner or holy place of the Jerusalem temple, in and among which they, as true Israelites and priests unto God, have a right to worship and minister. These are they who, properly speaking, alone are measured; estimated again and again in this book by tale and number, partakers in the first resurrection, the Church of the first-born.” Gebhardt, however, while emphatically rejecting Dsterdieck’s literalism, restricts the measuring to Jewish Christians (p. 258): “Can we still understand ‘the holy city,’ ‘the great city,’ to be Jerusalem in a purely local sense? No; the city is Jerusalem, but, as frequently elsewhere, it is at the same time the representative of the Jewish people. The seer was to ‘measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein;’ i.e., as Christians generally were protected from the trumpet and vial plagues (Rev 7:1-4 ), so should Christians out of Israel be protected from the judgments which were to come upon Jerusalem and the Jewish people (compare Mat 24:15-18 ). On the contrary, the court without the temple was to be ‘left out,’ for it was given to the Gentiles, and they should tread the holy city under foot forty and two months; i.e., the judgments already predicted by Daniel will burst in upon the non-christian, unbelieving Jewish people. Whether John, by its being given to the Gentiles, and their treading it under foot, had in mind the destruction of Jerusalem, the words do not expressly say.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
B.INTIMATIONS FROM THE EARTH-PICTURE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS. FEATURES OF THE PREPARATIVE REFORMATORY RENEWAL OF THE EARTH; OR TRAITS OF THE OPERATION OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS WHICH, IN THEMSELVES, WERE SEALED.IN CONCLUSION: THE FIRST AND PRECURSORY ANTICHRISTIANITY; OR THE BEAST FROM THE ABYSS, THE DEMONIC REALM OF THE DEAD
Rev 11:1-14
a. The Inner and the Outer Church
Rev 11:1-2
1And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: [,] and the angel stood, [om. and the angel stood,ins. he]1 saying, Rise, and measure the temple [] of God, and 2the altar, and them that worship therein [in it]. But [And] the court which is without [outside of] the temple [] leave [cast] out,2 and measure it not [it shalt thou not measure]; for it is [was] given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and [or and] two months.
b. The Two Witnesses. The Ideal Church and the Ideal State
Rev 11:3-12
3And I will give power [om. power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore [sixty] days, clothed in sackcloth. 4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing3 before the God5[Lord]4 of the earth. And if any man [one] will [wills5] hurt [to injure] them, fire proceedeth [goeth forth] out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man [one] will hurt [shall will6 to injure] them, he must in this manner 6[thus must he] be killed. These have [or ins. the7] power to shut [ins. the] heaven, that it [om. itins. rain ()] rain [] not in [during8] the days of their prophecy: and have power over [ins. the] waters to turn them to [into] blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues [every plague], as often as they [ins. shall] will. 7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast [wild-beast] that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [om. bottomless pitins. abyss] shall make war against [with] them, and shall overcome [conquer] them, and [ins. shall] kill them. 8And their dead bodies [corpse9] shall lie [be] in [upon] the street [broad-way10] of the great city, which spiritually is called [is called spiritually] Sodom 9and Egypt, where also our [their11] Lord was crucified. And they [men] of the people [peoples] and kindreds [tribes] and tongues and nations shall [om. shall12] see their dead bodies [corpse] three days and a half, and shall not [om. shall13 not] suffer [ins. not] their dead bodies [corpses] to be put in graves [a sepulchre]. 10And they that dwell upon the earth shall [om. shall14] rejoice over them, and make merry, 15 and shall [or om. shall16] send gifts one to another; because these two 11prophets tormented them that dwelt on [dwell upon] the earth. And after [ins. the] three days and a half the Spirit [a spirit] of life from God entered into them, 17 and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw [those 12who beheld] them. And they [or I] 18 heard a great voice from [ins. the] heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to [intoins. the] heaven in a [the] cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
c. The Judgment
Rev 11:13-14
13And [ins. in] the same [that] hour was there [there was] a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain [ins. names] of men seven thousand: and the remnant were [became] affrighted, and gave glory to the God of [ins. the] heaven.
14The second woe is past; and, [om. and,] behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
SYNOPTICAL VIEW
The first figure that we meet with in this chapter could scarcely be plainer; nothing save a lapse into the misapprehensive literal conception could, from this passage, Rev 11:1-2, draw the conclusion that the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing at the time of these visions. The Temple has always been a symbol of the visible form under which the Kingdom of God has appeared, i. e. the Theocracy at first, and, later, the Church; and even the Temple of Ezekiel most distinctly presents this typicalism (especially in the features of the mystical stream, Eze 47:1, and the voice of the Lord, Eze 43:7). In general, the mystical Temple of Ezekiel seems to constitute a form which is transitional to the Temple of the Apocalypse, in accordance with the symbolical circumstances. The Holy of Holies has become one with the Holy Place, because the time of reconciliation has come; and, on the other hand, the outer court has spread into a number of outer courts, because it must become a place for all nations; comp. Mat 21:13, Isa 56:7. This significance and grandeur of the outer court particularly appears in the picture presented in the Apocalypse. Its contrast to the Temple is likewise strongly set forth. The Prophet is to measure the Temple, but not the outer court. The Temple of Ezekiel is also measured, Rev 40. But the City of Jerusalem itself is described as an immeasurable place in the Prophecy of Zechariah, Rev 2:1 sqq. In the Apocalypse, the measured Temple expands into the measured City of God (Rev 21:15); the unmeasured or immeasurable outer court expands into the ideal domain of the world and the nations, out of which all glory shall be brought into the Holy City (Rev 21:24; Rev 22:2).
The Temple itself, then, must be measured; a reed is given to the Prophet that he may measure it. The Spirit of God in the Church has within Himself and in the Prophet a consciousness that the inner, essential Church is a Divine definity, chosen by God and known to Himnot a passing cloud, a drifting, shifting, transitory object. That which is here expressed by measure, is twice declared by the number 144,000 (chaps. 7 and 14). So the Northern Mythology claims that the heroes of Odin are numbered.
A still more remarkable circumstance is that the Altar also is measuredthe Altar of incensethe whole domain of holy prayer-life. And, humanly speaking, this belongs to the most conscious consciousness of Godto the inmost intuition (innersten Erinnerung) of the Church.
Finally, the worshippers in the Temple are to be measured. For the spiritual nature and development of every individual believer, the degree and the species of his glory, are known to God; they repose upon the individual capacities and disposition of each believer, as determined from eternity, his free agency being in nothing impaired (see Mat 6:27).
In antithesis to these Divine fixities, an immeasurable indefiniteness is reserved for the outer court. There can be nothing hostile in the direction to cast it out; the words can be expressive only of the decree that it is not to be measured along with the Sanctuary, that the consciousness of its externality is to be made permanent. For in its very quality of an outer court, it already lies outside of the Temple; and, furthermore, the direction: cast it out (on the milder or more general signification of , see the Lexicons) is modified by the words: measure it not. And why not? For it is given to the Gentiles. This does not mean merely, because the throng of the Gentilesof such as are not subjective, living Christiansis immeasurable, but also because their assembly is fluctuating; because the outer court denotes the vestibule to the Sanctuarya preparation for entrance into the Sanctuary. Of course, so long and in so far as the Gentiles are Gentiles, they trample on the outer court, as is also declared concerning the impenitent Jews, Isaiah 1. They are loungers, street-walkers [Pflastertreter] in a religious sense; their outer court is the entire Holy City, i. e., the Church as an external body; they are they who, according to another figure, stand all the day idle in the market. In the Christian service of the Sanctuary, they constitute the ebbing and flowing mass; they may, as a pious man once paradoxically expressed himself, sit in the way of the truly devout. Their theological knowledge consists partly of gross popular conceits, partly of spiritualistic mist. In confession, they strain the Divine word, in one direction, into a literal ordinance, and relax it, in the other direction, until nothing but an uncertain sentiment remains. In matters of practical piety, they are either violently active or inconstant and wavering. In all cases, the treading of the outer court is the leading feature of their devotions.
In regard to the import of the forty-two months, Dsterdieck and others believe, that they are connected with the type of the duration of the down-treading of the Holy City by Antiochus Epiphanes. That, however, lasted but three years (see 1Ma 4:59; comp. 1Ma 1:55). Moreover, the different designations of the theocratic time of tribulation (a time, two times, and half a time, Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7), according to times, years, months or days, are not without a mutual connection (see Introduction, p. 16). The forty-two months are the times of the pilgrimage of Christianity through the world, bearing the cross of sufferingsuffering inflicted on the internal Church through the external Church. These times are defined as forty-two little periods of change.
The second picture, in the history of the Two Witnesses, treats of another antithesisthat of the Christian Church and the Christian State. For the voice of the Lord which, in the text, so simply speaks of His two Witnesses, we, in face of the many marvels which have here been found, conceive of as setting forth the antithesis of the Christian Church and the Christian State; and this in accordance with the original passage in the Prophecy of Zechariah, on which the present passage is founded. The candlestick of Israel, the light and law of the Theocracy (Zec 4:2), receives its oil from the two olive-trees, or sons of oil, standing at the right and left of it (Rev 11:3-4). Now these, as they stand before the Ruler of the whole Earth, are, according to the context (Revelation 3), Joshua, the High-Priest, the typical representative of the future Church, concerning whom it is expressly declared, that he stands before the Angel of the Lord, and Zerubbabel the governor, the typical representative of the future State, distinguished by like dignities (Rev 4:6-7).
Many, no doubt, will regard this conception as too home-spunnot sufficiently ingenious or anecdotical. But, let us further remark, the removal, through the Man of Sin, of the hindrance to Antichristianitythe (2Th 2:6), or (Rev 11:7)coincides precisely with the removal of the two olive trees [German, sons of oil] through the medium of the Beast out of the abyss.
The two Witnesses of God prophesy. To prophesy is to aid in opening for the Kingdom of God a way into the future, by declaring the signs of the future.19 True advances, developments and reforms, are prophecies in act. All sound dogmas of the Church, as well as all sound laws of the State, are prophecies. Both Witnesses prophesy clad in sackclothin the penitential garb of the Church Militant and of the State, which latter is engaged in an incessant struggle with the ungodly spirit of the world. Here the movement continues through an uninterrupted chain of days worksone thousand two hundred and sixty days. The time is equal to the forty-two months, but is viewed from an entirely different point; the whole Church and the whole State, in their higher aspect, are denoted here. As, however, Church and State are distinct under the new dispensation, their oil no longer flows together in one candlestick; both are olive trees [oil-trees]; both, also, are candlesticks. Again, they stand before the God of the earth; i. e., they unitedly represent firm, historic order, authority,symbolized by the earth. Both have retained somewhat of the Old Testament character, the Elijah nature; and they are, manifestly, drawn after the type of Elijah. When they desire to injure any one, fire goeth forth out of their mouth. This can, of course, only be spiritual fire; just as the sword issuing from the mouth of the Lord, is but a spiritual sword. Nevertheless, it is a fire of judgment; it devoureth their enemies. The death that they inflict upon those who offend them, cannot he apprehended as the spiritual death in order to the new life; at least social death must be understoodexclusion from religious communion and civil fellowship, practiced in the Middle Ages under the great and gloomy forms of outlawry and excommunication. Their power to shut the Heaven, that it rain not, is most strongly suggestive of Elijah; whilst their power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall will, recalls the wonders done by Moses in Egypt.
They can shut Heaven. The meaning of this is, they can check and withhold the blessings of the Spirit.
To turn the waters into blood, is to darken the currents of national life through wars and bloodshed.
To smite the earth with every plague, means to curtail the blessing of the historical authority or order of things in every way, and to convert it into a curse. As often as they shall will, adds the Seer, thereby indicating a great development of despoticalness and autocracy in their power.
Can it be supposed, we ask, that toward the end of the New Testament economy, two persons could appear as Prophets, having power to answer personal grievances with devouring fire? Or having power, at their own discretion, to bring forth in nature such wonders of judgment, and inflict them upon the earth? The Church and the State, however, have, in a symbolical sense, acted after precisely the Old Testament fashion here described, and that, with such a mingling of their qualities, as though they had done all things in common. They have likewise, in respect of their fundamental tendency, prominently set forth by the Seer, prophesied, i. e., served the cause of development; and they have been Witnesses of Godrepresentatives of His light and justice.
The predominantly Old Testament character of the past and present fulfillment of their mission, undoubtedly aids in cutting short the time of their testimony and in facilitating the triumph of the Beast over them. In consequence of the severityin many respects excessiveof their rule, as manifested, particularly, in the form of the medival excommunication, and the military and judicial system of the same period, a two-fold Helot rancor, an ecclesiastical and political resentment, has ineffaceably impressed itself on the memory of the agitated life of the nations, bringing near the fatal time at which the Beast of Antichristianity may ascend out of the abyss.
Be it observed that Antichristianity passes through three climactic stages before attaining to perfection; exhibiting itself first in the form of the Beast out of the abyss, next in that of the Beast out of the sea, and finally in that of the Beast from the earth. The Beast out of the abyss possesses, as yet, no positive popular and human apparent form, much less the complete mock-holy semblance of the Lamb, possessed by the Beast from the earth; it first comes forth, as a bodiless spirit, from the abyss, in the power of a predominantly demonic spirit of the times, or party spirit. This spirit has ascended from the abyss, i. e., the demonic region of the realm of the dead, which constitutes a transition-form to the final hell. In this respect he is suggestive of the spirit of gloom which arose from the abyss at the fifth Trumpet. And from the fact of this resemblance, it results that he does not necessarily appear in the naked forms of lawlessness [Anomismus]. There is a gloomy churchly form which is subversive of the true Church, and a passionate state-form which undermines the true State. If we have recognized in the two Witnesses the intimate union between Church and State, as respects the bright side of both institutions, it becomes evident that their absolute disagreement must speedily be followed by self-dissolution. The true spirit of the Church can, indeed, long curb the wantonness of the State; the true spirit of the State can long protect the Church against a false ecclesiastical system. But mankind has already seen the false Church-form in conflict with sound State principles, and vice vers. And mankind must finally see the Church ruined by the Church, the State by the State, because in the case of each, sombre party-spirit has taken the place of right principles.
The Beast, then, shall make war with the two Witnessesnot merely a word and pen war, but also the war of social breach. He shall conquer them in public opinion, as men say, and complete his triumph by killing them. They are killed when destroyed as to their true principleswhen the masses rule over faith and worship [Kultus] in the Church, over morals and culture in the State; or when, in the State, the last trace of kinship with the Church is destroyed through principial Atheism, and the last trace of political or social discipline and duty has disappeared from the Church. Then are they killed, even though their outward forms continue to exist, like the shades of departed substances, as, for instance, the forms of the Roman Republic under the first Emperors.
It is most significantly said: their corpses lie in the street of the great city. Their bodies, therefore, are not formally buried and put out of sight; they remain in the public street of the great city, under the eyes, and amid the surging to and fro, of a society fundamentally anarchical.
The great city itself is called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom is the symbol of perfect unnaturalness; Egypt is the symbol of a magical natural science and deification of nature. The two extremes, in their abominable coalition, are the Janus heads of a world which, in her deification of nature, is fundamentally at variance not only with God, but also with the kernel or inmost essence of nature itself.
There, adds the Seer, their Lord was crucified. The crucifixion of Christ was itself the result of a coalition of the spiritual unnaturalness of Judaismself-murderous, in the killing of its Messiahand the heathen world, which had fallen into sorcery [Magismus] and an intellectual cultus of nature.
Thus, as the murderess of Christ, Jerusalem may be the type of this great collective city, Sodom-Egypt; that the real Jerusalem itself is intended, can be supposed only under the erroneous system of an anti-symbolical, so-called historical treatment of the Book. With the symbolical name Jerusalem, however, another collective city, Babylon, might easily correspond. Some of the men, better disposed ones, who still have a remnant of influence left, individuals of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations, shall in the meantime keep their dead bodies in view for three days and a halfnot permitting them to be put into sepulchres; assuredly, in the hope of their revival. But the time rich in promise, the time of resurrection, the three days (Hos 6:2), pass away without affording any comfort; the corpses lie there until the hour of despair, indicated by three days and a half. And precisely this fact is a cause of delight to those who dwell on the Earth, or cling to the Earth in her earthinessthe earthly-minded ones. They rejoice over the apparent destruction of the two Witnesses; they hold feasts and contemplate further festivities; mutual greetings, in the way of presents or compliments, are exchanged, falling, particularly, to the share of the great utterers of public opinion, we doubt not.
The reason for all this is as follows: These two Prophets tormented them that dwell upon the Earth. Churchly rule [Norm] and civil law have always, to the true men of this world, who have made themselves at home on the Earth, been as a troublesome fanaticism, only disciplinary and tormenting.
But the people who watched their dead bodies have not sorrowed in vain. Finally, out of the horror of the human heart, full of a religious-moral anguish, a super-terrestrial power developes. It is thus not without instrumentality that, in the most disconsolate hour, the flame of the ecclesiastical and the political spirit rises again bright and heavenly, with united brilliancy and glorified beauty; that a spirit of life from God penetrates the corpses, so that they again stand upon their feet, prepared for war and victory, offering defiance to the whole apostate world, and diffusing great spiritual terror over all with whom they come in contact.
But they are not commissioned to fight again the former conflict; in the Kingdom of Spirit, they have triumphed through their defeat, like Christ their Lord. Therefore they hear, or the Seer hears, a great voice from Heaven saying to them: Come up hither.
But how can the Christian Church and the Christian State have assigned to them an ascension more glorious than that of Elijahsimilar to that of Christ Himself? Nitzsch says: Church and State shall, in their consummation, be swallowed up in the unity of the Kingdom of God. Let us particularly consider the following in this connection:
Their ascension is their exaltation above the former historical, in part pedagogical, forms, into the ideal form of a pure spiritual fellowship. They ascend into Heaven even whilst still on Earth, by being transported into the realm of pure spirit, of perfect fellowship with God. When, however, it is declared, that a cloud envelops them, there takes place a gathering and separation of this perfected congregation of God, this Bride of Christ, from the unbelieving world (Mat 24:31); and, no less, an alteration of her condition, to meet the heavenly glorificationan alteration characterized as an attaining [Entgegenkommen=coming towards] the resurrection (Php 3:11); as a being changed (1Co 15:51); as a being caught up into the air to meet the Lord (1Th 4:17). Their enemies must be spectators of their beginning glorification.
The hour of their glorification, however, becomes an hour of judgment for the world. The separation of the congregation of God from the world is followed by a great earthquake; all the relations of the old human society are shaken and mingled confusedly together by the separation of the salt of the Earth. Thus a great reaction is awakened in the better elements of the ungodly world. The tenth part of the godless city falls in the earthquake. Ten, as perfect development, realized freedom, is also perfect will, decided tendency. Thus, with the fall of the tenth part of the Antichristian world, the back-bone of that world is broken; henceforth it is a confused mass, anxiously expectant of the end. This change is especially brought about, however, by the fact that seven thousand names of men, or men of name, are slain in their names by the earthquake. Without doubt, the reaction of the terrified peoples has been directed with special fury toward their leaders, who, as seducers, by thousands, as spirits, by seven (Mat 12:45). have promised men the seventh daythe peoples holiday. Above all, their names, shimmering with a deceptive lustre, are given up to scorn and destruction.
Whilst we must not forget that a cyclical life-picture of the entire New Testament time is here presented to us, neither should the fact be overlooked, that the conclusion of this time is characterized as the second woethe intermediate one thereforethat which forms the transition from the first to the third woe; and it is in accordance with this fact that we must seek to determine the eschatological import of the present section.
We have seen that the second woe has presented itself in the grand succession of heresies (religious and ethical), which run through the entire Christian time; the time of this woe, therefore, coincides with that of the activity of the two Witnesses; it forms the reverse of their dispensation (Mat 24:26). It has likewise been found that the third woe begins with the seventh Trumpet, as the time of ripened Antichristianity, with features historically developed and determined.
The second woe is, therefore, a peculiar conformation of the times, consummated at the defeat of the two Witnesses and continuing until the period of positive Antichristianity. Its characteristic feature is the tremendous rocking of affairs beginning with the bursting forth of Antichristianity. The authorities and guardians of Church and State seem at last to be everlastingly destroyed; the better disposed are but individuals from all parts of the world who, in a manner, keep watch by the bodies of the slain, whilst the ruling party celebrate the excited festivities of an utterly secularized party-spirit. Then, however, by reason of the separation and gathering of the Church of God, a reaction again takes place; the power of the godless city is shaken by the glorious precursory appearing of the congregation of the Kingdom and by the altered sentiments of many of her inhabitantsin whom the change, however, bears the predominant character of a repentance of fear, and can therefore give way to the full manifestation of Antichristianity in the third woe. This period of a purely Antichristian spirit of the times, without final consolidation, is, in more general descriptions, included together with the final revelation of Antichrist, e. g. 2Th 2:8. The manifestation of wickedness [or the Wicked Onedes Boshaften] has its gradations, as has already been intimated. This time seems to be more definitely characterized by the Beast, which is transformed into the eighth king (Rev 17:11), and which forms the transition from the seven kings of the old world of authority to the ten kings of absolute democracy.
We must, further, not overlook the fact, that even the second woe touches the end of the world, and that even the third woe, the revelation of Antichristianity, reaches back into the old time. In this connection, we would again call to mind the law of the cyclical circles; they ever present total world-pictures, though observing a continual progression toward the end of the world and illustrating always a different aspect of the world.
A feature worthy of notice is that the Beast of this second woe ascends out of the same abyss whence, after the fifth Trumpet, the smoke, accompanied by the swarm of locusts, arose; that, on the other hand, it precedes the third woe of consummate Antichristianity, just as the judgment upon Babylon (chs. 17 and 18) precedes the judgment upon the Beast (Revelation 19)
We have, then, in Revelation 11, the Earth-picture of the Christian visible world, in respect of its all-sided historic conformation in good and evil; above all, in respect of the conflict, waxing ever more pronounced, between ecclesiastical and political nomism ([Nomismus] in the good sense of the term), on the one hand, and the antinomism or anomism of false liberty, or the modern spirit of the times, on the other handa conflict finally conducting, in part, to the ripe antithesis betwixt the Kingdom of God and the world, and ending, in the world itself, with the most extreme fluctuations.
[ABSTRACT OF VIEWS, ETC.]
By the American Editor
[Elliott and Barnes regard Rev 11:1-2, as properly belonging to the preceding section (the latter part of Rev 11:2 being transitional to the following section) and as indicating the Re-Formation of the Church by those whom the Seer symbolized. The Temple, in the widest sense of the term, (inclusive of the Sanctuary and all the Courts) they interpret as symbolic of the Christian Church Universal: the Holy of Holies representing that part of it gathered into Paradise; the remainder of the Temple the Church on Earth, the Holy Place,. as figuring the Church in respect of its secret spiritual worship and character, the Altar-court the Church in respect of its visible and public worship,. the outer or Gentile court is the symbolic scene of the adscititious members from out of heathenism. The bestowment of the rod (Elliott), as denoting the royal authorization of those whom St. John here represented in the work of the Scriptural re-formation of the Church; the direction to measure, coupled with the casting out, as implying, 1. The defining of those who alone could rightly be considered as belonging to Christs Church (such as in public profession and worship recognized that cardinal point of the Christian faith which the Jewish Altar and Altar ritual-worship symbolized, viz. Justification by the alone efficacy of Christs propitiatory sacrifice);2. The exclusion or excommunication of the Romish (and Greek?) Church as apostate and heathen;the recognition of those excluded as within a Court of the Temple, as indicating that those excluded would continue to appear for a time attached as an appendage to the Church visible. By the Witnesses they understand the unbroken series of upholders and proclaimers of truth, divided as follows: (1) The earlier Western Witnesses, such as Serenus of Marseilles in the early part of the 8th Century, the Anglo Saxon Church, Agobard, Claude of Turin, etc.; (2) the Eastern line, consisting of the Paulicians arising about A. D. 653; (3) the United Eastern and Western lines, during the 11th and 12th Centuries; (4) the Waldenses20 and Albigenses originating about A. D. 1170; (5) the Churches of the Reformation.They interpret: (1) The 1260 days as indicating 1260 years; (2) the olive-trees and candlesticks, that they were to consist of both ministers and churches; (3) the number two that they were to be, (a) a number competent to bear witness (comp. Deu 17:6; Deu 19:16, etc.), (b) a, small number, (c) possibly the original division into two lines, Eastern and Western; (4) their, being clothed in sack-cloth, that they were to witness in the midst of grief and persecution; (5) their power (Barnes), (a) over those who should injure them, to devour them with fire, their doctrines and denunciations, which would resemble consuming fire (resulting ultimately in Divine judgment); (b) to shut heaven, that spiritual blessings would seem to be under their control. (During the ages of their ministry, there was neither dew nor rain of a spiritual kind upon the earth, but at the word of the Witnesses. There was no knowledge of salvation but by their preachingno descent of the Spirit but in answer to their prayers; and as the Witnesses were shut out from Christendom generally, a universal famine ensued, Seventh Vial); (c) over the waters, that the wars, commotions, etc., which have followed the attempts to destroy them, and which have caused rivers of blood to flow, would seem to have been in answer to their prayers; (6) the war against them, the war of extermination waged in particular against the Waldenses (from the year 15401570 no fewer than nine hundred thousand Protestants were put to death by the Papists in different parts of Europe.Barnes); (7) the Beast (the fourth Beast of Daniel, Daniel 7.), the Papacy; (8) the death, the apparent destruction of the Witnesses at the Lateran Council (to which all dissentients had been summoned and at which none appeared) when, May 5, A. D. 1514, the Orator of the Council proclaimed to the Pope from the pulpit, Jam nemo reclamat, nullus obsistit! There is an end of resistance to the papal rule and religion; opposers there exist no more: and again The whole body of Christendom is now seen to be subjected to its Head, that is to Thee. (Quoted by Elliott, Vol. II., p. 450); (9) the not permitting their bodies to be buried, that they should be treated with indignity as if they were not worthy of Christian burial, (it was decreed that heretics should be denied Christian burial by the Lateran Council, A. D. 1179; again, 1215, by Gregory IX.; and by Pope Martin, 1227); (10) the broad place (or way) of the City, (Elliott) the Council above mentioned, representing the whole Roman power, gathered in Rome; (11) the rejoicing, etc., the special rejoicings after every new victory over heretics, and especially at the close of th Council mentioned in sect. (8)(see Elliott, Vol. II., pp. 454 sq.); (12) the resurrection after three days and a half, the renewal of witness by LutherLuther posted his theses at Wittemberg, Oct. 31, 1517, i. e., three years and 180 days after May 5, 1514, when the Orator of the Lateran Council (see above in 8) proclaimed heresy to be extinct; (13) the ascension, the deliverance of the Churches of the Reformation from persecution and into positions of prosperity and influence; (14) the earthquake, the ReformationThat religious revolution which astonished and convulsed the nations of Europe (Lingard, quoted by Barnes); (15) the fall of the tenth part of the City, the falling away from Rome of, (Barnes) a considerable portion of her power, (Elliott) England, one of the ten Papal kingdoms; (16) the slaying of seven Chiliads, (Elliott) the separation from the Roman power of the Seven United Provinces of Holland(Barnes) the proportion of those who perished in Europe in the wars consequent on the Reformation; (17) the remnant affrighted, the alarm of, (Elliott) the remnant of Papists in Protestant countries, (Barnes) the entire unconverted portion of the Roman City; (18) gave glory to God, (Elliott) praise was given by the Witnesses, (Barnes) the unconverted stood in awe at what God was doing.
Stuart understands Rev 11:1-2, to prefigure the preservation of all which was fundamental and essential in the ancient religion, notwithstanding the destruction of all that was external in respect to the Temple, the City, and the ancient people of God. The vision of the Witnesses he interprets as symbolizing that God would raise up faithful and well endowed preachers among the Jews, at the period when the nations were ready to perish; that those preachers would be persecuted and destroyed; and after all that the Christian cause would still be triumphant.
Wordsworth regards (Rev 11:1-2) the Temple and Altar (of incense) as symbolizing the true Church; the reed as the Scriptures; the measuring as an act of appropriation and of preservation (Num 35:5; Jer 31:39; Hab 3:6; Zec 2:2), and also of partition and separation, (2Sa 8:2); in this vision of the Apocalypse, the last written of all the Books, of Holy Scripture (the completion of the Canon or measuring rule), St. John receives the reed from Christ and measures the Church. The two Witnesses he understands as indicating the Church (called two as consisting of both Jews and Gentiles), enlivened and enlightened by the two Testaments (the two olive trees); their persecution, death, etc., that the history of Christ will be reproduced in the history of His Word and Church. The Beast and City he interprets as Barnes and Elliott.
Alford remarks, No solution at all approaching to a satisfactory one has ever yet been given of any one of these periods. This being so, my principle is to regard them as being still among things unknown to the Church, and awaiting their elucidation by the event. Concerning the Witnesses he remarks on Rev 11:6, All this points out the spirit and power of Moses combined with that of Elias. And undoubtedly it is in these two directions that we must look for the two witnesses or lines of witnesses. The one impersonates the law, the other the Prophets. The one reminds us of the Prophet whom God should raise up like unto Moses; the other of Elias, the Prophet who should come before the great and terrible day of the Lord. As to whether the prophecy is to be fulfilled by individuals or lines of witnesses, he does not attempt to decide.
Lord writes as to the measuring of the Temple, The rod is the symbol of the revealed will of God; the Holy of Holies the scene in which God visibly manifests Himself, Christ intercedes, and the Cherubim, the representatives of the redeemed, serve in His presence; so the other sanctuary symbolizes the place or places on earth in which the true worshippers offer Him the public worship which He enjoins. The Altar on which incense, the symbol of prayer, was offered, represented the Cross of Christ, the instrument of His expiation, and thence of reconciliation and access to God. To measure the Temple, then, was to seek and learn the truths taught in the Scriptures, and symbolized first by the inner sanctuary, and next by the outer sanctuary, respecting the place or places on earth which He has appointed for the worship which He enjoins on His people, respecting the expiation on which they are to rely, and respecting the ministers who conduct the worship He enjoins. The court, which was on the outside, denoted the station of the congregation of visible worshippers; to reject it as no part of the Temple, was therefore, to reject the body of the nominal or visible, as not true worshippers; and the direction to reject it was equivalent to the prophecy that the nominal was not to be a true Church. The command to measure the Temple was addressed to the Apostle doubtless as representing the same persons as he symbolized in the prediction that he must again prophesy before peoples, etc. On the subject of the Witnesses, he agrees as to their nature, substantially, with Elliott and Barnes; their death, resurrection, and ascension, however, he regards as still future and as literal. The 1260, and three and a half, days, he interprets as symbolic of years.
Glasgow refers the measuring to Apostolic times. The Apostles (symbolized by John), by inspiration, gave laws of discipline and of morals, for receiving or excluding candidates or members. Thus they measured the House and City of God. And they measured the Altar by teaching the doctrine of the one sacrifice offered by Christ, and of His intercession, and of His government on the mediatorial throne; and they measured the worshippers, by supplying the patterns and rules of duty, and thus furnishing the means of distinguishing the Lords peculiar people from His enemies. The outside Court he interprets substantially as Elliott; the trampling of the City, as the predominance of what Neander and Killen have called the Catholic system. The Witnesses he also interprets as symbolizing the Paulicians, Waldenses, etc.; he begins the Witness, however, with the protest of the Novatians about A. D. 253, and thus concludes the 1260 days (or years) of prophesying in sackcloth (or affliction) in A. D. 1514. He adopts the opinion that the declaration made May 5th, 1514, in the Lateran Council, referred to above, denotes the death and exposure of the dead bodies of the Witnesses. On other points of interpretation he agrees generally with Elliott.E. R. C]
EXPLANATIONS IN DETAIL
Dsterdieck holds, with us, that the present section really closes with Rev 11:14. [With Elliott and others, the Am. Ed. regards Rev 11:1-2 as connected with the preceding chapter. See Additional Note, p. 132.E. R. C]
Rev 11:1. And there was given me a reed.After the analogy of Old Testament prophetico-symbolical transactions; see Isa 8:1, and many other passages, particularly in the Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Given.By whom? The indeterminateness denotes that nothing in the symbolism is dependent upon this feature. The literal interpretation would fain define the giver.
A reedEze 40:3; Rev 21:15. [Like unto a rod.The word , rod, is coupled three times in the Apocalypse with the adjective (Rev 2:27; Rev 12:5; Rev 19:15). And in the same places it is coupled also with the verb , to tend, as a shepherd does. The idea is thus suggested of a pastoral staff. Wordsw.E. R. C.]
Saying [Lange: Whilst it was commanded].indefinite form. Bcngel explains, grammatically but not symbolically: the .
Measure the Temple.The Temple in Jerusalem had long since been measured; it, however, is not what is meant here. Neither, indeed, is the measuring to be taken literally. The worshippers, also, are to be measured, i. e., precisely determined. In Eze 40:3 sqq., the measuring of a symbolical Temple is spoken of, whilst Revelation 21 treats of the measurement of the symbolical City of God.
According to Dsterdieck and many others, the measuring here denotes exemption from destruction; the above-mentioned commentator supposes that the treading under foot of the outer court is indicative of actual destruction. Yet the very passages that he cites [in connection with the measuring]Amo 7:7; Hab 3:6have reference to destruction, and the idea that the outer court was destroyed, but that the Temple and the worship continued to subsist, is utterly futile, as is in general the so-called historic application of the passage to the Temple at Jerusalem. Dsterdieck calls the interpretation of the Temple as the true Church of God, allegoristic! One-sided, we admit that it is, to interpret the measuring of the Temple as indicative of a reconstruction of the Church, or to apply the contrast between the Temple and the outer court, in which contrast the chief weight of the similitude lies, to the contrast between the evangelic Church and Catholicism; in opposition to the latter exposition, Catholic exegetes distinguish between good Catholics and excommunicated persons. [See the Absteact of Views, etc., pp. 227 sqq.E. R. C.]
The altar.The Altar of incense. The Altar of burnt-offering stood in the outer court. [Elliott and Barnes regard the Altar as that of burnt-offering. It must be acknowledged that the language apparently points to the three great divisions of the Temple enclosurethe or Sanctuary, the or altar [court], and the court outside the Sanctuary, i. e., the court of the Gentiles. Of these courts, that of the Gentiles alone entirely surrounded the Sanctuary; the inner court merely enclosed it on three sides: the latter, from both its local and spiritual relations to the Sanctuary, could not so well be described as outside ( ), as the former.E. R. C.]
In it .These words might be referred to the Altar of incense, inasmuch as all prayers do, in a symbolical sense, ascend from the Altar of incense; most exegetes, however, make them relate to the Temple.21 The main thing, here as elsewhere, is the contrast presented to those without. John is thought even here to have in view the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, differing, however, from the eschatological prophecies of the Lord by predicting a preservation of the Temple, and placing the faithful Jewish Christians therein! (comp. also De Wette, Lcke, p. 354).
Rev 11:2. And [Lange: But] the court which is without the Temple.On misapprehensions of the outer court, by Luther, Vitringa, Ewald, see Dsterdieck.
Cast out.Eichhorn, correctly: Profanum declara.
Given unto the Gentiles [heathen].[On the New Testament force of to see Cremers Biblico-Theological Lexicon under . The following is extracted: It is a peculiarity of New Testament, or, indeed, of Bible usage generally, to understand by , , those who are not of Israel, opp. , Act 9:15; Act 14:2; Act 14:5; Act 21:11; Act 21:21; Act 26:20; Rom 2:24; Rom 3:29; Rom 9:24; Rom 9:30-31; Rom 11:25; 1Co 1:23; Gal 2:15 : Act 10:45 : Gal 2:9 (cf. Eph 2:11): 2Co 11:26 parallel; , Act 15:17. In this sense the word corresponds to the Hebrew (LXX. Sometimes=, e.g., (Jos 3:17; Jos 4:1), which signifies primarily nothing but a connected host, multitude. are the peoples outside of Israelthe totality of the nations, which, being left to themselves (Act 14:16), are unconnected with the God of Salvation, Who is Israels God; Act 28:28; Eph 2:11-12; Rom 11:11-12; Gal 3:8; Gal 3:14; 1Th 4:5; Eph 3:6; Mat 12:21. Left to themselves and to their own will, they stand in moral antagonism to the Divine order of life, Eph 4:17; 1Pe 4:3-4; 1Co 10:20; 1Co 12:2; Mat 6:32; Luk 12:30; cf. Mat 18:17; they are not in possession of the revealed law. Rom 2:14; cf. Rom 9:30; nor are they bound to the rules and laws of Israelitish life, Gal 2:12; Gal 2:14-15. It is this moral-religious lack that renders so significant the emphasis laid on the , on the part of the , Rom 1:5; Rom 15:18; Rom 16:26 Whether in the Apocalypse is opposed to Israel, or, as it appears to me, to the New Testament redeemed Church, must be left to commentators to decide. Rev 2:26; Rev 11:2; Rev 11:18; Rev 12:5; Rev 14:8; Rev 15:3-4; Rev 16:19; Rev 18:3; Rev 18:23; Rev 19:5; Rev 20:3; Rev 20:8; Rev 21:24; Rev 21:26; Rev 22:2. See foot-note on p. 27.E. R. C.][ Given unto.]Dsterd.: They shall lodge therein as victors, treading the outer court and the entire Holy City. Bengelbetter, at least: The outer court is not measured, because an unthought-of throng of Gentiles shall one day worship therein. But something more than a mere future is contemplated. De Wette and others: The bloody sacrificial service, consummated on the altar of burnt-offering, shall cease.
Rev 11:3. My two Witnesses.According to Dsterdieck, these must be personal individuals. Personal individuals possessing the characteristics described cannot be pointed out as existing at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, or as living on through the entire Crosson of the Church down to the end of the world. According to Dsterdieck and others (p. 382), these two witnesses are Moses and Elijah; according to Stern and others, they are Enoch and Elijah; even Luther and Melanchthon have been suggested. According to Ebrard, they are symbols of authorities, powers, which, however, he pertinently enough defines as Law and Gospel. Since the Witnesses can be witnesses of Christ only, the term, My witnesses, is elucidative of the strong Angel mentioned in the foregoing chapter [who spoke to John, Rev 10:9; Rev 10:11, and whom Lange apparently regards as still speaking]. [See Abstract of Views, pp. 227 sqq., and Add. Note, pp. 232 sq.E. R. C.].
I will give.What He gives them, is declared by what follows; , therefore, need not be supplemented by conjectures.
Sackcloth, as a penitential dress, Jer 4:8; Jon 3:5; Mat 11:21. [As a garment of affliction, see Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 21:10; 2Ki 6:30; Est 4:1-4; Job 16:15; Psa 30:11; Psa 35:13; Psa 69:11; Isa 3:24; Isa 15:3; Isa 20:2; Jer 48:37; Jer 49:3; Amo 8:10.E. R. C.]
Rev 11:4. The two olive trees.The Seer, as an accomplished symbolist, has descried in the olive trees of Zechariah 4. perfectly admissible types of New Testament affairs. On , see the remark in Dsterdieck. [As the olive-tree furnished oil for the lamps, the two trees here would seem properly to denote ministers of religion; and as there can be no doubt that the candlesticks, or lamp-bearers, denote churches, the sense would appear to be that it was through the pastors of the churches that the oil of grace which maintained the brightness of those mystic candlesticks, or the churches, was conveyed. The image is a beautiful one, and expresses a truth of great importance to the world:for God has designed that the lamp of piety shall be kept burning in the churches by truth supplied through ministers and pastors. Barnes.E. R. C.]
Before the Lord of the earth.The Lord is the unitous authority of the earth or the theocratic institutionwhich formerly branched into Joshua and Zerubbabel, and now ramifies into State and Church. Ebrard interprets the Old Testament Lord of the whole earth as indicative of the king of Persia, and regards the corresponding New Testament expression as significant of the ruler of this world.
Rev 11:5-6. The individual lineaments of this description, especially in Rev 11:6, are borrowed from the history of Elijah and Moses. This referenceadmitted by all expositorsto the miracles of those old Prophets (miracles which are in no wise allegorically understood) of itself renders it highly improbable that the description of the present passage is allegorically intended (Dsterdieck). Most original logic, this! As if historical facts, and especially such as have since their very occurrence assumed a symbolical coloring, might not be employed in allegorical descriptions. A slight examination of the New Testament will speedily convince us that such is not the case. [See the quotation from Alford, p, 229.E. R. C.]
Fire goeth forth out of their mouth.Jer 5:14. The reference to 2Ki 1:10 is by Dsterdieck considered of doubtful propriety, because Elijah calls down fire from Heaven. But even this fact might be paraphrased, in the prophetic style, as follows: fire proceeded out of his mouth, Sir 48:1. If, however, we take the words, out of their mouth, and fire, literally, we have a fearful reality (Dsterd.). This is called historical exegesis. The spectator of such fire-works might possibly say: a dubious realitymagic; such an one would be able to set his mind at rest only by echoing the verdict of Rothe: God is an adept at sorcery.
Rev 11:6. Power to shut Heaven.1Ki 17:1.
During [Lange: For] the days.If the words, for the days of their prophecy, denote the time of their entire activity, and that with reference to the 3 years of drought predicted by Elijah, the time of this entire activity would need to be reduced to ordinary yearsand this is not practicable. We, therefore, apprehend the passage thus: for the days fixed by their prophecy.
Over the waters.Exo 7:19.
With every plague [Lange: With all (manner of) plagues].Reference to the Egyptian plagues generally. According to Dsterdieck, it is inadmissible to interpret even these features allegorically, i e., to apprehend them as allegorical. Whilst the interpretation of Bedemaking the power to shut Heaven the potestas claviummay be too restrictedly ecclesiastical, the more general application of the passage to the withholding of the rain or blessing of the Gospel, is certainly removed beyond the objection urged against it, viz.: that in case of its acceptance, it would be necessary to apprehend 1 Kings 17.; Jam 5:17; Exodus 7. sqq. figuratively also; and this, apart from the fact that even these passages are not to be taken in so naked a Grco-historical sense as many seem to suppose.
Rev 11:7. Finished their testimony,22 the wild-beast, etc.Preliminary and more general symbolization of Antichristianity. This one Beast branches into two Beasts in Revelation 13.
Rev 11:8-10. In the broad-way23 [Lange: street] of the great city.The literal method entails the apprehension of the fact that the bodies remained lying in the City, in accordance with the ancient conception of the great impiety of suffering corpses to remain unburied. The question arises hare, however: are the individuals (Rev 11:9) of (all) the peoples identical with the persons mentioned in Rev 11:10, who are described in general terms as the inhabitants of the earth, and are, therefore, enemies of the Witnesses? The text plainly distinguishes between the two classes. There is, then, in any case, a two-fold interest which is subserved by the leaving of the corpses unburieda hostile and a friendly interest. In Rev 11:9 it is declared: , etc.
That the great City is identical with the Holy City, where the stands (Rev 11:1 sqq.), and that it is, therefore, none other than Jerusalem, is evident from the context (Dsterdieck). Even the literal interpretation is forced to admit that Sodom and Egypt (see Isa 1:9; Eze 16:48) is a spiritual appellation, the fact being expressly set forth in the text. Yet this appellation is robbed of the greater part of its force, when the attempt to exhibit a distinction (Hengstenbergs, for instance: Egypt has reference to religious corruption, Sodom to bad morals) is swept aside, with the declaration that the only point of importance is that in which Sodom and Egypt are essentially one, viz.: perfect hostility to the true God, His servants, and His people.
The great City.As the so-called historical interpretation regards the present passage as significant, throughout, of the real Jerusalem (Ewald, Bleek, De Wette, Dsterd., et al.), the following question arises: Why is the City called the great, and not the holy? Discussions of this question are submitted by Dsterdieck, p. 370. The question does not present itself at all to a more correct exegesisone that appreciates the symbolical import of the passage. It is something of a leap to discover, like Calov., here, in the City of Jerusalem, Babylonin Babylon, Romein Rome, papal Rome. Undoubtedly, this great City of Jerusalem is, in essentials, of like import with the great City of Babylon (in the more general sense of the latter, Rev 16:19); but the context contains a reason for the fact, that the City is here indirectly called Jerusalem, as the city where the Lord was crucified, and there, Babylon. Here, namely, it represents the symbolically modified Theocracy, or Divine establishment, embracing Church and State, as a mock-holy fallen Theocracy; there, it represents the centre of the open Antichristian spirit of the world.The meaning of the great City is more generally apprehended by Ebrard, p. 342.24
Different interpretations of the three and a half days see in Dsterdieck, p. 371. A short time; the time during which Christ lay in the grave; the time which exceeds the term during which corpses should remain above ground; analogous to Rev 11:2; Chiliastic computations of the number.
Rev 11:11. And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life, etc.materially [as distinguished from grammatically, Hengstenbergs interpretation of as the Spirit of life cannot be incorrect [Dsterdieck to the contrary, notwithstanding], since this spirit proceeds from God.A form of peculiar significance: .
Great fear.The usual effect of great Divine wonders, angelic appearances, spiritual operations, and especially of the wonder of resurrection.
Rev 11:12. And they ascended, etc.Suggestive of the ascension of Elijah and, still more, of Christs ascension.
Rev 11:13-14. And in that hour.That is, the events narrated took place simultaneously with the ascension of the two Witnesses and were co-operative therewith. According to Dsterdieck, not even this earthquake should, as Ebrard maintains, be symbolically apprehended as an extraordinary event. In respect of the numbers, we refer to the Synoptical View. Ebrards interpretation, see p. 347; comp. Dsterdieck, p. 374.
In spite of the invincible difficulties which lie in the literal apprehension (the outer court destroyed; the Temple, and even the worship therein celebrated, continuing; the two Witnesses vomiting fire; Christ prophesied the destruction of Jerusalemthe Seer narrates its visitation by an earthquake, etc.), Dsterdieck, supported, we must own, by notable predecessors, believes that this apprehension is in all points firmly established against the symbolical apprehension. An allegorical text, however, does not cease to be allegorical for the simple reason, that a multitude of wrong interpretations have attached themselves to it. Arbitrary interpretation is not conquered by cutting the Gordian knot and plunging into the absurdities of literalism; that which is requisite and able to overcome it is a more precise and accurate determination of the symbolical expressions and conceptions of the Old Testament. Such a determination at once dispatches the following collection of arbitrary expositions presented by Dsterdieck, p. 375.
Rev 11:1-2 are, according to Bede, prophetic of the institution of the festival of Church consecration by Pope Felix. The two Witnesses are, according to Lyra, Pope Silverius and the Patriarch Mennas; or, according to others, the testes veritatis; or the Waldenses; or Huss and Jerome; or Luther and Melanchthon. The Beast out of the Abyss is the Imperial general Belisarius, or the Pope. The Temple is the true Church; the outer court, bad Christians, etc. Similar chronological computations see in Dsterd.s note, p. 376.
In reality, however, most of the so-called allegorists essentially occupy the same standpoint with the historical expositors after Lcke, Bleek, Dsterd. and others; both have in view particular historic facts, literally defined; only, according to the allegorists, these particularities are actual, inspired prophecies, veiled in figures. Modern supporters of the historical view have found some portions of the veil indispensable; they, moreover, divide the prophetic items into truths and errors.
With all Dsterdiecks fondness for literalism, however, he decidedly rejects the rationalistic interpretation, p. 377 sqq. See likewise his further examination of the symbolical exegesis as represented by Hengstenberg.
[ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SECTION]
By the American Editor
[In the judgment of the American Editor, Rev 11:1-8 (or 7) are connected with the vision of the preceding chapter
Rev 11:2-8 (or 7) containing an address made to the Seer during that vision, in which the work and death of the Witnesses are verbally described to him. The vision of the Witnesses begins with Rev 11:9 (or 8). It will be perceived that at that point the phraseology changes; the Seer no longer rehearses what another told him; he describes what he himself beheld. If this opinion be correct, the Apocalyptic stand-point of John at the vision beginning Rev 10:1, was probably at the period of the death of the Witnesses; in the explanatory narration beginning Rev 11:3, the narrator described as future that which was to be; but in the description of the vision, John describes as past and present that which (in symbol) he so beheld.
The Witnesses.Who are they? Barnes has well declared concerning the passage which describes them: This is, in some respects, the most difficult portion of the Book of Revelation. There are many points in the description which seem to favor the idea that they are, as is contended by Elliott, Barnes, etc., the long line of protesters against a heathenized Christianity; there are other points, however, in which we feel that, on this hypothesis, the symbols are but inadequately satisfied; the miraculous powers ascribed to them, for instance and especially, seem to demand something which the history even of the Waldenses does not fully supply. The thought has arisen in the mind of the writer, that possibly here, as in some of the Old Testament prophecies, and probably in those concerning Antichrist (see Add. Note, p. 339), the symbols may have a double objectiverespecting (1) two lines of witnesses which are to be consummated in (2) two individual Witnesses, in whom they are to be fully (as Immediatesimilar Symbols) realized. On this hypothesis (possibly) the lines would prophesy throughout the twelve hundred and sixty years of initial Gentile trampling; the individuals throughout twelve hundred and sixty days of consummate trampling (the three and a half years=twelve hundred and sixty days, during which the lines would lie as dead), and then be literally slain, and lie unburied for three and a half days.
On the general hypothesis that lines of witnesses either primarily or exclusively) are intended, two questions arise, viz., What is the period of their rise? and what of their death? These questions are so intimately associated that they cannot with propriety be considered separately; they constitute one complex subject. On this subject there are three particular hypotheses set forth by those who adopt the day-for-a-year theory: 1. That of Elliott, that they began in the Paulicians about A. D. 653; were slain at the Lateran Council, May 5th, 1514; arose again in Luther, Oct. 31st, 1517; and still continue their testimony. 2. That of Glasgow, who agrees with Elliott as to the period of their death, but who places their beginning about A. D. 253, in the Novatian protest. 3. That of Lord, who substantially agrees with Elliott as to the period of their beginning, but who places their death in the future. Of these hypotheses, the first seems to the writer to be clearly inadmissible; the comparison of Rev 11:3; Rev 11:7 requires that we should place their death at the close of the twelve hundred and sixty days of their testimony. There is much to commend the earlier period of beginning advocated by Glasgow. Manifestly, there is much in history to support the idea that a death of the Witnesses did occur at the Council referred toa death followed by a resurrection three and a half years after in the rise of the Reformers; and it is certainly a question whether, twelve hundred and sixty years before, a trampling of the Church by the previously invading Gentiles did not begin in the almost unconditional restoration of the lapsia restoration against which the Novatians in sackcloth protested. But, on the other hand, this hypothesis not only assumes a doubtful terminus a quo, but it fails to provide for the present time when, manifestly, there exists just such a trampling as then existed, and likewise a similar witnessing.
The writer would suggest as a possible solution of the difficulty, that there was contemplated (1) an initial trampling of the outer court beginning about A. D. 253, followed by a typical death of the Witnesses in 1514; (2) a more complete trampling beginning, perchance, in the introduction of image worship, to be followed by a more complete death in the future; (3) the whole to be consummated, as indicated above, by the prophesying and death of individual Witnesses.
As to the measuring, the writer agrees with the general opinion of the commentators whose views he has presented above. That opinion may be most completely set forth in the language of Wordsworth: The action of measuring is one of appropriation and preservation, and also of partition and separation. This act, possibly, was initially and typically performed at the Reformation; probably it will be more fully performed in the future, when the casting out (the excommunication) of those who trample the outer court will be proclaimed by an individual (or a class) directly commissioned for this purpose by the Great Head of the Church. May not this event be coincident with the call to the people of the Lord, who may still remain in Babylon, to come out of her (Rev 18:4)?E. R. C.]
Footnotes:
[1]Rev 11:1. The reading of the Rec., and the, Angel stood and said, is without sufficient foundation. [Cod. B*. gives ; Critical Eds. generally omit, and also give with A. B*. P, instead of , ace. to *.E. R. C.]
[2]Rev 11:2. [Treg. and Tisch. give with c. A.; Alf. with B*. Cod. *. reads and P. .E. R. C.]
[3]Rev 11:4. The reading with A. C. . [.* B*. P.] and others.
[4]Rev 11:4. in acc. with A. B.* C. [. P.], not .
[5]Rev 11:5. The reading . [So Crit. Eds. with . A. B*. C. P.E. R. C.]
[6]Rev 11:5. [Treg. and Tisch. give with . A.; Gb., Sz., Lach., Alf., Tisch. (1859), .E. R. C.]
[7]Rev 11:6. [Lach. gives with A. C. P.; Tisch. omits with . B*.; Alf. brackets and Treg. marks with*.E. R. C.]
[8]Rev 11:6. [Mod. Crit. Eds. give with . A. B*. C. P. See Lange, Exp. in Detail.E. R. C.]
[9]Rev 11:8. [Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give with A. B*. C.; Lange, and Rec. with . P. In Rev 11:9, first occurrence,. also gives the singular; P. alone, the plural: in the second occurrence all the Codd. give the plural.E. R. C.]
[10]Rev 11:8. [See Explanations in Detail.E. R. C.]
[11]Rev 11:8. Instead of , read . [So Modern Crit. Eds. generally with c. A. B. C. P.; Rec. et al. read with 1; *. omits both.E. R. C.]
[12]Rev 11:9. [Lach., Words., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give with . A. B*. C. P., Gb., sz.; Lange, with Vulg., etc.E. R. C.]
[13]Rev 11:10.. [So Eds. generally with . A. C. P., etc.E. R. C.]
[14]Rev 11:10. [Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give with . A. B*. C. P.E. R. C.]
[15]Rev 11:10. [So Modern Eds. with . A. C. P.E. R. C.]
[16]Rev 11:10. [Tisch. reads with *. P.; Lach., Words., Alf., Treg., Tisch. (1859), Lange, , with c. A.C.E. R.C.]
[17]Rev 11:11. . See Dst. [Tisch. so gives with A.; Treg. reads without with C. P. (he cites A. as reading ); Alf. brackets ; . B*. read .E. R. C.]
[18]Rev 11:12. The reading was probably preferred as apparently the more natural one. [So Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., with . A. C. P., Vulg., etc. Gb., Tisch. (1859), Lange, give with c. B. (Treg. cites P. as giving the latter reading.)E. R. C.]
[19][See Add. Comm. on Rev 10:11, p. 221.E. R. C.]
[20] Elliott (Vol. II., Appendix) gives at length, and in the original, the Noble Lesson of the Waldenses. This work, written about A. D. 1170, presents the Witness of the Waldensian Church to the truth. He gives, Vol. II., pp. 390396, translations from this, and from one of their later works entitled Antichrist. So valuable and interesting is the latter as indicating the position of that remarkable people in reference to Rome, and as witnessing against her, that the extract presented by Elliott is here reproduced. (The last paragraph is as presented by Barnes.)
Antichrist is the falsehood (doomed to eternal damnation), covered with the appearance of the truth and righteousness of Christ and His spouse being administered by false apostles; and defended by one or other arm (i. e., the spiritual and secular arm). Thus it is not a certain particular person, ordained in a certain grade, office, or ministry, considering the thing generally; but the falsehood itself, opposed to the truth, with which however it covers itself, adorning itself outwardly with the beauty and piety of Christs Church, of Christ Himself, His names, offices, scriptures, sacraments. The iniquity of this system, with all his ministers, higher and lower, following it with an evil and blinded heartsuch a congregation, taken together, is called Antichrist, or Babylon, or the Fourth Beast, or the Harlot, or the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition.
His first work is, that the service of latria, properly due to God alone, he (Antichrist) perverts unto himself and to his works, and to the poor creature, rational or irrational, sensible or insensible; as, for instance, to male or female saints departed this life, and to their images, bones, or relics. His works are the sacraments, especially that of the tucharist, which he worships equally with God and Christ, prohibiting the adoration of God alone.
His second work is, that he robs and deprives Christ of the merits of Christ, with the whole sufficiency of grace, righteousness, regeneration, remission of sins, sanctification, confirmation, and spiritual nourishment; and imputes and attributes them to his own authority, to his own doings, or to the saints and their intercession, or to the fire of purgatory. Thus he separates the people from Christ, and leads them away to the things already mentioned; that so they may seek not the things of Christ, nor through Christ, but only the work of their own hands; not through a living faith in God, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; but through the will and the works of Antichrist, agreeably to his preaching that mans whole salvation depends on his works.
His third work is, that he attributes the regeneration of the Holy Spirit to a dead outward faith; baptizing children in that faith, and teaching that by it is the consecration of baptism and regeneration, on which same faith it (he) ministers orders and the other sacraments; and on it founds all Christian religion.
His fourth work is, that he rests the whole religion and sanctity of the people upon his Mass; for leading them to hear it, he deprives them of spiritual and sacramental manducation.
His fifth work is, that he does every thing to be seen, and to glut his insatiable avarice.
His sixth work is, that he allows manifest sins without ecclesiastical censure and excommunication.
His seventh work is, that he defends his unity, not by the Holy Spirit, but by the secular power.
His eighth work is, that he hates, persecutes, makes inquisition after, and robs and puts to death the members of Christ.
These things and many others, are the cloak and vestment of Antichrist; by which he covers his lying wickedness, lest he should be rejected as a heathen. But there is no other cause of idolatry than a false opinion of grace, and truth, and authority, and invocation, and intercession; which this Antichrist has taken away from God, and which he has ascribed to ceremonies, and authorities, and a mans own works, and to saints, and to purgatory.E. R. C.]
[21]With equal propriety may they refer to the Altar court, if that be meant by the . And indeed the introduction of this clause seems to point to this interpretation of the Altar, as only priests worshipped in the Sanctuarythe people worshipping in the court. On the other hand, however, it may be contended that, as all true Christians are priests, their proper place of worship is the Sanctuary.E. R. C.]
[22]Lord translates: And when they would finish their testimony, etc.; and comments: The Witnesses would finish their testimony before the close of the 1260 years, doubtless under the apprehension that it was no longer to be necessary; that the great changes wrought in public opinion, and in the condition of the apostate Church by judgments on it, divested it of its dangerous power, and insured its speedy overthrow; and that they might therefore turn from the mere endeavor to maintain the truth in opposition to it, to the happier task of proclaiming it to those who had never yet heard the glad tidings.E. R. C.]
[23][See Kittos Dict. of the Bible, Title Street.E. R. C.]
[24][For an exceedingly able argument designed to show that Rome was probably referred to by the Apocalyptist, see Barnes in loc.E. R. C.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
John, at the Command of the Angel, measureth the Temple. The Lord speaks of his two Witnesses: their Power. Their Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. The seventh Angel soundeth his Trumpet. The great Events which follow.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
(1) 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.
The beloved Apostle is here employed by the Lord, to measure the temple of God, and the Altar, and them that worship therein. This latter clause of the people, throws a light upon the former, and seems to explain, that, by the whole is meant the Church, the true Church of regenerated believers. The word of God, in a great variety of places, speaks of God’s people as a Church founded on Christ. God the Father, ages before Christ’s incarnation, called upon the Church to behold that he laid in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation, Isa 28:16 . And God the HOLT Ghost by Peter declares, that this was Christ, to whom the Church, coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, became as lively stones, and were built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1Pe 2:81Pe 2:8 ; Psa 118:22 ; Act 4:11-12 ; Eph 2:19-22 ; Rev 21:23 .
The allusion which is here made, to the original temple at Jerusalem, of the Altar and Court without, seems also to have been intended, as typical of Christ and his Church. The Lord makes the bodies of his people, his temple. He calls Zion his rest, and declares that he will dwell in it, for he hath a delight in it, 1Co 3:16-17 ; Psa 132:13-14 ; 2Co 6:16 . By the Altar may be intended, Christ, our New Testament Altar, High Priest, and Sacrifice. And by John’s measuring of it, may be implied seeking from the Lord grace, to contemplate the infinite dimensions of his boundless love, in the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of it, in that love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, Eph 3:16 . And by the worshippers are meant, the true faithful followers of the Lord; who worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, Phi 3:3 .
I do not conceive, that this measurement of the Church, was intended to imply anything in this place, similar to what was done under the former visions, when the Lord himself sealed his people before the four Angels, which held the winds, were to execute their orders. But it should seem rather to have been at this time, graciously intended by our Lord, to let John understand by his own measurement of it, that Jesus had his Church still, in all its dimensions, that he knew all his members, and watched over them. This, as it strikes me, was the gracious design in our most gracious Lord. The time was now hastening towards the close of the sixth trumpet. And the total overthrow of both the impostures, in the East and in the West, was coming on. But before these things, the Lord’s two faithful witnesses were to prophecy in sackcloth. And when they had fulfilled their ministry, they should he slain, and all the other events follow, introductory to the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Hence, therefore, the Lord Jesus commands John, first to measure the Church and people. Reader! it is a sweet thought, and everlastingly to be cherished with the utmost affection in the mind, that Christ hath a Church in the worst of times. There is even now, a remnant, according to the election of grace. Graciously he watches over it. Sweetly Jesus sings to it, which he calls his vineyard of red wine, for even in bloody times, the song must go on. I the Lord do keep it, Jesus saith. I will water it every moment: Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day, Isa 27:2-3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 11:7
Lord, I read of the two witnesses, ‘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’. They could not be killed whilst they were doing, but when they had done their work; during their employment they were invincible. No better armour against the darts of death than to be busied in Thy service.
Thomas Fuller.
The City: Its Sin and Saviour
Rev 11:8
The fact that our Lord was crucified nigh unto the sacred city is a suggestive fact we shall do well to ponder.
I. The Sinfulness of the City. Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. Not that the obscenity and visible horror of Sodom were features of Jerusalem, but the sacred city resembled Sodom in its internal and vicious condition. Egypt was the land of slavery and persecution, and Israel had spiritually taken the place of Egypt, reproduced the characteristics of Egypt The point specially to be observed is, that Jerusalem had become thus infamous through the abuse of religious privilege. It was a religious city that was spiritually called Sodom and Egypt; perverted religious opportunity made it pre-eminent in iniquity and retribution. All evils come to their worst in great cities; the evils exist in petty forms and inconspicuous colours in rustic scenes, but the wealth, liberty, numbers, and rivalry of a great city bring them out broadly and luridly. It is a forcing-bed where every vice attains abnormal growth. And when the benign influences of religion are rejected, the wickedness is in the same proportion aggravated.
II. The Saviour of the City. ‘Where also our Lord was crucified.’ Christ crucified is the one antidote for the city’s wickedness and woe, even when that city is Jerusalem. We are not going to cleanse, enlighten, uplift, and idolise our cities without God; and then it will only be through God as He has been pleased to reveal Himself in His redeeming Son. Every sin that blasts the city is condemned in the cross; every inspiration that saves it flows from the cross. Calvary testifies to the everlasting righteousness of God, to His mercy to the penitent, to His sympathy and grace with up-struggling humanity. Only in the cross do we get at the root of the mischief; only there do we find the essential blessing. God is in Christ crucified, reconciling the world unto Himself; and only as sinners find their way to the foot of the cross are Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt transformed into the City of God. ‘And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.’
W. L. Watkinson, The Ashes of Roses, p. 68.
References. XI. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 488. XI. 15. C. J. Ridgeway, The King and His Kingdom, p. 29. W. Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 389. Bishop Dowden, Religion in Relation to the Social and Political Life of England, No. 6. T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. iv. p. 310. F. T. Bassett, Things that Must Be, p. 72. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ii. p. 349. XI. 16, 17. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon Sketches, p. 18. XI. 18. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 362.
The Ark and Its New Sanctuary
Rev 11:19
I. This vision of the ark in heaven suggests that the worship of God is henceforth to direct itself towards a new centre. Under the old dispensation the ark was a witness to the root-principles of true worship. It contained within itself the mementoes of those facts and truths from which the Covenant tie between God and His people was woven, and which must ever be kept in mind by those who would enjoy fellowship with God. (1) This vision implies that the worship of a humanity regenerated by the discipline of judgment will find its centre and resting-place in the selfsame principles which were foreshadowed by the ordinances of the first tabernacle. The proclamation by great voices in heaven. ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,’ herald a new and better theocracy; and as the ark of the Covenant was the keystone of the old, so are the truths illustrated by its emblems essentials of the new. (2) This glimpse of an ark in the celestial temple suggests that the new centre of worship is catholic and not national. (3) The vision seems to indicate the growing religious capacity of the race. John implies in this vision that all worship will at last pour itself forth where God has fixed the true mercy-seat, and the places on earth accounted holy will be left behind by the soaring faith of the believer.
II. The Covenant ark in heaven is the pledge of victory and external salvation to the chosen people. Napoleon Bonaparte once said: ‘A man must feel himself a child of fortune if he is to brace his soul to fortitude’. That cynical and godless man had probably ceased to feel himself a pet of the Fates when he began to blunder, and brought about, in due time, his own irretrievable overthrow. In presence of the ark of God’s Covenant in the ever-open temple, the servant of Jesus Christ may always realise that a resistless providence is on his side, and that he can suffer no final defeat. The Covenant ark in heaven is a landmark of the inheritance which God has promised to them that love Him. The ark of the Covenant seen by John precedes the pilgrim saints into the new land of promise, and asserts their birthright in ‘the city whose builder and maker is God’. It puts the patriarchs in possession of that better country which they never found on earth. If we are servants of the Covenant, and in accord with its demands, it is already claiming our inheritance for us. The symbolic ark has been carried amidst exulting songs into its last resting-place. It has passed into the realms of light, and, in view of the one Church in heaven and on earth, waits there till the last weary fainting warrior, the last pale footsore woman, the last halting child, has crossed the flood, and every jot and tittle of the Covenant promise has been fulfilled.
References. XI. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1621; vol. xli. No. 2427. XII. 1-5. Bishop Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 33. XII. 2. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 290.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
X
THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPETS (CONTINUED)
Revelation 10-11
We have seen under the first trumpet the decline of the pagan Roman Empire, brought about by the barbaric nations from the German forests and the lower Danube. We have seen under the second trumpet the complete overthrow of pagan Rome as a volcano is erupted, turned over into the sea. We have seen under the third trumpet the apostasy of the Roman church, resulting in papal Rome poisoning all the sources of life. We have seen under the fourth trumpet the dark ages resulting from this apostasy, dimming the light of the luminaries appointed to lighten the world. This was the first group of trumpets, four in number.
In the succeeding group of three an emphasis is added each trumpet is followed by a woe, the second woe worse than the first, and the third to be more direful than the second. The fifth trumpet, we have found, introduces the first woe, which is directly attributed to Satan. Resulting from the apostasy and its corruption comes a revolt against all sacred things, taking the direction of infidelity, rationalism, and atheism. Satan’s hell smoke increases the darkness by thickening the atmosphere through which light would shine, breeding restlessness of spirit and torment of soul in all who are thus without God and without hope in the world. The torments are compared to locusts with scorpion stings.
Under the sixth trumpet, sounding the second woe, we have seen the rise and conquest of Mohammedan power, sweeping with fire and sword from the Euphrates to Vienna in one direction, and in another direction from northern Africa into Spain and France. For its idolatries and corruptions we have seen the Greek Catholic apostasy lose all its territory to the Saracen, including the Holy Land, Syria, Asia Minor, and Constantinople; and the Roman Catholic apostasy smitten in the Mediterranean and in southwestern Europe, and all its crusades buried back as waves repulsed by a mountain coast. The seven thunders are merely announced, what they mean is sealed up for the present (Rev 10:4 ), but to be given in a later revelation from a different angle of vision, to wit: the seven plagues inflicted on the apostate church under the symbol of the harlot woman in purple and scarlet (Revelation 15-16). It is also announced that when the seventh trumpet does sound then will be finished the mystery of the kingdom of God (Rev 10:7 ), but before this conclusion is reached the Revelator will answer certain questions, to wit: in all this record of apostasies, and the consequent dark ages and persecutions and judgments on the apostasies, what becomes of the true church and the pure gospel? Does the Spirit dispensation fail? Are all the candlesticks removed? Do all preachers abandon the gospel and become priests of heresy?
Revelation 10-11 answer these questions, and bring us to the glorious triumph of the seventh trumpet, omitting only for the time being the last woe, to be given in Rev 18 , from another synchronous view. We take up, therefore, the interpretation of these glorious chapters.
“And I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet were as pillars of fire.” This evidently, from the description, is the angel of the Covenant) our glorified Lord himself. “And he had in his hand a little open book.” This little book is not the sealed book of Rev 5:1 . That was the book of future events concerning the kingdom. This little book, named again in Rev 5:8-10 , signifies the restored gospel, which had been shut up by the apostasy.
“And he set his right foot upon the sea and his left upon the earth; and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth, and when he cried the seven thunders uttered their voices, and when the seven thunders uttered their voices I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heavens and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer.”
We note first the posture of the angel one foot on the land and one on the sea, to signify that all the earth, land’ and sea, is under his authority. We note second the mere announcement now of the seven thunders, not recorded now, but to be given as the seven vials of wrath in a subsequent vision (Revelation 15-16). We note third the oath of the angel (Rev 10:6 ) “that there shall be delay no longer” the King James Version obscures the meaning of this glorious promise.
The promise directly responds to the martyr cry of the fifth seal: “How long, O Master, the Holy and True, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6:10 ). The answer given them was: “Rest yet for a little time, until thy fellow-servants also, and thy brethren, who shall be killed even as ye were, shall have fulfilled their course”, but now the answer is: “There shall be delay no longer.”
Rev 10:7 further assures, what will be stated more particularly at the end of chapter Rev 11 , that the mystery of the kingdom of God will be finished when the seventh trumpet sounds. We find all that in Rev 11:15-19 .
We must connect with the reply to the martyr cry in Rev 6:10 , and the different reply here: “There shall be delay no longer,” the great lesson in 2Pe 3:3-13 . The “little time” of waiting for vengeance is little in God’s sight, not ours: “But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Thus in Rev 6:3-7 , having anticipated for assurance’ sake later things, the Revelator resumes the story of the little open book in Rev 6:8-11 . Let us read them: “And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me and saying: Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And be saith unto me: take it, and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter. And they say unto me: Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and tongues and nations and kings.”
We repeat that this book differs in important particulars from the book of Rev 5:1 . That was sealed this is open; that was written on both sides not this one. This one is expressly called the little book, Greek bibliridion. That book remained in the Revelator’s hands this one is given to John and eaten by him. Being eaten it was sweet; after eaten it was bitter. After eating it he should prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
Just here I commend again the very able and judicious comments of Dr. Justin A. Smith on this passage, but I give you briefly my own interpretation:
1. The result of the great apostasy was to pervert and shut up the true gospel, until the Reformation of the sixteenth century. It was a typical event when Luther found a chained Bible. An ecclesiasticism combining defunct Old Testament elements with many pagan superstitions offered as a gospel that which was another gospel, and contrary to the true gospel.
2. The little open book, therefore, represents the restored gospel of the Reformation. When Victor Emmanuel entered Rome, breaking down the civil power of the Pope, he carried at the head of his army an open Bible, that Rome had not known for centuries.
3. When that restored gospel is eaten, appropriated, and assimilated by faith, a new era of missions to many new nations would dawn. An open Bible in the hands of the people scatters the superstitious rubbish of the false ecclesiasticism and propagation of the recovered gospel extends to earth’s remotest bounds. The idea of Rev 10:11 , is thus repeated in a subsequent vision (Rev 14:6 ): “And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim to them that dwell on the earth; and unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” It is a noticeable fact that missionary operations commenced with the rescue of the Bible; it was translated into the tongues of the people, and preachers began to carry it to the ends of the earth, and ever since that day missions to all nations have taken colossal strides.
Having thus in Rev 10 seen the restored gospel, we consider in Rev 11 the questions: What about the true church in the dark ages of the apostasy? Measured by man, the church in the West, that is, in Europe, is the Roman Catholic apostasy; and the church in the East is the Greek Catholic apostasy, and man will tell you that within that time there were no other churches. Your average church historian will tell you that. But we will let God answer that question (Rev 11:1 ) : “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple leave without and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations) and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” Under this unique measurement only the true temple with its altar of sacrifice and its few worshippers are counted. The outer court and all the holy city are left out. These are trodden under foot by the nations forty-two months, which equals one thousand two hundred and sixty days of the next verse. And in this book a prophetic day represents a year; as in its Old Testament analogue, Ezekiel. The forty-two months and their equivalent, 1,260 days, symbolizing 1,260 years, date the dark ages of the apostasy beginning in the third century and extending to the Reformation of the sixteenth century. The true church in this period is an inner circle determined by divine spiritual measurement. When in Zechariah a young man attempts to measure the poor little Jerusalem of the restoration, a voice from heaven says: “Stop that young man,” and announces that Jerusalem shall become immeasurable, overflowing into the villages and country round about, a forecast of the Jerusalem in Rev 21:22 .
Now let us read again: “And I will give 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 Lord of the earth.” Note that during all this dark period of 1,260 years, two witnesses never cease to testify, though in sackcloth. Their testimony is costly to them it is testimony as at a funeral, mourning for the apostasy of Zion, and for the slain of the true people of God.
Here the important question arises: Who are these witnesses? The Old Testament analogue, in the third and fourth chapters of Zechariah, suggests the clue to the right answer. In the dark ages when Israel was restored after exile in Babylon, there were two anointed witnesses accused of the devil, despised of men, namely, Joshua, the high priest, and Zerubbabel, the civil ruler. In themselves was no power. Considering the mountain of difficulty which obstructed their work they were contemptible agencies of success. But considering the divine help, it was said: “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting: Grace, Grace unto it.” Truly in that case it was “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” So in this case, as in that case, are two witnesses, but the question recurs: Who are they in this case? My answer is that the key passage of this book, Rev 1:12-16 , tells us plainly: “The candlestick and the star are the light-bearers” i.e., the church and the preacher; they are the lower lights to illumine the world. The gates of hell shall not prevail against Christ’s church: the testimony of true ministers shall never cease. It has always been a surprise to me that commentators should be in doubt about these two witnesses. The true church and the true minister should testify in sackcloth for 1,260 years. They should be in mourning for the apostasy, for the slain of its persecution.
In the next synchronous vision the true church symbolized as a glorious woman of Rev 12:1 , shall be driven into the wilderness, hidden but not lost, for this precise period ,260 years (Rev 12:6 ). The power ascribed to these two witnesses is set forth under the imagery of Rev 12:5 and Rev 12:6 : “And if any man desire to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man desire to hurt them in this manner must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.” This imagery applies to their use of the conquering word of God in denouncing judgment on their enemies, or else in the power of their prayers, as in the case of Elijah shutting up the heavens that it rain not.
Again counting a day for a year, we will see in what I soon quote that for three and a half days (or three and a half years), both of these witnesses seemed to be dead: “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh out of the abyss [beast always signifies government, and the abyss signifies that it is a hell government, and we will find all about it in Rev 17 ] shall make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb [not that]. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry; and they shall send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.”
That faithful churches and faithful preachers would point out their sins, cry out against their backsliding, was a torment to the apostasy through all the 1,260 years. “And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them.”
We may well ask just here what event of history corresponds to this prophecy. Here I cannot do better than to cite a remarkable passage from Dr. Justin A. Smith’s commentary.:
No purpose of God, as regards the gospel of man’s salvation, fails. He permits to his gospel a fiery ordeal, extending through many centuries. But at the fit time he appears again in its behalf, and through chosen instruments causes it to be once more declared, as here represented in the little book, in primeval simplicity, and in a ministry that bears it “to all the world.” By what appears in the eleventh chapter, we are given to understand that while the outer court of the symbolical temple, and the city itself, are trodden under foot by the enemies of God and truth and righteousness, the inner sanctuary is kept safe; in other words, there survives, in the very worst of times, a faithful remnant by whom an undesecrated altar is preserved, a true worship offered, and that truth which embodies the substance of ancient types maintained. These are the witnesses. The voice of a true testimony in God’s behalf does not die out of the world, even when persecution rages most hotly; nor is it holy ground even when the world’s loud tumult is at its worst. These witnesses do, indeed, testify “prophesy” “in sackcloth” the garment of distress and mourning. Such of the Lord’s true people as survive in such times are a hunted flock. The truth itself is under reproach, the deriding voices rave against it. The true church and its ordinances are, in the world’s esteem, placed in humiliating contrast with the shows and splendours of that apostasy which for the time is supreme, while everything beautiful and sacred and beneficent in Christianity is as if clad in sackcloth of humiliation, and lamenting, in the language of the ancient prophet, that there are none to stand upon the Lord’s side. And there comes a time when the triumph of evil seems complete. It is the deeper gloom that precedes the dawn. All the powers of darkness triumph. The murderers of the witnesses rejoice over them and make merry, and send gifts one to another. But the triumph is brief. Just at this crisis God appears for His truth and His people. The slain witnesses stand upon their feet. They rise into vigour of life like the glory that shone in the person and face of the risen Lord. Their enemies behold them with consternation, and the triumph which now comes to them in turn is like the Lord’s own ascension to heaven in a cloud, receiving all power in heaven and in earth. Effects follow which show how truly divine is that intervention. The hostile power shakes, as when earthquakes rock the globe, while the great and wicked city, in whose streets the slain witnesses have lain, feels the shock.
This is, in general, the picture sketched for us in the striking symbolism of this chapter. If we have read this symbolism right, there can be, it would seem, only one answer to the question where the historical counterpart shall be sought. There is one point of crisis in modern times which fulfils in a remarkable degree the conditions of an adequate historical parallel to the Apocalyptic picture here sketched. Not as fulfilments of the prophecy in exact detail, but as indicating some general aspects of the period as having this significance, we note the following:
In A.D. 1512-17, a council was held in Rome, called from the place of its assembly the Church of St. John Lateran the Fifth Lateran Council. At the eighth session of this council, held in December, 1513, a papal bull was issued, in which was a summons to all dissidents from the papal authority to appear before the council at its next session, in the following May, and to show cause for their continued refusal to acknowledge the Pope’s supremacy. When the Council came together in that session, May 5, 1514, no answer appeared to this summons. Not that there were no longer those in Christendom who refused allegiance to the usurped authority of Rome, nor because any one could have imagined that opportunity for a free protest before the Council would have been allowed; not because, joined with the impossibility of a response under such conditions, it was a fact that just at that time there actually was no one ready, like the Wyckliffe and the Huss of a former age, or the Luther who was soon to appear, to give a voice to the spirit of revolt against Rome, which, though widely prevalent, was for the most part nursed in secret. “Throughout the length and breadth of Christendom,” says Elliott and his words are true in the sense just explained “Christ’s witnessing servants were silenced” they appeared as dead. The orator of the session ascended the pulpit, and, amidst the applause of the assembled Council, uttered that memorable exclamation of triumph an exclamation which, notwithstanding the long multiplied anti-heretical decrees of popes and councils, notwithstanding the more multiplied anti-heretical crusade and inquisitorial fires, was never, I believe, pronounced before, and certainly never since: “Jam nemoreclamat, nullus obsistit!” “There is an end of resistance to the papal rule and religion; opposers exist no morel” And again, “The whole body of Christendom is now seen to be subjected to its head, that is, to thee.” Three years and a half later, October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his theses to the Wittenberg church door!
It is undoubtedly true that for some time previous to the meeting of this Fifth Lateran Council, as described, the murderers of God’s people had been especially active, with results of intimidation and the apparent silencing of dissent and protest highly gratifying to the hierarchy. The crusaders against the Albigenses and Waldenses had well-nigh extirpated those troublesome heretics. The measures of the Inquisition in various parts of Europe had succeeded to the utmost wish of those by whom they were carried on. A threatening schism in the papal body itself was healed during the session of this Council. So fully, in view of all, did the members of the Council sympathize in the exultant confidence of their orator that upon the final adjournment they celebrated the triumph which Popery seemed to have achieved in a feast, whose splendour had never in Rome been equalled. It was like the rejoicing, the merrymaking and the sending of gifts of which our prophecy speaks. It is also matter of history that in that same Council there was an emphatic reaffirmation, of the long-standing papal law that the bodies of heretics should be denied all rights of Christian burial; so that here, also, we find almost literal fulfilment of the words: “Do not suffer their bodies to be put in graves.” These conspicuous examples of the application of this law in the exhuming and burning of the bones of Wickliffe, at an earlier date, by command of the Council of Constance, and the direction given by the same Council that the ashes of Huss should be cast into the Lake of Constance, are familiar facts. It may be added that in like manner the ashes of Savonarola were thrown into the Arno, and that it was common for the papal bulls to ordain that the heretics against whom they were fulminated should not only be put to death, but should be denied Christian burial.
Just three and a half years from that time all Europe was ablaze with the Reformation, and the Romanist power has never recovered from the shock it received.
Three things are said in our lesson of the effect of the revival of the witnesses:
1. “Great fear fell on all those who saw the revival” which means that all the Romanist hierarchy trembled when the Reformation fires began to break out in so many places and among so many peoples of Europe.
2. The Romanist hierarchy heard the voice calling the witnesses up to heaven (Rev 11:12 ). Heaven here is not the final abode of the blest, but the apocalyptic heaven, the scene of the vision, and means simply that their enemies witnessed honor and open exaltation conferred of God on these long despised witnesses.
3.Rev 11:13 , means the convulsions which followed the Reformation in which Rome lost and Protestantism won most of France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, England, and Scotland.
We come now to the last of the chapter:
THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS Having thus disposed of the question: What about the true gospel and what about the true church during the dark ages, the last angel will sound, and will omit only the last woe, we will get to that in Rev 18 , and we will see that woe as it strikes the Papacy.
“And the seventh angel sounded: and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said: The kingdom of the world is be-come the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders re-presenting the eternal priesthood of Christ’s people], who sat before God on their throne, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying: We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, because thou hast taken thy great power and didst reign. And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give thy rewards to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in this temple the ark of the covenant, and there followed lightnings and voices and thunders, and earthquake, and a great hail.”
I showed you that the seals gave one panoramic view of the gospel as preached to the end of time, and that the trumpets gave you another panoramic view parallel with it, of the gospel as prayed to the end of time, and so this passage here: “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ,” shows that the recovered gospel in the Reformation times will never be silenced any more Rome will never be able to shut again that open book! she will never be able to chain that Bible again; she will never be able to stop the onward march of missions that is today reaching the utmost parts of the world, and I would very solemnly impress upon you that it is the Spirit dispensation, and the dispensation of a true church, and the dispensation of a true ministry that will bring about this glorious consummation, which will be more fully discussed when we come to the Millennium in Rev 20 of this book. I want to make this very impressive, because when you talk missions you must talk in faith of their triumph. It is the open restored gospel, and under its power you must preach confidently to any nation, to any king, to any people, and your heart must be assured that by this gospel preached, will every man be saved that is ever to be saved in this world. I will tell you that that is one of the key passages in Revelation: “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” The candlesticks were lighted to illumine the world, and though when in Revelation 2-3 we showed the pitiful imperfections of the churches, we wondered if such instrumentalities could ever enlighten the world, and when we saw the deficiencies of the preachers, we wondered if by men like these the kingdom of this world should ever become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ; yet when we saw the heavens opened and what powers were employed there to help the churches and preachers, we no longer wondered. As they preached they conquered; as they prayed they conquered; stricken down as if dead, they revived again and the fire broke out into a greater blaze, and was more widely spread than before. That is the crowd I belong to.
QUESTIONS
1. Give briefly a review of the seals & trumpets, and then tell what questions Rev 10 answers, and what other questions Rev 11 answers.
2. Who is the radiant angel of Rev 10:1 ?
3. The meaning of his posture one foot on the sea and the other on the land?
4. Why the temporary sealing up of the voices of the seven thunders? When and how do they reappear and find record? Where and for similar reasons have we found a temporary silence in a preceding section?
5. State the oath of the angel as wrongly rendered in the common version, and then as better rendered in the Standard Version.
6. (a) To what previous question is the oath a final answer, and (b) compare it with the answer then given, and (c) with what parable is it in agreement, and (d) give Peter’s reason for the delay, and (e) why does this delay seem long to us and only “a little while” to God?
7. Discriminate between the book of Rev 5:1 , and the book of Rev 10:2 , and then (a) tell what this book means, (b) the meaning of eating it, and (c) explain its application to Rev 10:11 .
8. What is measured in Rev 11:1-2 , and what does it mean?
9. (a) In the Old Testament are two measurements somewhat similar to the one in Rev 11:1-2 where are they, and (b) where in this book is another one? (c) Explain their relation to each other, and (d) what is the meaning of this one?
10. (a) How long will this small measure last, and (b) explain the symbolic numbers, forty-two months (Rev 11:2 ), 1,260 days (11:3), and by comparison of Rev 11:2-3 , with Rev 12:6 , prove that “temple” in Rev 11:1 , and the woman in Rev 12:1 , mean the same thing.
11. (a) What is the Old Testament analogue of Rev 11:3-4 , and (b) the two witnesses there, and (c) who are the two witnesses here?
12. Meaning of “prophesying in sackcloth”?
13. Give the historic fulfilment of the death and revival of the witnesses and all the attendant circumstances of Rev 11:7-11 .
14. What is the meaning of Rev 11:12 ?
15. What historical correspondence to Rev 11:13 , showing the effect of the revival of the witnesses?
16. Where will we find the third woe named but not given in Rev 11:14 ?
17. What glorious consummation follows the seventh trumpet, and what parallel in the last synchronous view?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
1 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.
Ver. 1. A reed ] That is, the word of God, that little book that he had newly eaten. This is the only rule of faith and discipline whereby all in the Church must be made and meted.
Like unto a rod ] Or, sceptre. The word is that rod of Christ’s strength, whereby he rules in the midst of his enemies, Psa 110:2 . It is that right sceptre, Psa 45:6 , which he sways and whereby he sovereigns. The Proverbs of Solomon are called in Hebrew Mishle, or mastersentences,Pro 1:1Pro 1:1 ; (from Mashal, dominari to be mastered). And the Scriptures bear the title of Chieftains, Pro 8:6 , and of lords of collections, as some render it,Ecc 12:11Ecc 12:11 .
Measure the temple of God ] The Church, that had been so woefully wasted and oppressed by Antichrist, that it stood in need of new measuring and repairing.
That worship therein ] In the temple, as being all spiritual priests; and in the altar, as placing all their confidence in Christ’s death alone.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1 14 .] The measurement of the temple of God. The two witnesses: their testimony, death, resurrection, and assumption into heaven: the earthquake, and its consequences .
This passage may well be called, even more than that previous one, ch. Rev 10:1 ff., the crux interpretum ; as it is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in the whole Apocalypse. Referring to the histories of apocalyptic exegesis for an account of the various interpretations, I will, as I have done in similar cases, endeavour to lay down a few landmarks, which may serve for guidance at least to avoid inconsistency, if we cannot do more. And I will remark, 1) that we are not bound to the hard “wooden” literal sense so insisted on in our day by some of the modern German Expositors. I would strongly recommend any one who takes that view, who will have Jerusalem = nothing but Jerusalem, and confine the two witnesses to two persons bodily appearing there, to read through the very unsatisfactory and shuffling comment of Dsterdieck here: the result of which is, that finding, as he of course does, many discrepancies between this and our Lord’s prophecy of the same destruction of Jerusalem, he is driven to the refuge that while our Lord describes matters of fact, St. John idealizes the catastrophe, setting it forth not as it really took place, but according to its inner connexion with the final accomplishment of the mystery of God, and correspondently to the hope which God’s Old Testament people possessed as contrasted with the heathen power of this world, which abides in “Babylon.” But really, if we have come thus far by fighting for the literal interpretation, why not a little further? Or rather why so far? If “Babylon” is the abode of the world, why not “Jerusalem” of the church? If our interpreter, maintaining the literal sense, is allowed so far to “idealize,” as to exempt the temple of God itself ( Rev 11:1 ) from a destruction which we know overtook it, and nine-tenths of the city ( Rev 11:13 ) from an overthrow which destroyed it all, surely there is an end to the meaning of words. If Jerusalem here is simply Jerusalem, and the prophecy regards her overthrow by the Romans, and especially if this passage is to be made such use of as to set aside the testimony of Irenus as to the date of the Apocalypse by the stronger testimony of the Apocalypse itself (so Dsterd. from Lcke), then must every particular be shewn to tally with known history; or if this cannot be done, at least it must be shewn that none contradicts it. If this cannot be done, then we may fairly infer that the prophecy has no such reference, or only remotely, here and there, and not as its principal subject. 2) Into whatever difficulty we may be led by the remark, it is no less true, that the of Rev 11:2 cannot be the same as the of Rev 11:8 . This has been felt by the literal interpreters, and they have devised ingenious reasons why the holy city should afterwards be called the great city: so De Wette, “he named Jerusalem the great city, because he can no more call her holy after her desecration” (but he need not therefore call her great , by which epithet she is never called) Dsterd., “because it is impossible in one breath to call a city ‘holy,’ and ‘Sodom and Egypt’ ” (most true: then must we not look for some other city than one which this very prophecy has called holy?). So far Joachim says well, “Veruntamen quod ait in plateis civitatis magn, non satis videtur facere pro eodem intellectu (the literal). Nunquam enim magna civitas forte legitur, sed magis Nineve et Babylon magn civitates dict sunt: nimirum quia multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.” His other reason see in the interpretation below. 3) We are compelled, if I am not mistaken, to carry the above considerations somewhat further, by the very conditions of the prophecy itself. For it is manifestly and undeniably of an anticipatory character. It is not, and cannot be, complete in itself. The words of Rev 11:7 , , bear no meaning where they stand, but require, in order to be understood at all, to be carried on into the succeeding visions of ch. 13 ff. And if into those visions, then into a period when this wild-beast has received power from the dragon, when, as in ch. Rev 13:7 , he makes war with the saints and conquers them, and all on earth except the elect are worshipping him. 4) Let us observe the result as affecting our interpretation. We are necessarily carried on by the very terms of our present compendious prophecy, into the midst of another prophecy, far more detailed and full of persons and incidents: of one which has its , its , its , its , and other coincident particulars. What inference does a sound principle of interpretation force upon us? What, if not this that our present compendious prophecy, as in the particular of the beast that comes out of the abyss, so in its other features, must be understood as giving in summary, and introducing, that larger one? and consequently, that its terms are to be understood by those of that larger one, not servilely and literally where they stand? And observe, this is deduced from the very necessity of the case itself, as shewn in Rev 11:7 , not from any system throwing its attraction forward and biassing our views. We cannot understand this prophecy at all, except in the light of those that follow: for it introduces by anticipation their dramatis person . 5) If I mistake not, we thus gain much light on the difficulties of this prophecy. If it is a compendium of the more detailed prophecies which follow, opening the great series regarding God’s church, and reaching forward to the time of the seventh trumpet, then its separate parts, so hard to assign on any other view, at once fall into their places. Then, e. g. we at once know what is meant by the temple and its worshippers, viz. that these expressions are identical in reference with those others in the subsequent prophecy which point out an elect remnant, a Goshen in Egypt, a Zoar from Sodom, a number who do not worship the wild-beast and his image, who are not defiled with women, &c. And so of the rest. 6) It will then be on this principle that I shall attempt the exposition of this difficult prophecy. Regarding it as a summary of the more detailed one which follows, I shall endeavour to make the two cast light on one another: searching for the meaning of the symbols here used in their fuller explanation there, and gaining perhaps some further insight into meanings there from expressions occurring here.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1, 2 .] Command to measure the temple, but not the outer court, which is given to the Gentiles . And there was given to me (by whom , is not said, but it is left indefinite, as at ch. Rev 6:11 , Rev 8:2 ) a reed like to a staff (see reff.) saying ( is out of the construction, and indefinite: as in ch. Rev 4:1 . Andr [107] , in Catena, imagines that it is the reed that speaks, and builds an allegorical interpretation on the idea: . . .; , . And so in our own time, remarkably enough, Bp. Wordsworth: “The Reed speaks: it is inspired: the Spirit is in it: it is the Word of God. And it measures the Church: that is, the Canon of Scripture is the rule of faith.” (Thus in his Lectures on the Apocalypse. In his notes ad loc., he treats as absolute.)), Arise ( does not necessarily imply that the Apostle was kneeling before: see reff.) and measure the temple of God and the altar (apparently, the altar of incense: as that alone stood in the . But perhaps we must not be too minute in particularizing), and them that worship in it (see the previous remarks on this prophecy. The measuring here is evidently for the purpose of taking account of, understanding the bearing and dimensions of, that which is to be measured; see ch. Rev 21:15 , where the heavenly Jerusalem is measured by the angel. But here two questions arise: 1) What is that which is measured? and 2) when does the measuring take place? 1) I have no doubt that, as above hinted, the . and its are to be here taken symbolically, as the other principal features of the prophecy: and to one believing this, there can be but little further doubt as to what meaning he shall assign to the terms. Thus understood, they can only bear one meaning: viz., that of the Church of the elect servants of God, every where in this book symbolized by Jews in deed and truth. The society of these, as a whole, is the , agreeably to Scripture symbolism elsewhere, e. g. 1Co 3:16-17 , and is symbolized by the inner or holy place of the Jerusalem temple, in and among which they as true Israelites and priests unto God, have a right to worship and minister. These are they who, properly speaking, alone are measured : estimated again and again in this book by tale and number partakers in the first resurrection, the Church of the first-born. Then as to our question 2), it is one which, so far as I know, has not engaged the attention of expositors. When a command is elsewhere in this book given to the Seer, we may observe that his fulfilment of it is commonly indicated. He is commanded to write, and the writing before us proves his obedience. He is ordered to take the little book, . . . But of the fulfilment by him of this command, , no hint appears to be given. The voice goes on continuously, until it melts imperceptibly into the narrative of the vision. After this, we hear no more of the measuring, till another and more glorious building is measured in ch. 21. This being so, either 1) which is inconceivable, the measurement does not take place at all, or, 2) which is hardly probable, it takes place and no result is communicated to us, or 3) the result of it is found in the subsequent prophecies: in the minute and careful distinctions between the servants of God and those who receive the mark of the wild-beast in all those indications which point out to us the length and breadth and depth and height, both of faith, and of unfaithfulness). And the court which is outside the temple (i. e. apparently, every thing except the itself: not merely the outer court or court of the Gentiles. That only the itself, in the strictest sense, is to be measured, is significant for the meaning above maintained) cast out (of thy measurement. But these strong words, conveying so slight a meaning, doubtless bear in them a tinge also of the stronger meaning, “reckon as profane,” “account not as included in the sacred precinct”), and measure not it ( has a slight emphasis: otherwise it need not have been expressed), because it was given (viz. at the time when the state of things subsisting in the vision came in: or, in God’s apportionment) to the Gentiles (if the and the represent the elect church of the first-born, the will correspond to those who are outside this sacred enclosure: those over whom eventually the millennial reign of ch. 20 shall be exercised: those from among whom shall spring the enmity against God’s church, but among whom also shall be many who shall fear, and give God glory, cf. Rev 11:13 . Of these is formed the outward seeming church, mixed up with the world; in them, though not in each case commensurate with them, is Babylon, is the reign of the wild-beast, the agency of the false prophet: they are the or , the material on which judgment and mercy are severally exercised in the rest of this book (cf. especially Rev 11:18 ), as contrasted with God’s own people, gathered and to be gathered out from among them), and they shall tread down (i. e. trample as conquerors, the outer church being in subjection to them: see reff. The other meaning, shall tread , merely, is of course included; but must not be made the prevalent one. The period named shall be one during which , , Mat 11:12 ) the holy city (Jerusalem, in the literal sense of the prophecy: the whole temple except the itself being counted with the city outside) forty and two months (this period occurs in three forms in this book: 1) as forty-two months; see ch. Rev 13:5 . Rev 13:2 ) as 1260 days = 42 months 30, see Rev 11:3 , ch. Rev 12:6 . Rev 12:3 ) as time, times, and half a time = 3 years, 3 360 + 180 = 1260 days, see ch.Rev 12:14 . This latter designation is also found in Dan 7:25 ; Dan 12:7 . With respect to these periods, I may say that, equal as they certainly seem to be, we have no right to suppose them, in any two given Cases, to be identical , unless the context requires such a supposition. For instance, in Rev 11:2-3 , there is strong temptation to regard the two equal periods as coincident and identical: but it is plain that such a view is not required by the context; the prophecy contains no note of such coincidence, but may be very simply read without it, on the view that the two periods are equal in duration, but independent of one another: and the rather, that this prophecy, as has been already shewn, is of a compendious character, hereafter to be stated at large. I will further remark, and the reader will find this abundantly borne out by research into histories of apocalyptic exegesis, that no solution at all approaching to a satisfactory one has ever yet been given of any one of these periods. This being so, my principle is to regard them as being still among the things unknown to the Church, and awaiting their elucidation by the event. It is our duty to feel our way by all the indications which Scripture furnishes, and by the light which history, in its main and obvious salient events, has thrown on Scripture: and, when those fail us, to be content to confess our ignorance. An apocalyptic commentary which explains every thing, is self-convicted of error).
[107] Andreas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Cent y . VI.
CH. Rev 10:1 to Rev 11:14 .] EPISODICAL AND ANTICIPATORY. As after the sixth seal, so here after the sixth trumpet, we have a passage interposed, containing two episodes, completing that which has been already detailed, and introducing the final member of the current series. But it is not so easy here as there, to ascertain the relevance and force of the episodes. Their subjects here seem further off: their action more complicated. In order to appreciate them, it will be necessary to lay down clearly the point at which we have arrived, and to observe what is at that point required.
The last vision witnessed the destruction of a third part of the ungodly by the horsemen from the East, and left the remainder in a state of impenitent idolatry and sin. Manifestly then the prayers of the saints are not yet answered, however near the time may be for that answer. If then this Episode contains some assurance of the approach of that answer in its completeness, it will be what we might expect at this point in the series of visions.
At the same time, looking onwards to the rest of the book, we see, that as out of the more general series of visions at the opening of the seals, affecting both the church and the world, there sprung a new and more particular series of the trumpets, having reference to one incident in the former vision, and affecting especially the “inhabiters of the earth,” so if now the gaze of prophecy once more turns to the church and her fortunes, and the Apostle receives a new commission to utter a second series of prophecies, mainly on that subject, it will also be no more than what we might fairly look for.
Again: if the episodical vision in its character and hue partakes of the complexion of the whole series of trumpet-visions, and, as regards the church, carries a tinge of persecution, and of the still crying prayer for vengeance, not yet fully answered, while at the same time it contains expressions and allusions which can only be explained by reference onward to the visions yet to come; this complex character is just that which would suit the point of transition at which we are now standing, when the series of visions immediately dependent on one feature in the opening of the seals is just at its end, and a new one evolving the other great subject of that general series is about to begin.
Now each one of these particulars is found as described above. For 1) the angel of ch. 10 declares, with reference to the great vengeance-burden of the whole series of the trumpet-visions, respecting which the souls of the martyrs had been commanded , ch. Rev 6:11 , that , but that in the days of the seventh angel, when he is about to blow, the whole mystery of prophecy would be fulfilled.
2) The same angel gives to the Seer the open little book, with a distinct announcement that he is to begin a new series of prophecies, and that series, by what immediately follows, ch. Rev 11:1 ff., evidently relating to the church of God in an especial manner.
3) The whole complexion of the episodical vision of the two witnesses, ch. Rev 11:3 ff., is tinged with the hue which has pervaded the series of trumpet-visions, from their source in ch. Rev 6:9-11 , viz. that of vengeance for the sufferings of the saints: while at the same time allusions occur in it which are at present inexplicable, but will receive light hereafter, when the new series of visions is unfolded. Such are the allusions to , ch. Rev 11:7 , and to , Rev 11:8 .
With these preliminary considerations, we may, I think, approach these episodical visions with less uncertainty.
Rev 11:1-2 . “And I was given a rod ( ) like a staff, with the words” ( by a harsh attraction, cf. LXX of 1Ki 20:9 , Jos 2:2 , is left in apposition to the subject implied in ), “Up (or come = ) and measure the temple of God and the altar (of burnt-offering, which stood outside the inner shrine) and (sc. number) those who worship there” ( i.e. , in the inner courts, Rev 13:6 ; for constr. cf. 2Sa 8:3 ). The outer court (Eze 10:5 ) is to be left out of account ( . = “omit” or exclude as unworthy of attention), “for it has been abandoned (or, assigned in the divine counsel) to the heathen, and (indeed) they shall trample on the holy city itself (emphatic by position, = Jerusalem) for two and forty months.” In Asc. Isa. iv. 12 antichrist’s sway lasts for three years, seven months, and twenty-seven days, but three and a half years is the conventional period for the godless persecutor to get the upper hand ( cf. Rev 13:5 , after Daniel’s “time, and times, and the dividing of time,” i.e. , three and a half years, Dan 7:25 , Dan 12:7 ). Originally this broken seven as the period of oppression reflected the Babylonian three and a half winter months ( S. C. 309 f.; Cheyne’s Bible Problems , 111 f.), preceding the festival of Marduk in the vernal equinox, a solstice during which Tiamat reigned supreme. Here it is the stereotyped period of the (Luk 21:24 ), extending to the second advent. . To measure is here not a prelude to ruin but a guarantee of preservation and restoration (Zec 2:1 f.). Failure to satisfy God’s standard or test means calamity for men. but when he surveys their capacities and needs in peril, it implies protection. As the context implies, this is the idea of the present measuring. It is not to be identified prosaically with “orders given to the Roman soldiers, who were encamped in Jerusalem after its destruction, not to set foot in what had been the Holy of Holies” (Mommsen).
Revelation Chapter 11
“And there was given to me a reed like a rod, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles, and they shall’ tread under foot the holy city forty-two months.” Their treading down is soon to come to an end; and Jerusalem appears in the foreground. This is the centre of concern now, while the Beast may ravage there, though his own sphere be in the western world “And I will give* to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” Their task is for a time comparatively short – for three years and a half. “These are the two olive trees, and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth.” The witnesses are two, not because necessarily limited to two only, but as giving an adequate testimony according to the law. It is not the Messianic order yet.
* Probably here, as in Rev 8:3 , the word implies “efficacy” or “power,” as our Authorised translators saw in one text if not in the other.
One often hears, for the purpose of illustrating the Revelation, a reference to Isaiah, Jeremiah, or the like; but we should bear in mind that these prophecies are not in their structure symbolical. Therefore the reasoning founded on the books and style of Jeremiah or Isaiah (Ezekiel being partly symbolical, partly figurative) cannot decide for Daniel or the Apocalypse. Here the figures have a language of their own. Thus the regular meaning of “two,” if figuratively used, is competent testimony – enough and not more than enough. “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” According to Jewish law a case could not be decided by one witness; there must be at least two for valid proof and judgment.
“And if any one desire to injure them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any one desire to injure them, he must thus be killed.” Clearly in this parenthesis we have not yet Israel as a whole in view, but a remnant of true worshippers owned, while the mass are given up, and the raising up of witnesses in sorrow, yet guarded by power after a Jewish sort, till the Beast, of whom we shall hear far more, rises up to kill them. For now that Christ’s title to the universe is asserted, Satan pushes forward the Beast to claim the earth for himself.
But is this the testimony of the gospel? Is it thus the Lord protects the preachers of the gospel of His grace? Did fire ever proceed out of the mouths of evangelists? Did a teacher ever devour his enemies? Was it on this principle that even Ananias and Sapphira fell dead? Are these the ways of Christianity? Is it not evident that we are here in a new atmosphere, that a state of things is before us altogether different from that which reigned during the church condition, though even then sin might be unto death in peculiar cases? No more proofs are needed as enough has been given. “These have authority to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy.” That is, they are something like Elijah “And they have authority over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with every plague.” In this respect they resemble Moses also. It is not meant that they are Moses and Elias personally; but that the character of their testimony is similar, and the sanctions of it such as God gave in the days of those two honoured servants of old. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and shall overcome them and shall kill them.” They are however preserved In spite of the Beast, till their work is done; but directly their testimony is completed, the Beast is allowed to overcome them. This is anticipation; and so the description of the Beast is characteristic rather than an existing fact. That is to say, all had not yet been given him which was to be.
So it was with the Lord. The utmost pressure was brought against Him in His service. So their hour, we may say, has not yet come, just as He said of Himself before them. There was all possible willingness to destroy them long before, but somehow it could not be done; for the Lord protected them till they had done their mission. But we see the character of grace which filled the Lord Jesus, and essentially belonged to Him. Here we meet with the earthly retributive dealing of the Old Testament. The Spirit will form them thus; and no wonder, because in fact God is recurring to that which He promised then, but has never yet performed. He is going to perform it now He does not merely purpose to gather people for heavenly glory; He will govern on earth the Jews and the Gentiles in their several places – Israel nearest to Himself. He must have an earthly people, as well as His family on high. When the heavenly saints are changed, then He begins with the earthly. He will never mix them all up together. This makes nothing but the greatest confusion.
“And their body [is] on the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” It was Jerusalem, but spiritually called Sodom and Egypt; because of the wickedness of the people and their prince. It had no less abominations than Sodom; it had all the darkness and the moral bondage of Egypt; but it was really the place where their Lord had been crucified (i.e. Jerusalem). So the witnesses fell, and men in various measures showed their satisfaction. “And [some] of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations see their body three days and a half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put into a tomb. And those that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and [their hatred being more intense] make merry, and they shall send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half a spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon those beholding them. And I heard a great voice out of the heaven, saying to them, Come up here; and they went up to the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour came a great earthquake, and the tenth of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain seven thousand names of men; and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
“The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly.” This is to be as emphatically from God, as the first came from the abyss on the wicked Israelites, and the second from the multitudinous powers of the east on the faithless west. For it is the seventh Trumpet. This is important for understanding the structure of the book. The seventh Trumpet brings us down to the close in a general but final summary. This is clear, though often overlooked. “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in the heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come.” You must translate it a little more exactly, and with a better text too. “The kingdom of the world” (or “the world-kingdom,” if our tongue admits of such a combination) “of our Lord and of his Christ is come.” It is not merely power in general conferred in heaven, but “the world-kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ is come, and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders that sit before God upon their thrones fell on their faces, and did homage to God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God the Almighty, that art, and that wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come.”
Here, it will be observed, the end of the age is supposed to be now arrived. It is not merely frightened kings and peoples who say so, but the voice of those who know in heaven. The nations were enraged, and God’s wrath come; but further, “the time of the dead to be judged.” Not a word here speaks of the saints caught up to heaven; it is a later hour. “And the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to thy bondmen the prophets, and to the saints, and to those that fear thy name, small and great, and to destroy those that destroy the earth.” No mention is made here about taking them to heaven, but of recompensing them. There can be no such thing as conferring that reward till the public manifestation of the Lord Jesus. They had, in fact, been translated long before, and were seen glorified in heaven since the beginning of Rev 4 . The taking of those changed out of the scene is quite another association of truth. The reward in due time will fail to none that fear the Lord’s name, small and great; but He will also destroy those that destroy the earth at that time. It is the general course of judgment summarised to the close, and proclaimed on high.
This is the true conclusion of Rev 11 . The next verse (19), though arranged in our Bibles as the end of the chapter, is properly the beginning of a new series. For the prophetic part of the book divides into two portions at this point. This is another landmark that cannot be despised, if we would acquaint ourselves with its structure and the bearing of its contents. And it is absolutely requisite to have a generally correct understanding of its outline; else we are in imminent risk of making confusion, the moment we venture to put the parts together, or to form anything like a right connected view of that which it conveys to us. The seventh Trumpet brings us down to the end in a general way.
This is the habit of prophecy. Take, for instance, our Lord’s prophecy in Mat 24 . There, first of all, we are given the broad outline as far as verse 14 to the “gospel of the kingdom” preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations; and then the end comes. Having thus brought us down to the close comprehensively, the Lord turns back, and specifies a particular part of that history in a confined sphere, namely, from the time that the abomination of desolation is set up in the holy place. This clearly is a little time before the end. It does not indeed go back absolutely to the beginning, but it returns a certain way, in order to set forth a far fuller and more precise view of the appalling state of things found in Jerusalem before the end comes.
Just so is it in the Revelation. The Seals and the Trumpets which follow one another conduct us from the time that the church is seen in heaven glorified till “the time of the dead to be judged,” as well as the day of wrath for the nations on the earth. Evidently this is the end of the age. Then, in the portion which begins with the last verse of Rev 11 , we return for a special communication. The prophet had been told that he must prophesy again before many peoples and kings; and from this point seems to be his prophesying again.
“And the temple of God in the heaven was opened.” It is not a door opened in heaven to give us the veil lifted up from what must take place on the earth as regarded in the mind of God. This John did see, the general view being now closed; and we cuter on a distinct line which connects itself with O.T. prophecy. It is not now the throne; but the temple of God in heaven was opened, “and there was seen the ark of his covenant in his temple.” This is the resumption of the divine link with His ancient people Israel.
Not that it is yet the day of blessedness for the Jew. Nor is heaven itself opened for Jesus, attended by risen saints, to appear for the judgment of the Beast and the False Prophet with their train. It is still a transition state of things, but a further advance. When God deigns to look upon and gives us to see the ark of His covenant, He is going to assert His fidelity to the people. Of old He gave promises, and will shortly accomplish all which had been assured to their fathers. The ark of His covenant is the sign of the unfailing certainty of that to which He bound Himself. Doubtless as the Gospels show, and the Epistles prove, we do now enjoy the blessings of the new covenant as far as is compatible with higher privileges; yet prophetically its direct establishment awaits Israel, and this is here pledged. Blessed tokens now come to view, with even aggravated proof that God will be then dealing with the world, not in grace as now, but in ever-growing severity of judgment.
“And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders,” and besides not “an earthquake” only but “great hail.” It was not yet “the day”: on the contrary the deepest darkness must intervene. Judicial ways still prevail, and more than before. In the first scene of Rev 4 , when the door was seen open in heaven, there were “lightnings, and voices, and thunders,” but not even an earthquake. In Rev 8 this addition appears. Now besides all the rest there is “great hail.” Clearly therefore we are thus prepared for greater detail in the judgments from heaven inflicted on the earth.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 11:1-6
1Then 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. 2″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. 3″And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And 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. 6These 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.
Rev 11:1 “a measuring rod like a staff” In the previous sections John watched as the angels performed tasks, but in the seventh trumpet John will be involved in the action.
The term “measuring rod” (kalamos, used in this sense only here) possibly reflects the OT usage of river reeds which were used as horizontal measuring instruments (see SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS at Rev 19:11). They were between eight and twenty feet long (cf. Eze 40:5 to Eze 42:20).
“Get up and measure” Measuring was a sign of (1) promised growth and protection (cf. Jer 31:38-40; Rev 21:15). This could be an allusion to Ezekiel’s end-time temple (cf. 40-48) or Zechariah’s new Jerusalem (cf. Zec 1:16; Zec 2:1-13); or (2) judgment (cf. 2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 21:13; Isa 28:17; Lam 2:8). Here, like the sealing of chapter 7, it is a sign of God’s protection of believers. If this interlude parallels chapter 7 then this temple is the whole people of God (believing Jews and believing Gentiles). This then would also parallel Revelation 12.
“the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it” The identity of this temple depends on one’s interpretive presuppositions.
1. If we assume that John’s imagery is drawn from Ezekiel 40-48, then this is a literal end-time temple in Jerusalem (cf. 2Th 2:4).
2. If, however, we assume the allusion to be to Zechariah 2 then the imagery is the city of God, new Jerusalem.
3. If we assume the heavenly temple (cf. Rev 7:15; Rev 11:19; 15:58; Heb 9:23) then the multitude of Rev 7:9 (the Church, and the woman of Revelation 12) may be the focus (cf. Rev 21:15-16).
It is interesting to note that John is told to measure the people who worship there. This is unusual terminology. This image involves more than just a building. This is imagery that marks off the people of faith from the unbelievers about to experience the wrath of God. Therefore, it is parallel to God’s mark on believers’ foreheads (cf. Rev 7:3-4).
Rev 11:2 “the court which is outside the temple” This concept of the outer court refers historically to the court of the Gentiles in Herod’s Temple. There are several OT allusions to the idea of Jerusalem and the Temple being trodden down by Gentiles (cf. Psa 79:1-7; Isa 63:18; Dan 8:13; Zec 12:3 in the Septuagint). Jesus seems to make a direct allusion to Dan 8:13 in Luk 21:24.
“the nations” See notes at Rev 2:26; Rev 10:11.
“forty-two months” See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: FORTY-TWO MONTHS
“the holy city” This could refer to Jerusalem (cf. Isa 52:1; Mat 27:53). However, following the interpretation of the temple in Rev 3:12 as referring to the NT believers, the same method must be followed with this phrase. In the later chapters of Revelation it refers to the NT people of God (cf. Rev 20:9; Rev 21:2; Rev 21:10; Rev 22:19).
John is pulling metaphors from the OT but applying them to the NT people of God. The church is made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. There is no emphasis on racial Jews versus Gentiles in Revelation. There is no more Jew and Greek (cf. 1Co 12:13; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11).
Rev 11:3 “I will grant authority to my two witnesses” This seems to imply God the Father speaking because Jesus is referred to in Rev 11:8 (although there is a Greek manuscript problem with the pronoun, which is omitted in P47 and ).
“two witnesses” There have been many theories about the identity of these two powerful preachers:
1. The allusion (cf. Rev 11:4) is from Zec 4:3; Zec 4:11; Zec 4:14. This originally referred to the returning Davidic seed, Zerubbabel, and the returning High Priestly seed, Joshua, who were the two Spirit-led leaders (two olive trees) who led the return from Babylonian captivity (i.e., the restored people of God).
2. The two lampstands (cf. Rev 1:20) may imply the two faithful churches, Smyrna, Rev 2:8-11 and Philadelphia, Rev 3:7-13.
3. The two witnesses may imply testimony in court (cf. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15).
4. The description of these two witnesses implies Elijah (shut up the sky from Rev 11:6, cf. 1Ki 17:1; 1Ki 18:1; Luk 4:25; Jas 5:17 and called down fire, cf. 1Ki 18:24; 1Ki 18:38; 2Ki 1:10; 2Ki 1:12) and Moses (turn water to blood from Rev 11:6, cf. Exo 7:17-19). Both of these appeared to Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration (cf. Mat 17:4).
5. The intertestamental apocalyptic book of I Enoch 90:31 and two early church fathers, Tertullian and Hippolitus, asserted that they were the two persons from the OT who did not die natural deaths, Enoch (cf. Gen 5:21-24) and Elijah (cf. 2Ki 2:11).
6. The NJB footnote asserts that it refers to Peter and Paul, both martyred in Rome in the reign of Nero (p. 435).
I personally see them as symbolic of the witness of the entire people of God because of the parallel structure of the seven seals and interlude and seven trumpets and interlude. Therefore, both the 144,000 (believing Jews) and the innumerable group (believing nations), as well as the two witnesses, refer to the church.
“clothed in sackcloth” This can be either (1) a sign of mourning and repentance (cf. Gen 37:34; 2Sa 3:31) or (2) simply the normal dress of a prophet (cf. 2Ki 1:8; Isa 20:2; Zec 13:4).
“they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days” Forty-two months of thirty days each equals twelve hundred and sixty days. The gospel will be proclaimed during this period of persecution by the unbelieving nations (cf. Mat 24:8-14; Mat 24:21-22). This symbolic number comes from Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7 and is used often in Revelation (cf. Rev 12:6; Rev 13:5).
Rev 11:4 “the two olive trees” This is an allusion to Zerubbabel, the Davidic seed of the returning exiles and Joshua, the Aaronic seed of the returning exiles (cf. Zec 4:3; Zec 4:11; Zec 4:14). This may imply that the gospel witness of the end-time will represent a royal Messianic and priestly Messianic emphasis (Jesus as King and Priest, cf. Psalms 110; Heb 1:3). These two inspired preachers of repentance bring God’s light (cf. Zechariah 4) to a rebellious world (the rebellious Israel is now a rebellious humanity, cf. Isa 6:9-11; Isa 43:8-13; Jer 5:21-29; Eze 12:2).
Rev 11:5 “if anyone wants to harm them. . .if anyone wants to harm them” Both of these are first class conditional sentences which assume that there are those who want to hurt them, but they will be divinely protected until their mission is accomplished.
“fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies” Notice that the power is in their mouth which implies the power of the message they proclaim. In Revelation the mouth is a weapon, the tongue a sword (cf. Rev 9:17; Rev 19:15; Heb 4:12).
Rev 11:6 These OT actions remind one of Elijah (cf. 1Ki 17:1) and Moses (cf. Exo 7:17-19).
reed. Greek. kalamos. Elsewhere (in Rev.) Rev 21:15, Rev 21:16. See App-88, first note.
unto = to.
rod = sceptre, as elsewhere in Rev. See Rev 2:27; Rev 12:5; Rev 19:15. This measuring reed is like a sceptre, and measures for destruction, not for building. See Lam 2:8.
and . . . stood. The texts omit.
saying. i.e. (the giver) saying.
Rise. App-178. Only here in Rev.
Temple. Greek. naos. See Rev 3:12. Mat 23:16.
God App-98.
altar. See Rev 8:3, &c.
and them. Read “and (record) them”. Figure of speech Ellipsis. App-6.
Worship. App-137.
therein = in (Greek. en) it.
1-14.] The measurement of the temple of God. The two witnesses: their testimony, death, resurrection, and assumption into heaven: the earthquake, and its consequences.
This passage may well be called, even more than that previous one, ch. Rev 10:1 ff., the crux interpretum; as it is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in the whole Apocalypse. Referring to the histories of apocalyptic exegesis for an account of the various interpretations, I will, as I have done in similar cases, endeavour to lay down a few landmarks, which may serve for guidance at least to avoid inconsistency, if we cannot do more. And I will remark, 1) that we are not bound to the hard wooden literal sense so insisted on in our day by some of the modern German Expositors. I would strongly recommend any one who takes that view, who will have Jerusalem = nothing but Jerusalem, and confine the two witnesses to two persons bodily appearing there, to read through the very unsatisfactory and shuffling comment of Dsterdieck here: the result of which is, that finding, as he of course does, many discrepancies between this and our Lords prophecy of the same destruction of Jerusalem, he is driven to the refuge that while our Lord describes matters of fact, St. John idealizes the catastrophe, setting it forth not as it really took place, but according to its inner connexion with the final accomplishment of the mystery of God, and correspondently to the hope which Gods Old Testament people possessed as contrasted with the heathen power of this world, which abides in Babylon. But really, if we have come thus far by fighting for the literal interpretation, why not a little further? Or rather why so far? If Babylon is the abode of the world, why not Jerusalem of the church? If our interpreter, maintaining the literal sense, is allowed so far to idealize, as to exempt the temple of God itself (Rev 11:1) from a destruction which we know overtook it, and nine-tenths of the city (Rev 11:13) from an overthrow which destroyed it all, surely there is an end to the meaning of words. If Jerusalem here is simply Jerusalem, and the prophecy regards her overthrow by the Romans, and especially if this passage is to be made such use of as to set aside the testimony of Irenus as to the date of the Apocalypse by the stronger testimony of the Apocalypse itself (so Dsterd. from Lcke), then must every particular be shewn to tally with known history; or if this cannot be done, at least it must be shewn that none contradicts it. If this cannot be done, then we may fairly infer that the prophecy has no such reference, or only remotely, here and there, and not as its principal subject. 2) Into whatever difficulty we may be led by the remark, it is no less true, that the of Rev 11:2 cannot be the same as the of Rev 11:8. This has been felt by the literal interpreters, and they have devised ingenious reasons why the holy city should afterwards be called the great city: so De Wette, he named Jerusalem the great city, because he can no more call her holy after her desecration (but he need not therefore call her great, by which epithet she is never called)-Dsterd., because it is impossible in one breath to call a city holy, and Sodom and Egypt (most true: then must we not look for some other city than one which this very prophecy has called holy?). So far Joachim says well, Veruntamen quod ait in plateis civitatis magn, non satis videtur facere pro eodem intellectu (the literal). Nunquam enim magna civitas forte legitur, sed magis Nineve et Babylon magn civitates dict sunt: nimirum quia multi sunt vocati, pauci vero electi. His other reason see in the interpretation below. 3) We are compelled, if I am not mistaken, to carry the above considerations somewhat further, by the very conditions of the prophecy itself. For it is manifestly and undeniably of an anticipatory character. It is not, and cannot be, complete in itself. The words of Rev 11:7, , bear no meaning where they stand, but require, in order to be understood at all, to be carried on into the succeeding visions of ch. 13 ff. And if into those visions, then into a period when this wild-beast has received power from the dragon,-when, as in ch. Rev 13:7, he makes war with the saints and conquers them, and all on earth except the elect are worshipping him. 4) Let us observe the result as affecting our interpretation. We are necessarily carried on by the very terms of our present compendious prophecy, into the midst of another prophecy, far more detailed and full of persons and incidents: of one which has its , its , its , its , and other coincident particulars. What inference does a sound principle of interpretation force upon us? What, if not this-that our present compendious prophecy, as in the particular of the beast that comes out of the abyss, so in its other features, must be understood as giving in summary, and introducing, that larger one? and consequently, that its terms are to be understood by those of that larger one, not servilely and literally where they stand? And observe, this is deduced from the very necessity of the case itself, as shewn in Rev 11:7, not from any system throwing its attraction forward and biassing our views. We cannot understand this prophecy at all, except in the light of those that follow: for it introduces by anticipation their dramatis person. 5) If I mistake not, we thus gain much light on the difficulties of this prophecy. If it is a compendium of the more detailed prophecies which follow, opening the great series regarding Gods church, and reaching forward to the time of the seventh trumpet, then its separate parts, so hard to assign on any other view, at once fall into their places. Then, e. g. we at once know what is meant by the temple and its worshippers, viz. that these expressions are identical in reference with those others in the subsequent prophecy which point out an elect remnant, a Goshen in Egypt, a Zoar from Sodom, a number who do not worship the wild-beast and his image, who are not defiled with women, &c. And so of the rest. 6) It will then be on this principle that I shall attempt the exposition of this difficult prophecy. Regarding it as a summary of the more detailed one which follows, I shall endeavour to make the two cast light on one another: searching for the meaning of the symbols here used in their fuller explanation there, and gaining perhaps some further insight into meanings there from expressions occurring here.
Chapter 11
So there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod ( Rev 10:11 ; Rev 11:1 ):
That is a measuring stick about the length of a rod.
and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those that worship therein ( Rev 11:1 ).
Now, this tells us many things. First of all, that the temple is to be rebuilt, because this is a yet future event. In fact, this is a event that takes place during the midst of the tribulation period, for we have not yet come to the seventh trumpet nor have we yet come to the seven vials of God’s wrath that are to be poured out. So, during the tribulation period the temple will be existing in Jerusalem. So, the temple is to be rebuilt and the worship is to be reestablished in the temple in Jerusalem.
At the present time there is a small, but very dedicated group of Jewish people who are fanatically involved, almost religiously so, in the desire to rebuild their temple. There are two or three organizations in Jerusalem that have dedicated themselves to the purpose of the rebuilding of the temple. Some of them are extremely radical to the point that they feel that they have to by force drive the Moslems off of the Temple Mount and claim it for the rebuilding of their temple. There are others who have taken a much more moderate view and feel that the Temple Mount should be divided. So, as not to create a holy war, they should partition the Temple Mount with a wall just to the north side of the Dome of the Rock allowing them to rebuild their temple on that northern half of the Temple Mount area.
There are scholarly men, such as Dr. Asher Kaufman who has made a study over many years of the Temple Mount. And in his studies of all of the ancient records that he can get hold of, of all of the pictures of that area, all of the accounts, he has become convinced that Solomon’s Temple stood to the north of the Dome of the Rock Mosque. That three hundred and twenty-two feet north of the Dome of the Rock Mosque, where this little flat rock outcropping called “The Dome of the Spirits, or the Dome of the Tablets” exists, that is where the Holy of Holies was in Solomon’s Temple. The fact that looking from it directly east, you look over the east gate to the Mount of Olives helps to confirm the position of Solomon’s Temple. And thus, he and other Jews take a more moderate stance believing that they can rebuild the temple over the site of Solomon’s Temple and not disturb the Dome of the Rock, and thus, not disturb the Moslems.
I believe that Dr. Asher Kaufman’s group will prevail. For here as John is told to rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those that worship,
But the court which is without the temple [that is the outer court] leave out [that is don’t measure it]; and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot for forty and two months ( Rev 11:2 ).
So, this outer court, the area where the Dome of the Rock stands, is not to be measured because it is given to the Gentiles.
There is in Ezekiel another prophecy of the temple that is to be built. Ezekiel also is told to measure it, and Ezekiel records the measurements. But Ezekiel says that he measured a wall around it and the wall was to separate the Holy place from the profane.
So, I am convinced that the temple will be rebuilt, but I am convinced that the solution will lie in a wall north of the Dome of the Rock partitioning off the Temple Mount, giving the Jews ten to fifteen acres there on the north side of the Temple Mount for their new temple, and it definitely will be rebuilt. I expect that to take place probably not in the time that I am here. I believe that the whole arrangements will be made by the antichrist once the church has been taken out. For he shall make a covenant with the people, but in the midst of the seven years he will break that covenant. And he will come to the temple and stand in the Holy of Holies and declare that he is god and demand to be worshipped as god. So, I don’t expect to see the temple built. I think that will take place after I have departed with the rest of the church, and when the antichrist then takes over.
So, it is interesting to see this powerful movement growing in Jerusalem. There is one of the Ushivas, a school for the training of rabbis in the old city, that are training these young men how to butcher the animals for the sacrifices according to the Levitical law. They are actually training them now for sacrifices, the offering of sacrifices. So, it is something that they are very committed to and they would like to do it now.
In fact, there was a group last year that was headed up there with explosives. They were going to blow up the Dome of the Rock Mosque. They were caught by the Israeli police and arrested and are still facing trial. But in God’s time it shall be, but I don’t believe it will happen until we’re gone and they didn’t know that I was still here when they made that preemptive attack last year. They can do anything they want after I am gone, because it is going to be theirs.
Now, the Lord said to John,
I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy for 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 proceeds out of their mouth, and devour their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed ( Rev 11:3-5 ).
God is going to send two witnesses to witness to the Jewish people. The time of the Gentiles at this point will have been complete. Now, God is going to deal with Israel for one more seven-year period. Seventy sevens were determined upon the nation of Israel. Sixty-nine were fulfilled from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the Prince. It took place four hundred and eighty-three years after Artaxerxes gave the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, Jesus came.
Now, there is one seven-year period left for Israel in which God will be dealing with Israel. And in the beginning of this seven-year period God is going to send two witnesses. One of them will be Elijah.
In the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, in the last chapter and in the last few verses, as God is ready now to close the door on Israel and going to open the door to the Gentiles and He is going to send the Holy Spirit out among the Gentiles to draw out a body for Christ. So, God’s final word to Israel, of course, came through Jesus Christ. But here in the Old Testament, “Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
So, the promise of the coming of Elijah again. So, he will be no doubt one of the two witnesses. The fact that they call down fire from heaven against their enemies-you remember when Elijah was here and the king sent out a captain with fifty men to arrest him and he was sitting up on the hillside and the captain came up and said, “Thou man of God come down. I have come here to arrest you.” And he said, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came and consumed the captain and the fifty men. So, the king sent another captain with fifty men to arrest him and he said, “Thou man of God come down. I am here to arrest you.” And he said, “If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” And fire came down and consumed them. The king sent out another captain with fifty, and he said, “Sir, I am a married man. I have a wife and children and they love me. Have mercy on me. I am only following orders. I wish you would come with me, please. The king would like to see you.” And Elijah went with him.
The ability of these two witnesses to call down fire from heaven to consume their enemies, Elijah is up to his old tricks. They are the two olive trees. The book of Zechariah, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth, Zechariah saw this vision. You see Zechariah was a priest. And one of the jobs of the priests were to fill the little cups of oil in this lamp stand that stood in the Holy place of the temple. There was this menorah, this seven-armed lamp stand that Moses had constructed. And they would fill the little cups with oil each day, a special type of oil that was prepared for this lamp stand, the formula that God had given to them. And this would burn and was the light in the Holy place of the temple. And it would burn continually. The fire was never to go out.
So, it was the duty of the priest to keep these things constantly filled with oil. And any job that done over and over and over gets monotonous, washing clothes, dishes or whatever. And Zechariah being a priest and no doubt many times going in and going through, and of course, it was a ritual that you had to go through, you can’t just do things simply. You can’t just pour more oil in. You’ve got to do things in a ritual way. You have to bathe before you go in and do the whole routine, and Zechariah was probably getting tired of the whole routine so he had this vision.
And the vision was that he saw these two olive trees. And there were pipes coming out of the olive trees, and the pipes were going to the cups. So, the olive oil was coming directly out of the trees through these pipes into the cups and it saved from having to go in every day and do the routine. And the word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel and said, or said to Zechariah, “This is the Word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.” The oil being a symbol of the Spirit. And therein is where the strength will lie, the power will lie in the Spirit, and that continual supply of the Spirit that is ours.
So, these are the two olive trees. These candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
They have power to shut up heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy ( Rev 11:6 ):
So, for three and a half years it won’t rain upon the earth anywhere. Imagine the drought that that is going to create.
Now, remember Elijah when he was here before prayed and it rained not for the space of three and a half years. There was a great drought in Israel, during the time of Elijah, the reign of Ahab. Now, again shutting up the earth.
they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all of the plagues, as often as they will ( Rev 11:6 ).
We know for certain the identity of one of the witnesses to be Elijah. The identity of the other witness is not so certain. There are different Bible teachers who take different views. There are some who are certain it is going to be Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets. The fact that Moses appeared with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, it seems that they are buddies and they working together. The fact that they turned the water to blood, one of the plagues that were brought upon Egypt by Moses, and it then refers to the fact that they have the power to strike the earth with the plagues as often as they wish, points to Moses.
Others believe it will be Enoch who did not die but was translated directly into heaven. “For it is appointed unto man once to die” and in the Old Testament two men missed their appointments, Enoch and Elijah. And so they come in order that they might make their appointment with death, because we are told here that after they have prophesied for three and a half years then the beast, the antichrist, has power to put them to death. So they finally make their appointment a little later, but yet they make that appointment with death.
So, there are good arguments for either Enoch or Moses. I really don’t know and it doesn’t really matter.
Now when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the [abusso] bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them ( Rev 11:7 ).
He cannot until they have finished their testimony. They have an allotted time, one thousand two hundred and sixty days, their allotted time to witness. Once they have finished that then he has power, but he hasn’t power until they have finished their testimony.
In a sense, I believe that God has control of our lives when we commit them to Him. And He has a special task for us to fulfill and that He will preserve us until that task is finished. There are a lot of times when a person has a very narrow brush with death, when you are in an accident and you really should have been wiped out. You look at the whole thing and there is no way you could have come through that, but you have. But God is not through with you yet. And I believe that that is true. I believe that there is a divine protection upon us as we serve the Lord that is going to sustain us until God is through with us. But I think that as soon as we have finished our testimony, then the Lord is going to take us to be with Him. Why would He leave us here any longer? So when they had finished their testimony. God has a task for each of us.
Paul said, “I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended of Jesus Christ,” ( Php 3:12 ) recognizing that when the Lord apprehended Him, the Lord had a special ministry in mind. In fact, the Lord even showed Paul the things that he was to accomplish and suffer for His glory. And several times they tried to kill Paul.
Once they stoned him and really thought he was dead. They drug him out of town and for all anybody knows he was dead. Paul himself didn’t even know. “There was a man in Christ fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body, I don’t know)”. Whether or not he had an out of the body experience, hey I really don’t know. “But I do know that I was caught up to heaven. I spent a little time up there in the third heaven, heard things that were so glorious I couldn’t really try to describe them. It would be a crime to do so. And because of the abundance of the revelations given to me there is also going to be given to me this thorn in the flesh, this minister of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure because of the abundance of revelations”( 2Co 12:2-7 ).
So, they thought that they had done him in. His friends thought that he was dead. They were standing around all mourning and Paul suddenly shook himself, stood up and said “Let’s go back into town and preach some more.”
“You have to be kidding, man. They just stoned you.”
But God wasn’t finished with him yet. So, God preserved him. God preserves us until we have finished our testimony.
When they had finished their testimony, the beast that comes out of the bottomless pit-we’ll get to that when we get to the seventeenth chapter-makes war against them and overcomes them and kills them.
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Jerusalem], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified ( Rev 11:8 ).
So, he identifies it as Jerusalem.
And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies for three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves ( Rev 11:9 ).
How can the whole world see them? You say, “Simple. Satellite TV.” Right. How could the whole world have seen them twenty-five years ago? They couldn’t. You see this particular prophecy could not be fulfilled until the present day, until just a few years ago, when they put up the satellite by which now they can transmit directly from Jerusalem live broadcast to the United States. And you can sit in your living room and watch events live that are happening in Jerusalem. So, CBS, NBC, and ABC will send their reporters. I am sure they will still be around for the most part, and will go over to cover this remarkable event, these two men who have brought such consternation. These men who had such miraculous powers. These men who had created such a problem to the earth in stopping the rain and calling down fire and things of this nature. And they will go over with their crews to do a special story.
Interestingly enough, CBS is going over to Israel with us this year to do a special story. Who knows what they will make of it? You know, you really feel like you’re-You say one thing, but when you hear it again, after it has been edited, you say, “What?” It is amazing what they can do to you. I am always leery.
But the camera crews will be over there and they will be filming these guys and the whole world will be seeing their bodies lying there in the streets. You see the people will have been so incensed against them, because of the plagues and all that they brought, that they won’t even allow them a decent burial. They are just going to let their bodies lie there in the street. And they will come by and spit on them and kick them and just do disgraceful things.
And they that dwell upon the earth will rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts to one another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the eaRuth ( Rev 11:10 ).
So, there will be a great worldwide celebration, partying and all, because these two guys that created all the problems are dead and the antichrist becomes a tremendous hero in the eyes of the people of the earth.
But after three and a half days the Spirit of life from God enters into them, and they stand on their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come on up. And they ascended up into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them ( Rev 11:11-12 ).
Can you imagine the camera crews and their amazement when suddenly these guys stand up and ascend on up into heaven?
And the same hour there was a great earthquake ( Rev 11:13 ),
You remember when Jesus was crucified there was a great earthquake.
and the tenth part of the city [of Jerusalem] will fall, there will be slain seven thousand men, [we don’t know how many women and children in this earthquake]: and the remnant of the people are frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven, the second woe is past; and, behold the third woe comes quickly. And then the seventh angel sounded ( Rev 11:13-15 );
Now, we come back to the story again. We have been dealing with the seven trumpets and the judgments that ensued at the sounding of these trumpets, and now we come back again to the trumpets.
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 ( Rev 11:15 ).
The judgments are coming in order to prepare the earth for the return of Jesus Christ and the establishing of His kingdom. So, as the seventh trumpet has sounded the proclamation of His reign and of His kingdom and with this proclamation,
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 reigned ( Rev 11:16-17 ).
Finally, the waiting is over. We are there giving glory to the Lord, because the time for His reign has come.
And the nations [We are rejoicing. We’re giving thanks, but the nations] were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou should give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to thy saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven ( Rev 11:18-19 ),
The earthly temple or tabernacle was just the model of that which is in heaven.
and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant ( Rev 11:19 ):
The ark of which Moses built the model here on earth.
and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail ( Rev 11:19 ).
Now, as we go into chapter twelve, we are digressing from the progression of the story again, which will be taken up when we come to the seven vials of judgment that will be poured out. So, now we are taking a broader view of some other scenes. “
Rev 11:1. ,[108] ) See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage. might be resolved by Syllepsis: for the Hebrews put absolutely; whence the idiom of the Septuagint translators, and , for instance, Isa 7:2, , where in the passive is contained the active , and on depends : 2Ki 18:36, , . And thus frequently, especially in Genesis and the earlier prophets, and Exo 18:3; Exo 18:6; 2Ch 10:15; Isa 30:21; Eze 12:22; Psa 78:4; Job 22:17. In like manner might here be connected with the verb , which is contained in . But the speech is more conveniently attributed to the rod itself by Metonymy; John not seeing Him who gave the rod, and who is to be known from Rev 11:3; Rev 11:8. For thus also John heard the Altar speaking, ch. Rev 16:7.-:, measure) The measuring is yet future.
[108] So Ah Vulg. Memph. But Rec. Text, with B and Syr., adds before .-E.
Rev 11:1-2
2. THE MEASURING THE TEMPLE,
ALTAR, AND WORSHIP COMMANDED
Rev 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.–In the preceding chapter the symbolic scenes were transferred from heaven to earth. This vision is also upon the earth. As John himself became a part of the vision of the little book, so he is a part of this vision. There appear before him the temple, altar, and worshipers with instruction to measure the three. While the old temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed for more than a quarter of a century, yet there was no more forceful way for John to understand the lessons than through that picture. Jewish minds had been accustomed for centuries to the temple system of worshiping God. Besides, before its destruction it had been used as a type of the church. (1Co 3:16.) Even the tabernacle. which preceded the temple was definitely made, in its two parts, to represent the church and heaven. (Heb 9:1-9; Heb 9:24.) John’s being told to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers in the symbol meant that when the time arrived that this vision applied the church, the worship, and worshipers were to be measured. Once more we have in this text an example of a symbolic passage which contains both figurative and literal expressions. The words temple and altar are figurative; the word worshipers is literal. Measurements to be correct and valuable must be made by standard and accurate implements. In this case John was given a reed like a rod, something both accurate and convenient. Note that it was given him, not something he made; it must have been given by the angel, not by men. Since the purpose of measuring, according to verse 2, was to determine what was approved or acceptable to God, then the measuring instrument had to be of divine make. This was nothing else than the New Testament teaching that already had been given by the apostles. As it was perfect (2Ti 3:16-17), nothing else was allowed as a standard (Gal 1:8-9).
2 And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations –Since the word Gentiles means “nations,” there is no difference between the King James and the Revised in meaning. The Gentiles could enter the outer court of the Jewish temple, but not the temple itself. In fact, only consecrated priests could enter that building. The altar referred to is the golden altar of incense inside the holy place of the temple. The Jewish priests were typical of Christians. (1Pe 2:5.) As John in the symbol was told to measure the worshipers (priests) so in the thing represented only those professing to worship God were to be measured. The reason for this is that at the time the measuring was to be done the religious world was in a hopeless state of apostasy. The purpose of applying God’s word to such false religions was twofold first, to show that they were false; second, to show honest souls how to worship God in spirit and in truth. It was unnecessary to measure the irreligious; if they wanted to be saved, the law was in God’s word already. But false teaching needed to be measured to show it a perversion of divine truth.
and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.–The material temple was in Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, and was considered a holy city. Like the temple, it is also a type of the church. (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22.) The final state which we call heaven is referred to as the “holy city, new Jerusalem.” (21:2.) The words could not mean literal Jerusalem, for that has been “trodden down” by Gentiles practically all the time since it was taken by the Romans in A.D. 70 till the present, which is more than 1,260 years. To be trodden under foot would be fulfilled when Gentiles would corrupt and devastate the church. This had already been done when the measuring of the temple began with the Reformation. How long the church had thus been corrupted by worldly influences is stated here to have been “forty and two months.” If taken literally, it would be three and one-half years or 1,260 days. This would be entirely too short a time to correspond with the period when the church was corrupted by worldly and human devices. With the yearday theory the time was 1,260 years. This is substantially the length of time that Roman Catholicism ruled with absolute authority, and therefore the time that religious corruptioncompletely permeated church life.
It would not affect the argument if the exact date when the period began and ended could not be ascertained; the facts would still be true. The period evidently refers to the time during which the church was completely under the domination of the papacy; or, from the time the bishop of Rome became head of the church (pope) till his power was broken by the Reformation.
Commentary on Rev 11:1-2 by Foy E. Wallace
The measuring of the temple-Rev 11:1-2.
The contents of the eleventh chapter are a continuation of the scenes of the interlude, or intermediate visions, between the sixth and seventh trumpet announcements. The things narrated belong to the days of the voice of the seventh angel–the end of the Jewish state or political dispensation. The siege and fall of Jerusalem was at hand.
The pronouncement of chapter 10 that there should be time no longer had been made. The eleventh chapter presents intervening scenes of measuring the temple, for the preservation of the holy seed, the true Israel, the one hundred forty-four thousand, the innumerable host, the remnant according to the election of grace, and the sealed number–representative of all spiritual Israel, the whole faithful church, and the true spiritual temple in contrast with the old temple which though still standing, was measured for destruction. The old Jerusalem, the apostate city, was marked for its downfall.
1. A reed like a rod: The indication is that this reed was given to John in the same manner and, hence, by the same One by whom the book was given to him in chapter 10:9. And the angel that commanded him to measure the temple is the same angel that commanded him to eat the book. The use of the article the angel, rather than an angel, or another angel, designates the angel as Christ himself, as shown in the notes on the preceding chapter.
The reed was like a rod. The measuring reed was six cubits, about three yards in length. This measuring reed was like a rod, signifying the authority of its giver, the angel. In the psalm-prophecy of Christ, David said: I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion . . . I will declare the decree . . . thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee . . . I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. (Psa 2:6-9) Again the psalmist said: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. (Psa 110:1-2) Both of these psalms are applied in the New Testament to the rule and authority of Christ. In that same sense it is used in chapter 2:27, He shall rule them with a rod of iron”– the rule of irresistible authority.
The rod was also the symbol of affliction, as signified in the phrase passing under the rod of Eze 20:37, and take his rod away from me, of Job 9:34.
This measuring reed given to John symbolized the authority of this mighty angel (Rev 10:1), and his power to protect and preserve the true believers.
2. Measure, temple, altar, worship: At the start of the interval between the sixth and seventh seals, the angel announced the purpose of the interlude (Rev 7:3) as time to seal the servants of God; and in verse 4 he described and defined the number of them which were sealed as being symbolically of all the tribes of the children of Israel. In the same imagery here, in the interval between the sixth and seventh trumpets, the command of the angel to measure the temple, the altar and them that worship is symbolic of the true Israel of God. They were measured for preservation, the holy seed of Israel, spiritual Israel, that should not perish. The measured number here in chapter 11 is the same company of believers as the sealed number of chapter 7. They are the symbolic one hundred forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel–of Rev 7:4 –computed on the basis of twelve times twelve for the twelve tribes, and in the numeral thousand for a symbol of the aggregated whole, complete, total body of true believers, of the spiritual tribes of Israel. (Act 26:7)
The symbolism of the measuring of the temple is exactly the same, the sealed servants of chapter 7 and the measured worshipers of chapter 11 are the same company, symbolic of the same thing, sealed and measured for the same purpose.
Commentary on Rev 11:1-2 by Walter Scott
THE TEMPLE AND JERUSALEM.
Rev 11:1-2. – And there was given unto me a reed like a staff, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship in it.And the court which (is) without the temple cast out, and measure it not; because it has been given (up) to the nations, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty-two months. A reed like a staff. The reed was a measuring instrument, (In Eze 40:3 the measuring rod is applied to the temple; then the city itself is measured (Zec 1:16). These both, i.e., temple and city, are for Gods appropriation in millennial times. There seems two distinct thoughts connected with measuring. First, set apart for God, as in the foregoing passages; second, devoted to destruction by God, as Moab (2Sa 8:2), Jerusalem (Lam 2:8), Israe1 (Amo 7:8; Amo 7:9; Amo 7:17 ).) and is frequently mentioned by the prophets of old. The temple,altar, and worshippers measured by the Seer intimate their appropriation, preservation, and acceptance by God. An angel with a golden reed measures the glorified Church (Rev 21:15). The Seer with a wooden reed does a like office for the temple. Like a staff, or firm rod, signifies the strength, stability, and firmness of the emblematic action referred to.
Rise and measure. The Seer had been a passive yet deeply interested spectator of the scenes witnessed under the previous Trumpets, but now that Israel, his own nation, is in question he is commanded to rise. He is roused into activity by the divine mandate. It is more than a mere question of posture.
The temple, the altar, the worshippers, all are measured. Christian worship comes in between the suspension of Jewish worship in the past and its resumption in the future. Christians have no place of worship on earth; they enter no earthly temple. The holiest in the sanctuary above is their one and only place of worship (Joh 4:21; Joh 4:23; Joh 4:24; Heb 10:19-22); their sacrifices are praise to God and practical benevolence to men (Heb 13:15-16). But this is very different from Jewish worship both in the past and in the future. A temple and altar are essential to Jewish worship. While for the force of the figure it is not essential to suppose the existence of a material temple then in Jerusalem, yet prophecy demands the erection of a stone temple, and the reconstruction of the Jewish polity, both secular and religious, during that deeply solemn period between the Translation (1Th 4:16-17) and the Appearing (Jud 1:14-15).
The Jews as a nation are restored in unbelief both on their part and on that of the friendly nation who espouse their cause (Isa 18:1-7). They then proceed to build their temple, (The following are the material temples referred to in the Word of God: Solomons (1Ki 7:1-51), destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 588 B. C. Zerubbabels (Ezr 3:1-13; Ezr 6:1-22)pillaged and dedicated to the heathen god Jupiter by Antiochus Epiphanes, 168 and 170 B.C. Herods (Joh 2:20), reconstructed and almost rebuilt in a style of surpassing magnificence, commenced in the year 17 B.C. Antichrists (2Th 2:4).to be built by restored Judah. Christs millennial temple (Eze 40:1-49), entirely new, grand and capacious. In all, five temples. The Church (1Co 3:16) and the bodies of believers (1Co 6:19) are each spoken of as the temple of God. Jerusalem is the only city on earth where a temple of stone is divinely sanctioned. The force of the word temple in Rev 7:15 is that a vast crowd of worshipping Gentiles are recognized; probably these may pray and worship in the literal millennial temple then a house of prayer for all peoples (Isa 56:7).) and restore, so far as they can, the Mosaic ritual. God is not in this Gentile movement for Jewish restoration, which is undertaken for political ends and purposes. But amidst the rank unbelief of these times there shall be, as ever, a true, godly remnant, and it is this remnant which is here divinely recognized. Gentile oppression and Jewish national apostasy but bring into bold relief the faithful and consequently suffering witnesses of that day, the closing hours of the unbelieving nations history. The temple of God is so termed, because He owns and accepts the true worshippers found therein. The altar refers to the brazen altar which stood in the court of old. It signifies the acceptance of those who in faith draw nigh to it, of course, as ever, on the righteous and holy ground of sacrifice. As to the moral value of the terms the temple would express the worship, and the altar the acceptance of the godly remnant of Israel. The unmeasured and rejected court given over to the Gentiles signifies the apostate part of the people, the mass in outward religious profession abandoned by God to the nations, who will wreak their vengeance on the guilty people, spite of the promised assistance of the Beast (Isa 28:17-22). The Court signifies Judaism in alliance with the Gentiles, and that in its most corrupt and apostate character.
JERUSALEM TRODDEN DOWN.
Rev 11:2. – The holy city shall they tread under foot forty-two months. Jerusalem is here as elsewhere spoken of in its sacred character as the holy city (see Neh 11:1; Neh 11:18; Isa 52:1; Dan 9:24, etc.). She is to be trodden under foot for an exactly defined period, forty-two months. This denomination of time is elsewhere spoken of as 1260 days (Rev 11:3; Rev 12:6), a time, times, and half a time (Rev 12:14), It is also referred to in Dan 9:27 in the expression, The midst of the week. Now these periods refer to the last half-week of seven years of Daniels prophecy (Dan 9:24-27). (See separate article. The Celebrated Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.)
The forty-two months during which Jerusalem is trodden down, trampled upon by the Gentiles, are months of thirty days each, thus corresponding to the 1260 days of sackcloth testimony borne by the two witnesses or prophets. Jerusalems coming hour of agony is limited to forty-two months. She will have to drink the cup of the Lords fury, and drink it for 1260 days. The Gentiles will tread down the people as mire in the streets (Isa 10:6, etc.). Even those nations which at first politically befriended the Jew will turn round and glut their vengeance on the restored nation. They, Judah restored by Gentile intervention, shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them (Isa 18:6). Thus the Gentile enemies of Israelare let loose upon the people of Jehovahs choice, then in open idolatry and apostate from God and truth (Mat 12:43-45). The last state of that man (Judah) is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation (v. 45).
Commentary on Rev 11:1-2 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 11:1. The reed given unto John was a measuring rule and is a symbol of the word of God. This is clear from the fact that the angel gave it to John who was one of the apostles. We know the word of God is the divine standard for it is required in 1Pe 4:11 that, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” At the time predicted by this chapter the apostasy (“falling away”) was an established fact. The Bible was virtually taken from the people and the religious lives of men and women were judged by the decrees of Rome instead of by the word of God. This verse is a symbol of the true standard of the measurement as the apostles were given the authority to execute (Mat 19:28). The temple of God means the church (1Co 3:16-17). The altar was the center of worship in the Mosaic system, and it is referred to here as a symbol of the worship under that of Christ. The in that worship therein means Christians, whose personal lives must be measured (regulated) by the word of God and not by the decrees of Rome.
Rev 11:2. The court in the old temple was the part that was open to the people generally. It is referred to in our passage as a symbol of the treatment that was imposed upon the institution of God by its enemies. Under the Mosaic system the temple was under the jurisdiction of the Jews, and that is why those on the outside were called Centiles. But in the fulfillment of the symbol the word refers to the enemies of the true church, namely, the leaders in the church of Rome. It must be borne in mind that all through this part of the book of Revelation, when reference is made either to Rome, or Babylon, or church and state, the same institution is always meant (if no exception is stated). That is because it was by the union of church and state that such a complete control was obtained over all the lives of the people. That is what is meant by the prediction that they were to tread under foot these arrangements of God. It is important to note that they did not tread under foot the temple nor the altar. That is because all through the Dark Ages there was a true church in existence in spite of the corruptions of Rome, although it was obscured more or less from the full public view. Forty and two months. This is the first time this unit of time has appeared in this book, but it will reappear many times under various figures. It refers to the period of the apostasy or Dark Ages as it is familiarly termed by the teachers in the brotherhood. In literal terms it means 1260 years and the various forms in which it is stated will all sum up to that figure by observing the rule in prophetic language that the month has 30 days. The exact number of years that requires the 60 is reached by the dates on which the full rule of Rome began and ended. Some of the details of that subject are not available to me at present, but we may be sure that the figure is correct from the fact that each of the various forms in which it is stated brings out the same 1260. And as to the correctness of the calculation we have historical verification of the round number in the words of Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He was an infidel and would have no motive for verifying the word of God, but lie was an authentic historian whose ability and accuracy were unquestioned and I shall quote from him as follows: “In the long period of twelve hundred years, which elapsed between the reign of Constantine and the reformation of Luther, the worship of saints and relics corrupted the pure and perfect simplicity of the Christian model; and some symptoms of degeneracy may be observed even in the first generation which adopted and cherished this pernicious innovation.”–Volume 2, Chapter 28, Page 615. The forty and two months of our verse gives us the 1260 by multiplying forty-two by thirty.
Commentary on Rev 11:1-2 by Burton Coffman
Rev 11:1
The first section of this chapter (Rev 11:1-13) concludes the sixth trumpet with its vision of the fortunes of the church right up to the end and through the final judgment itself. The seventh trumpet (Rev 11:14-19) describes the eternal state but gives no details concerning events in it. Several references to the actual judgment itself are retrospective, referring to an event which is past already. This seventh trumpet resembles the seventh seal in its silence regarding actual events after the judgment.
This chapter is a vision, and practically nothing in it is to be taken literally; the great realities discussed are presented under a number of symbols, some of which may not be crucial to the meaning, but are inert, like some of the details in the parables of Jesus. Morris called this chapter “extraordinarily difficult to interpret,”[1] and none could disagree with that. As Alford cautioned, “Much of this mysterious book is as yet unfathomed.”[2] Despite this, however, we offer the following interpretation as a sincere understanding of what the text says. Here are some of the symbols and the meanings which we believe to be conveyed by them:
The reed like unto a rod = The Word of God
The measuring = The sealing of the saints
The temple, altar, etc. = The church of God
The forty and two months = This whole dispensation
The two witnesses = The Word of God and the Word-indwelt Church
The beast out of the abyss = Satan
The slaying of the witnesses = The world’s rejection of their testimony
Resurrection of witnesses = Resurgence of truth
The unburied bodies = “Operations” of dead churches
The calling of the witnesses = The resurrection and final to heaven judgment.
Other symbols will be interpreted as they appear in the chapter. The comments of others will also be presented in connection with the meanings which we have ascribed to these symbols.
Regarding the various systems of interpretation, as applied to this chapter, a glance at some of these will show how diverse are the views of it that appear in current writings.
The literalists take if for just what it says; and, of course, all of us should try to do that. The trouble is that figurative language cannot be understood literally; and no one familiar with the Bible can deny that a great deal of it is written in figurative language, every known figure of speech being freely employed.
Dusterdieck and others think this chapter refers literally to the Jewish temple and the earthly Jerusalem; but, if so, the Apocalypse stands self-condemned as a prediction falsified (by the contradiction of events) within a year or so of its having been written.[3]
The futurists get rid of all such difficulties by referring the whole prophecy to the remote future, supposing that by then Jerusalem and the temple shall have been completely rebuild as of old, and then, at that far-off future time, the events of this chapter will literally occur. They identify the beast as Antichrist.
The historicists, among whom is the noted Albert Barnes, identify the witnesses as “persecuted sects of the Middle Ages, and the beast as the Papacy.”[4] There is an element of truth in this, because the apostasy foretold in Revelation, and the persecutions that were to accompany it, did have a fulfillment in such events, but not the fulfillment.
The preterists think that practically everything in Revelation had its fulfillment in the first generation or so after it was written, and that nothing in it reaches any further than “the first two or three centuries after it was written.”[5] Some of this group of interpreters find in the “two witnesses” who were slain the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, supposing that they will yet rise from the dead and preach, as in the vision!
The preterists are correct in seeing a genuine relevance in this prophecy for the first generation that received it; but they are totally wrong in restricting its relevance to the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages.
The futurists in their interpretation lose all relevance whatever in this prophecy to any age except that of a brief period before the final coming of Christ. Thus, these lose all relevance of Revelation for any age except the very last; and the preterists lose all relevance to any age except the very first. Both views are wrong, because God’s word is relevant to all times, periods and conditions. The many prophecies in Revelation are being fulfilled continually. For example, the evil enemies of the New Testament have been “killing it” all of this writer’s lifetime; and they are still “killing it! …. But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” The apostasy was not one final act of the Medieval Church; it is also Jim Jones’ bizarre sect in Guyana in 1978, and a thousand other things. None of this is intended to deny that some fulfillments are so much more extensive and prolonged that they indeed stand typically for all fulfillments.
There has never been a time when this prophecy was not relevant; nor will there ever be. No other understanding of it, it appears to us, could be harmonized with the significant beatitude of Rev 1:3, “Blessed are they that read … hear … and keep the things that are written therein.”
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. (Rev 11:1)
A reed like unto a rod … Is this a literal cane some ten or fifteen feet long? How could the worshippers of God be measured by any such stick as this? What does it symbolize? Lenski can hardly be wrong in his comment that:
The reed must then symbolize the word or Gospel in its function of determining who is in the church and who is outside of its bounds.[6]
When one speaks of the Canon of the New Testament, he is speaking of this “reed like unto a rod.” The very word “Canon means rule, or standard,”[7] in the sense of our ordinary word ruler as the name of a small measuring device. Once the meaning of this “rod” is seen, other meanings in the passage fall into place.
Measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship … “Temple of God” in this passage is impossible to accept as a reference to the literal Jewish temple in Jerusalem, called by the Son of God himself a “den of thieves and robbers.” That an angel of God should have been concerned with having John measure that desolation (Mat 23:38) is inconceivable. “It scarcely seems possible to doubt that temple here is used figuratively for the faithful portion of the Church of Christ.”[8] In fact, the word here rendered temple is actually sanctuary (ASV margin), “The Greek word [@nous] means the.” holy house, where God dwells … The use of [@nous] here for the thing to be measured makes a literal interpretation of temple impossible.”[9] “For John, the temple is the Christian Church, the people of God.”[10] “This sanctuary symbolizes the true church.”[11]
If any distinction is to be made between the temple and the altar, which is doubtful, it would appear to be that the altar refers to the worship itself, the doctrine and practice of the faithful portion of the church; and the temple refers to the whole body of the church.
The measuring of the “worshippers” would naturally mean the evaluation of their lifestyle, character, and behaviour by the principles taught in the word of God. Thus the corporate body of the church, its doctrine, worship, and teaching, as well as the individual character and conduct of its members would all be included in the measuring. Significantly, there have been pronounced departures from the word of God in all of these categories by the historical church.
What is the purpose of the measuring? In the Old Testament, things were “measured” either for destruction or for preservation; but the identity of what is measured here suggests that “the measuring is a symbolical way of declaring its preservation, not from physical sufferings, but from spiritual danger.”[12] Hendriksen likewise concurred in the judgment that the measuring here means “the setting apart from that which is profane.”[13]
This measuring by the word of God has the same purpose and effect as the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7. The sealing there is done by the Holy Spirit; and the measuring here is by the word, those who are indwelt by the word (Col 3:16). The indwelling, whether by the Spirit, or by the word, being exactly the same either way. There is no difference. See my Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, pp. 97-99. It is good to note that many scholars have seen this correspondence with the sealing. “This corresponds to the sealing in Rev 7:1-8.”[14] An important deduction from this is that:
The vision therefore declares that whatever corruptions invade the church, the kernel of the church will never be destroyed; but out of it there will arise those who will be true to the Master’s commission.[15]
This promise of protection for God’s church, indicated in this vision by the “measuring,” was made by the Lord himself in Mat 28:18-20.
[1] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentaries, Vol. 20, The Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), p. 144.
[2] Henry Alford as quoted by Albertus Pieters, Studies in the Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 137.
[3] A. Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 288.
[4] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 565.
[5] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 38.
[6] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation (Minneapolis. Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), p. 327.
[7] Vergilius Ferm, An Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Philosophical Library, 1943), p. 116.
[8] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 288.
[9] Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas: P. D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305,1957), p. 69.
[10] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 68.
[11] William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), p. 153.
[12] Robert H. Mounce, Commentary on the New Testament Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 219.
[13] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 152.
[14] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 219.
[15] W. Boyd Carpenter, Ellicott’s Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 584.
Rev 11:2
And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Measure not … the court which is without … Although associated with the temple, this court was not part of the sanctuary; and, symbolically, the leaving out of this means that there are people who are nominally “Christian,” associated in every way with Christianity, but who actually are no part of it. “This represents the unfaithful portion of the church.”[16]
Leave without … “This means that John was commanded to, “Throw it out; reject it as profane, and to draw no boundary to mark any part of it as sacred.”[17]
For it hath been given unto the nations … Lenski thought that this should be rendered “unto the heathen”;[18] but we believe John’s use of the same language here that Jesus used in the prophecy of Luk 21:24 is the true key to understanding what is meant by the forty and two months. Jesus said:
And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (nations), until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luk 21:24).
It could hardly be an accident that so much of the terminology of Jesus’ prophecy appears in John’s words in this verse. We are therefore justified in viewing the “times of the Gentiles” there with the “forty and two months” here, both expressions having the meaning of this entire dispensation.
And the holy city they shall tread under foot … Just as the Gentile world would tread the literal Jerusalem under foot until “the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,” in like manner would a great host of (so-called) Gentile Christians desecrate the true church by their perversion of Christianity. This would be accomplished by their wholesale invasion of it, “in the form of a false Christianity.”[19] The use of “holy city” here should not mislead us. “In A.D. 30, the once holy city of Jerusalem had already joined Sodom and Egypt as a typical example of all great wicked cities.”[20] Despite this, there is, however, still a holy city, which is the holy church of Jesus Christ.
For forty and two months … This passage makes the meaning of this expression transparent. It is the same as “the times of the Gentiles” mentioned by Jesus; that is, “the entire period of the Christian dispensation.”[21] The mention of this specific time period reveals that, “There is a limit of the extent to which the Gentiles can do their treading under foot.”[22] The historicists (Barnes) find this to mean that, “On the year-day principle, there is a reference to 1,260 years of Papal supremacy, ending in 1517 A.D.”[23] We do not doubt that the apostasy of the Medieval Church, continuing until the present time, is indeed a significant part of what is here prophesied; but the “modernist” churches of Protestantism are equally also a part of it. Many of them have also rejected the word of the Lord and despised the true head of the church.
There may be another thing symbolized by the time period here, which is the same as 3 1/2 years, the half of the perfect seven. Roberson interpreted this as, “the true expression of the church’s state as half of the required perfection.”[24]
We shall meet with this forty and two months, or its equivalent, in Revelation again and again; but in every case, the same is meant, “The Gospel Age.”[25]
[16] Frank L. Cox, Revelation in 26 Lessons (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1956), p. 73.
[17] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 330.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Ibid., p. 331.
[20] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 132.
[21] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 73.
[22] Leon Morris. op. cit., p. 147.
[23] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 563.
[24] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 70.
[25] William Hendriksen, op. cit.. p. 154.
Commentary on Rev 11:1-2 by Manly Luscombe
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. A reed (bamboo rod) is given to John. He is becoming more active and involved in the vision. He is told to measure the temple. Some have argued for the early date (65 AD) because the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It is argued that this must have taken place before the destruction of the temple. I answer – 1) John was in exile and Patmos. It does not matter if the temple is still standing in Jerusalem or not. It is not possible for him to literally measure it anyway. 2) It is, I believe, not the temple of the Old Testament structure. The temple here represents the hearts of Gods people. This is not a literal measurement. We, Christians, are the temple of God. God does not dwell in a temple made with hands. He dwells in the hearts of the faithful believers. What does it mean to measure the temple? The measuring rod represents the gospel. It is the way to measure those who are Christians and those who are not. The gospel does the measuring. In judgment we will be held up to the standard of the teachings of the New Testament. (Joh 12:48)
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. John is not to measure the outer court. Many pretenders could come here and not be true believers and worshippers of God. The TRUE church is included. The pretenders are excluded. Some teach that the court represents the area of unfaithful church members. They were close to the church, once a part of it, but now abandoned their faithfulness to Christ. The point is that the court will tread the holy city (church, Gods faithful people) under foot. The temple is the dwelling place of God. The holy city is the location of the temple. Therefore, throughout Revelation, these symbols are used to represent the same concept, the church of Jesus Christ. The idea of treading under foot shows contempt and lack of regard. If something is of no value it is thrown out and walked on. This is an open display of contempt and disdain. Throughout history, the church has been trampled on. Men have sought to stop, silence, kill, destroy and weaken the gospel message. It happened in the first century and it is happening today.
Sermon on Rev 11:1-2
Measure The Temple
Brent Kercheville
Revelation 10 revealed that when the seventh trumpet sounded the things spoken by the prophets would be fulfilled. The book of Revelation has shown us partial judgments occurring against a nation for its sins. Chapter 9 revealed the Roman Empire being unleashed by Satan to be the instrument of this destruction. Chapter 10 showed us the angel who took an oath about this disaster saying there would be no more delay. In Dan 12:7 the angel said that there would be a time, times, and half a time before the shattering of the power of the holy people would be complete. Revelation 10 told us that this shattering would be fulfilled when the seventh trumpet sounded.
Measure The Temple (Rev 11:1)
John is instructed to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. John is given a measuring rod to do this measuring. The image of measuring is used in a number of places in the scriptures. Sometimes the imagery is used of a plumb line as the people are measured against the standard of Gods laws
And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. (2Ki 21:13 ESV)
Sometimes the imagery is used to measure those who are righteous.
And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length. 3 And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him 4 and said to him, Run, say to that young man, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. 5 And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’ (Zec 2:1-5 ESV)
At the end of the book of Revelation we will see the city called New Jerusalem, representing the people of God, being measured.
And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angels measurement. (Rev 21:15-17 ESV)
In Eze 40:3 the prophet Ezekiel sees a vision of a person with a measuring reed in his hand. He is measuring the new temple of God and Ezekiel is to prophesy about the coming glory of the new temple.
The temple in the New Testament represents the true, holy people of God. In Rev 3:12 we read that those who conquer will be made a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it. Paul also repeatedly taught that the people of God are Gods temple.
Do you not know that you are Gods temple and that Gods Spirit dwells in you? (1Co 3:16 ESV)
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2Co 6:16 ESV)
This is one of the great interpretative failures of those who take a futurist method of interpretations to the book of Revelation. They see the images of the temple in Ezekiel 40-48 and Revelation 11 and declare that a physical temple will have to be rebuilt one day to fulfill these prophecies. They fail to see that what Ezekiel prophesied had found its fulfillment through Christ and being joined to him.
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. (Eph 2:19-21 ESV)
Christ is the cornerstone of this temple. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of the temple. We are being built into the holy temple of the Lord. We should not think that only a small group of Christians see this temple as a spiritual temple to the Lord. Even the Qumran community, those who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, also spiritualized Ezekiels temple. They declare the temple in Jerusalem as an apostate, false temple and considered themselves the true spiritual temple (1QS 5:5-6; 8:4-10; 9:3-6; 11:7ff; CD 3:19-4:6; 4QFlor 1:2-9). They even used measurement imagery to describe the security of this temple (1QH 6:26).
Therefore, we read about the temple of God in Rev 11:1 we are reading about the true people of God. They are measured for protection from spiritual harm. As we have already seen in the book and will see again later in this chapter, the measuring cannot mean that they will not be killed. The seals have revealed that the servants of God would be killed but their salvation is secure even if they die. The measuring of the worshipers is a guarantee that they are members in the heavenly spiritual temple no matter what happens to them on the earth.
Trample The Holy City (Rev 11:2)
Notice that John is instructed not to measure the court outside the temple. The reason is that the court outside the temple has been given over to the nations and the nations will trample the holy city for 42 months. If the temple of God is a reference to the servants of God, Gods holy people, then the holy city cannot be spiritualized to also mean the holy people of God. The holy city must be a reference to the physical city of Jerusalem. To be more accurate, the holy city represents the physical nation of Israel. The nation of Israel is coming under Gods judgment but the true people of God (the temple) is spiritually preserved.
This interpretation fits what we have seen in Revelation 9-10. In chapter 9 we saw the locusts, which the scriptures use to represent a world power/nation destroying another nation, being unleashed against a nation. The world power at the time of the writing of the book of Revelation is the Roman Empire. Chapter 10 showed that the angel promised that the power of the holy people would be shattered, referring to the Jewish nation (Dan 12:1; plainDan 12:7). Rev 10:6-7 shows the angel saying that there would no longer be any delay for this national judgment. Chapter 11 clearly reveals that the city of Jerusalem, symbolizing the nation of Israel is destined for national judgment. Rev 6:12-17 predicted lights out for the nation. Now we know the nation is the Jewish nation. The Jewish nation will be given over to the Roman Empire for judgment.
The writers of the scriptures also made this distinction between the true people of God and the physical nation of Israel. Paul made this distinction in Gal 4:21-31. Hagar represents Mount Sinai and physical Jerusalem (Gal 4:24-25). Sarah represents the Jerusalem from above who are the children of promise (Gal 4:26; Gal 4:28). Paul distinguishes the physical nation from the spiritual people of God. The writer of Hebrews makes the same distinction. In Heb 12:18-29 the writer contrasts Mount Sinai with Mount Zion. Zion represents the new covenant and heavenly Jerusalem. Mount Sinai represents the old covenant and the physical nation. Notice the writers point:
This phrase, Yet once more, indicates the removal of things that are shaken-that is, things that have been made-in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. (Heb 12:27 ESV)
The physical nation, Mount Sinai and the old covenant, are the things shaken. These things were going to be removed so that the things that cannot be shaken, Mount Zion and the new covenant, the heavenly Jerusalem, can remain.
The trampling of the holy city by the nations occurs in one other place in all the scriptures. Jesus said these words to his disciples.
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luk 21:20-24 ESV)
Notice that Jesus spoke of the same event, the destruction of Jerusalem and the judgment of the physical nation of Israel, in the same terms that is revealed to the apostle John in Rev 11:2. We must be reading about the same event in Rev 11:2.
42 Months (Rev 11:2)
One final thing to consider in our lesson is the time marker. The trampling of the holy city is going to take place for 42 months. It is certainly fascinating that the time of the invasion of the Roman Empire against Judea was approximately three and a half years. But we cannot begin to take some numbers literally and some figuratively simply because we want one number to be literal and another to be figurative. We must keep with our interpretation model given to us in the first three verses in chapter 1. The book was put into symbols and we must take the numbers as symbolic unless something in the text demands otherwise. For example, there are seven actual churches in Asia because each city is named. All other numbers has been symbolic. The same is true concerning the 42 months. This is especially the case because the same time marker is used repeatedly in scriptures to describe different events. We read in Daniel 12 about a time, times, and half a time where a time equals one year. Therefore, a time, times, and half a time represents three and a half years. We read in Rev 11:2 about a 42 month time frame. Rev 11:3 speaks of 1260 days which is also 42 months. Three and a half is half of seven, and seven represents perfection. Notice that when three and half years, 42 months, or 1260 days is declared, it is referring to a time of distress, tribulation, persecution, or destruction.
Notice in Dan 12:7 that the time, times, and half a time refers to the time of the shattering of the power of the holy people. In Rev 11:2 the trampling of the holy city is 42 months. In Rev 13:5 we read about the beast exercising authority for 42 months. Forty-two months, 1260 days, and a time, times, and half a time all represent a limited period of time that will be full of tribulation, distress, and persecution.
Conclusion
We are the temple of the living God. What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2Co 6:16 ESV) Being the temple of the living God means that we must live pure, holy lives. We cannot be in fellowship with sinful things of this world. Being the temple of God means that we are in a relationship with the holy God who is dwelling among us. We are to be his people and we must live up to the calling of being his holy people.
John is called on to measure the temple. In such measurements the court of the Gentiles is not to be recognized. It shows God dealing with the world through His chosen people.
The account of the two witnesses must be taken in connection with the recognition of the temple. Their work will be to tell the will of God to an age in rebellion against Him. No malice is able to accomplish the destruction of these witnesses until their work is ended. When that is done they are slain, and there is the appalling sound of an apostate race rejoicing in the silencing of the voices of truth. The triumph of evil is terrible, but it is short- lived. Ultimately, the witnesses are raised from the dead and taken into the heavenly places. Through them God sets the supernatural ministry of truth over against the supernatural influences of demon power and worship. When at last evil seems to triumph, it secures its own defeat.
At last, the seventh angel sounds and ushers in the final movements before the complete victory of the King. Voices in heaven declare that the rule of the world has been taken over by God and His Christ. The occasion gives cause for profoundest thankfulness, and the elders in the presence of the Supreme Royalty fall on their faces and worship. In their praise impending events are set forth, to be more fully described later.
the Two Witnesses
Rev 11:1-13
We cannot in this brief note indicate the various interpretations of this chapter, but certain great principles underlie it, which are true of every age.
(1) During the darkest ages, men have been raised up to testify against the prevailing corruption of their time, and especially the corruption of the apostate Church. Their opponents have endeavored to silence their voice and blacken their character, but God has ever vindicated them and given life out of death. (2) Always when the enemies of the truth have deemed themselves triumphant, there has been a rekindling of gospel testimony. A few years before Luther appeared, a medal was struck to commemorate the extinction of so-called heresy. (3) Such witness-bearing as is suggested by the comparison with Zechariahs vision, is fed from the heart of Christ. He is the root of the martyr line; His Spirit is the life-breath of His witnesses. All through the centuries, commonly called Christian, though generally very un-Christian, there has been an unbroken succession of pure and noble souls who have stood for Jesus Christ even unto death. Let us dare to stand with them and our Lord, that He may not be ashamed of us at His coming.
Chapter Eleven Two Witnesses And The Seventh Trumpet
In the first thirteen verses of Revelation 11 we have the remainder of the parenthesis which began in chapter 10. When reading this portion the careful student of the Word of God will be reminded of the passages relating the measuring of Jerusalem in Zechariah 2 and the measuring of the millennial temple in Ezekiel 40. We also read of the measuring of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, in Revelation 21.
The Two Witnesses (Rev 11:1-13)
The vision in the opening verses of chapter 11 clearly involves Jerusalem and the future temple in the last days. I think we may say that throughout the Bible when God speaks of measuring anything the thought is implied that He is marking it off as that which belongs to Himself. When one purchases a piece of ground or is about to take possession of a property, it is a very common thing to measure it and mark off its lines.
In Zechariah 2 we are told that the prophet beheld a man with a measuring line in his hand, to whom he put the question, Whither goest thou? The answer was, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof (Zec 2:2). And in the fourth verse the angel who is interpreting the visions for Zechariah said to another angel, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her (4-5). Then, in the balance of the chapter, we have a very distinct prophecy of the future deliverance of Gods earthly people from all their foes. They will be brought from the land of the north and from all parts of the world where they have been carried in the days of their captivity. This will not be fully accomplished until the Lord Jesus Himself has appeared in glory, for we read, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me (8-9, italics added). The daughter of Zion is then called on to rejoice because Jehovah Himself will dwell in the midst of her. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people (11). He will dwell in the midst of them, and they will know that the Lord of hosts has sent His prophet to them. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again, (12) says the Word of God.
Clearly, it is this very restoration that God had in mind when He gave John the vision of Revelation 11. The angel called on him to Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein (11:1). That is, once more God acknowledges a witnessing company, a worshiping people in Jerusalem. Observe that this is in the days of the great tribulation before the complete fulfillment of Zechariahs prophecy, for the glory will not yet have appeared. Therefore John is instructed not to measure the court which is outside the temple; for it is still to be given to the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (2). This will be the last three and a half years of the final seven that compose Daniels seventieth week; we have seen that this seventieth week has not yet been fulfilled, nor can be until Jerusalem and the people of the Jews are again acknowledged by God as His own.
It is very evident that already God is overruling events with a view to this restoration. The marvelous deliverance of Jerusalem in December 1917, when the Turkish flag was hauled down after practically 1260 years of misrule and oppression, and the banners of the Allies raised in its place, was preparing the way for this very thing. It is well known that General Allenby (later Lord Allenby), to whom God gave this great victory over the Turkish army, was instructed in the truth of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When General Allenby received from the Turkish governor of Jerusalem the surrender of the holy city it was indeed a most important event, filled with greater meaning than millions dreamed of. This event was clearly ordered of God in view of the promised restoration of Israel to the land. It was one of His hidden purposes when He permitted the World War. The surrender of the holy city, without the firing of a shot, as the airplanes of the allied forces circled over the ancient capital of the land of Palestine, was undoubtedly in answer to the prayers of thousands of the people of God. It would be unbearable to think of the representative of a so-called Christian nation shelling the city where our Savior taught and died, and which must ever be sacred in the eyes of both Jew and Christian. When the armies of the Allies led by Allenby entered through the Jaffa gate, Arab, Jew, and Christian alike recognized the fact that the hour had struck for God to open the way for the fulfillment of many prophecies of bygone ages, as recorded in His Word. It was undoubtedly the turning-point of the entire conflict, for eleven months afterwards the armistice was signed.
Zionism has taken on new and remarkable vigor, and money has poured into its coffers to transplant the poor of the flock from the lands of the north and the country where they have suffered so much, to their own ancient patrimony. Their hopes are high, their jubilation great, but Scripture makes it very plain that they have before them the bitterest experiences they have ever known, and these to be endured right in their own land. For God declared that from the days of Titus, Jerusalem would be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luk 21:24).
The expression, the times of the Gentiles, refers to the entire period of Gentile supremacy. It began when God gave Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and will continue on to the time when the Stone from Heaven will strike the image on its feet; that is, when the Lord Jesus Christ, at His second coming in judgment, will destroy all Gentile dominion, and His own kingdom will supersede every other.
The last three and a half years, designated in Rev 11:2 so definitely as 42 months, will be the worst of all this period of Gentile treading-down. The tribulation of those days will be so dreadful, our Lord has told us, that unless they are shortened, no flesh would be saved. And the center of all this tribulation will be the land of Palestine itself. But during this time and immediately preceding it, God will not leave Himself without witness (3-4).
It seems clear to me that the 1260 days of verse 3 refers to the first half of the week. During this time God will have a witnessing remnant in Jerusalem testifying to the near coming of the kingdom. They will call on all Israel to repent in view of that time of the restitution of all things spoken of by the prophets.
I do not know that we need limit the witnesses to two individuals. Two is the number of testimony, and we need to remember that we are dealing here with symbols, not necessarily with the literal personalities. Therefore the two witnesses might well symbolize the witnessing remnant of Judah as a whole. But I would not be dogmatic as to this, for it might be the mind of God to send two individuals, as here described, to herald the near coming of His Son. The fourth verse again links the prophecy with the book of Zechariah: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof (4:3). There, the two olive trees are priesthood and prophetic testimony, keeping the candlestick shining for God. In Revelation the olive trees are said to be two candlesticks, but the thought is the same. It is worship and testimony in that time when Jacobs trouble is just beginning.
These witnesses are immortal until their work is done, for, we are told that 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 (Rev 11:5). That is, if any man desires to hurt the witnesses he is cut off in judgment.
We next learn that 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 (6). It is a testimony in the power and spirit both of Elijah and of Moses. Therefore, some have drawn the conclusion that the two witnesses would be Moses and Elijah sent back to earth before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I admit the possibility of this, though it does not seem probable to me. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luk 1:17); to those who would receive it, he was Elijah which was to come. So these witnesses, whether literally two, or symbolizing a much larger company, will be in the spirit and power both of the prophet who came to restore Israel to the true God and the great prophet who first led them out of Egypt.
Nothing can interfere with their witnessing until they have finished their testimony. Then the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [of whom we will learn more in chapter 13] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them (7). They will be the objects of the bitter enmity of the vile head of the coming revived Roman empire, or western federation of nations, who will not tolerate any worship but that which is offered to himself. He, therefore, will destroy 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 (8). Jerusalem will fall into apostasy, culminating in the worship of the antichrist and the beast. Gods holy city will sink at last to the level of Sodom, from which only Lot was saved, and Egypt, out of which Israel was delivered by Jehovah. Through the unbelieving Jews the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles (Rom 2:24); by them the Lord of glory was crucified and wrath will come on them to the uttermost.
In verses 9-10 we have the sad picture of joy among the nations because this last testimony for God on earth has been destroyed. We see the whole apostate world-Christendom and Judaism alike- congratulating one another that there is no longer any voice raised to call in question their apostasy and wicked ways. In the present time of our Lords rejection and His session at Gods right hand Christendom, in the very manner depicted in these verses, pretends to observe Christs coming to earth. Having crucified the Lord of glory, the nations join in celebrating what is called His birthday, sending gifts one to another. In that coming day, in the same way, they will make merry and show their delight because the last voice on His behalf has been silenced. They will rejoice over the dead bodies of His witnesses. What a solemn scene it will be-civilized peoples rejoicing in that awful day when the wrath of God is just about to be poured out in all its fullness on that guilty world. For three and a half days it will seem as though Satan were triumphant and everything that is of God overthrown!
Verses 11-12 picture another rapture-another cohort of the first resurrection-taking place in the midst of that final week. These martyrs, who had sealed their testimony with their blood, are raised in power and caught up to be with their still rejected Lord. Like Himself, they will ascend to Heaven in a cloud, but unlike their Master, their enemies will see them. And it would seem as though this visible rapture will have some effect on those remaining in Jerusalem, for in verse 13 we learn, 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. Observe He is still the God of heaven, but in a little while He will be revealed as the God of the whole earth, as verse 4 has already intimated. This is the first time that we read of any people during that period of tribulation giving glory to God, but whether this implies any true turning of heart to Himself on the part of some, I dare not attempt to say. All that this Scripture says is that the remnant were affrighted, and this in itself does not necessarily imply that there is any true repentance.
The Seventh Trumpet (Rev 11:14-19)
With this great earthquake the second woe is past, and we are told, Behold, the third woe cometh quickly (14). This third woe is none other than the seventh and last of the trumpets, which ushers in the world kingdom of our God and His Christ. It is a calamity only to His enemies, but a cause of great rejoicing to all who love His name, in view of creations deliverance from bondage to sin.
Verses 15-18 complete the present prophetic series (verse 19 properly belongs to chapter 12). The seventh angels trumpet brings in Christs long waited for and glorious kingdom. And on its proclamation, the saints in Heaven, as symbolized by the four and twenty elders, will fall before God on their faces. They will worship Him and give Him thanks-He, the everlasting Jehovah-because He has taken to Himself His great power to reign.
The eighteenth verse covers the entire millennium and carries us on to the judgment of the wicked dead, to the end of time. All judgment has been committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to remember that the entire millennium is a period of judgment: first, judgment on the angry nations when the wrath of God is poured out on them at the beginning of the millennium; judgment for His own servants who will be rewarded in that glorious kingdom according to their faithfulness during Christs rejection; judgment on the wicked dead who, at the great white throne, will answer for the deeds done in the body and be dealt with accordingly. Those who have arrogated to themselves the right to judge and destroy others will then be judged and destroyed themselves when the great moral governor of the universe, who has kept Himself hidden so long, will be fully revealed. If you will refer to the chart, you will see that the seventh angels trumpet brings us to the end of the first prophetic outline. That is, chapter 11:18 carries us as far along chronologically as chapter 20:11-15.
And now may I emphasize the importance of being prepared for the near coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, in view of the remarkable manner in which Palestine, the Jews, the nations of Christendom, and the professed church of God are even now being prepared for the very experiences we have been attempting to describe? These things are not cunningly devised fables (2Pe 1:16) but stern realities. Anyone who has his eyes opened and understands something of the teaching of the prophetic word, can see clearly that we are near the end of the present dispensation.
I remember on one occasion speaking in the city of San Jose, California before a group of over forty ministers, on the second advent of our Lord. Many of them ridiculed the idea-only four declared themselves as believing in it. Most of them were noncommittal, having no definite convictions either for or against my theme. One dear old minister seemed to resent the thought of the Lords coming as a future thing. He declared that, to him, Christ came when he had been converted to God some forty years previously. But I was invited to return a week later. For an hour and a half we had a most animated debate on the subject. Finally one clergyman declared that he thought the personal coming of the Lord Jesus was an absolute absurdity. He did not believe He existed as a distinct personality, clothed with a resurrected body; His resurrection was entirely spiritual, and to quote his own words, He only exists today as part of the all-pervading spirit of the universe. Therefore, I believe, my brethren, in no apocalyptic coming of Jesus. I never expect to see Him in a body, but I believe in the ever-coming Christ. He is coming in the clouds, but they are not literal clouds. He comes in the clouds of affliction, in the political clouds, in the war clouds, in the clouds of sorrow and distress, but a personal premillennial advent is, in my judgment, an utter impossibility.
This brought to his feet the minister who had somewhat opposed me at the previous meeting. He cried in distress, Do I understand, Doctor, that I shall never see my Lord who saved me by His death upon the cross? I think not, was the reply. Have I then, exclaimed the other, been wrong all these years as I have sung,
I shall know Him, I shall know Him,
As redeemed by His side I shall stand;
I shall know Him, I shall know Him
By the print of the nails in His hand?
Oh! replied the other, thats all very well as poetical license, but I dont think you should take it literally.
Brethren, cried the aged minister, as the tears burst from his eyes, I take back what I said last week. I find I agree with this brother, who has been speaking to us on the coming of the Lord, far more than I thought I did. I look to see the personal coming of my Savior. I shall never be satisfied until I behold the King in His beauty. But I have always supposed He would not come until the day of judgment; but as I think it over, it seems to me that, after all, that is what my brother believes; only he thinks the day of judgment will be a thousand years long. And Doctor, he said, turning to the minister who had presented such unscriptural and unholy views, I am afraid, if there are many in the church like you, it will take a thousand years to put things right.
My friends, this is indeed what I would impress on you and what the seventh angels trumpet so clearly intimates. The day of judgment will be a thousand years long. The judgment seat of Christ takes place in the heavens immediately after the rapture of the church. The judgment of the living nations referred to in Matthew 25 will take place on the earth when the Son of man will come in His glory, and all His holy angels with Him, to establish His kingdom over all the world. That thousand years will be the reign of righteousness. He will rule all nations with a rod of iron and judge unsparingly everything that ventures to lift itself up against His authority-all that refuse to be subject to His dominion. And at the close He will judge all the wicked dead, who will be raised for that very purpose, and cast into the lake of fire because they have rejected His grace. And in view of all this, I plead with you who are out of Christ, Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him (Mat 5:25). In other words, come to God in Christ Jesus now and have your case settled out of court. For if you first meet God in that solemn hour of judgment, you will be forever beyond the reach of mercy.
For all who trust in the Lord Jesus now, there will be no judgment in that solemn day. For He has said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life (Joh 5:24). How sweet and precious the promise here given to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! Observe that all believers possess eternal life now. It is not that they are looking forward to receiving eternal life in the day of judgment, or at the coming of the Lord-though they will enter into life then; that is, they will become participants in that scene where eternal life is fully revealed. But they have that life now by virtue of having received Christ, for he that hath the Son hath life (1Jn 5:12). Therefore they will not come into judgment, but they will be called to appear at the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their service for the Lord. Since His grace saved them they will never be called into judgment for their sins. Their sins have already been judged on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on Calvarys cross where He bore the condemnation of all who would put their trust in Him. Such have already passed out of death unto life and enjoy even now the guarantee of the coming glory.
CHAPTER 11:1-18
Rev 11:1-2.
We see at once how Jewish things come now into view. To apply these verses to the Church and make the temple the Church is absolutely wrong. The temple and the altar are Jewish; the holy city is Jerusalem. After the Church has left the earth the Jewish people will be fully restored to their own land, and their land restored to them. They will possess Jerusalem once more. When the Jews are once more masters in their own promised land they will erect another temple and then restore the Levitical worship as far as it is possible. Such a temple must be in Jerusalem. (See Isa 66:1-4.) In that temple the personal Antichrist, the beast out of the land of whom we shall read in chapter 13, will appear and claim divine worship. (See 2Th 2:3-4.) Apostate Israel in corrupt alliance with equally apostate Gentiles is seen in the opening verses of this eleventh chapter, as the court without the temple. But in the midst of this corrupt mass, which will follow the delusion of the Antichrist and accept Satans man as their Messiah, there will be the God-fearing remnant. This remnant is here divinely recognized as worshippers. Therefore that coming is called the temple of God, because the Lord owns the true worshippers found in the midst of the unbelieving mass.
Rev 11:3-12.
Much has been written on these two witnesses who will appear in Jerusalem. It is clear they are still future and their work will be in that city. Some make them Enoch and Elijah and others think they will be Moses and Elijah returned in person. Some have claimed to be a reincarnation of Elijah. Such claims are fanatical. No second coming of Moses is anywhere promised in the Word. Something, however, is said about the work of Elijah in the future (Mal 4:5-6). But the words of our Lord in Mat 11:14, speaking of John the Baptist, and Mat 17:12, seem to make clear that no literal coming of the same Elijah, who went into glory, without dying, is meant. Yet the deeds of these two witnesses clearly link them with the work of Moses and Elijah. They each do both the things Moses and Elijah did separately. We take it then that these two witnesses represent the great testimony to be given in Jerusalem during the 1,260 days of the great tribulation. Perhaps the leaders will be two great instruments, manifesting the spirit of Moses and Elijah, endowed with supernatural power, but a large number of witnesses is unquestionably in view here. They maintain in the midst of the Satanic scenes a powerful testimony for God.
The period of the great tribulation was mentioned in Rev 9:2. Here for the first time the beast is mentioned. This beast coming out of the pit of the abyss, the deep, is the revived Roman empire under the little horn, seen by Daniel on the four-horned beast (Dan 7:8). While he dominates over the Gentiles, he will turn in fury against these Jewish saints, and the two witnesses will be slain. He makes war with the godly remnant (Dan 7:21). A part of that remnant will be killed. The vileness of these coming days of Satans rule on earth is seen in the treatment of the bodies of Jehovahs servants. The wicked are so elated over the silencing of the testimony that they refuse to permit their burial so that they may feast their eyes upon the sickening spectacle. They rejoice and make it a festive occasion, because torment had come to their consciences through the testimony of the slain.
Gentiles, who side with apostate Israel are mentioned, but especially a class which is called they that dwell on the earth rejoices over the end of the witnesses. The same class is mentioned several times. Study the passages where they are mentioned: Rev 3:10; Rev 6:9-10; Rev 8:13; Rev 11:9-10; Rev 12:12; Rev 14:6-7; Rev 17:8. They are the apostate, nominal Christians who are utterly blinded and hardened. Php 3:18-19 gives their character and destiny. They claim possession of the earth as belonging to them, but God is not only the God of heaven, He is also the God of the earth (Rev 11:4). Gods power is manifested in the physical resurrection and the visible translation of the two witnesses. Their enemies see a great miracle. The apostates who ridicule even now a physical resurrection, who sneer at the blessed hope of a coming translation of the saints, will witness these two great facts. No wonder that a great fear fell upon them. The raised witnesses belong to the first resurrection (Rev 20:4).
Rev 11:13-18.
The terror becomes still greater when the whole city is shaken by a mighty earthquake. This is not a symbolical earthquake but a convulsion of nature by which the fourth part of the city falls and 7,000 men are killed. It marks the end of the second woe. Then those who escaped the visitation gave glory unto the God of heaven. It is only inspired by fear. They do not turn in repentance unto God. Here ends the parenthetical vision.
The seventh trumpet brings us to the very end of the tribulation and to the beginning of the millennial reign. It is Jerusalems deliverance. He who alone is worthy receives the kingdom. How clear this ought to make the fact that our Lord has no earthly kingdom now, but He receives the promised kingdom on the earth at the end of these things. See Dan 7:14. Heaven worships too; they celebrate the fact that He has taken His great power. It is a review of all that takes place and what follows when He appears out of heaven. The nations were full of wrath (Psa 2:1-12; Psa 46:6); His wrath is come; resurrection will follow; this points to the time after the kingdom (Rev 20:12). And His servants, the prophets and the saints, receive their rewards, to reign with Him.
Chapter 25
Christ’s two witnesses
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth
Rev 11:1-14
Throughout the book of Revelation, we are repeatedly assured of three facts: (1) Our Redeemer is in total control of the universe. (2.) The church and kingdom of God is safe. And (3) the people of God will be triumphant in the end. There is a reason for these often repeated assurances. It often appears that we are losing ground, and that our defeat is inevitable. Rev 11:1-14 assures the believer of the safety and ultimate triumph of Christ’s church, though at times it appears that her defeat is certain. In these verses, we are told what will happen during those days just before Christ’s second coming.
The measuring of the temple (Rev 11:1-2)
Of course, this is a symbolical picture. To seek, as many do, a literal interpretation of the things written in this chapter, is to miss its message altogether. John was commanded to measure the temple of God (Rev 11:1). Specifically, he was commanded to measure the sanctuary, containing the holy place and the holy of holies, ‘the altar, and them that worship therein.’ This temple represents the church and people of God, all those in whom Christ dwells by his Spirit. All true believers, worshipping God in spirit and truth are measured, protected, and sealed. The Lord did not command John to measure the size of the temple, as though he needed information, but simply to measure, or mark out for protection, the people of God. That is what this measuring means. Though God will inflict his judgments of wrath upon the wicked, persecuting world, his church is safe. Though God’s saints suffer with the world, they shall not perish with the world. God’s elect are protected against eternal doom.
How do we know that this is the meaning of John’s vision? First, the temple of God in the Old Testament was a type of the church, which is frequently called the temple of God in the New Testament (1Co 3:16-17; 2Co 6:16-17; Eph 3:21). Second, the temple of God is here defined as the holy place and holy of holies, the inner sanctuary, where only the priests of God were allowed – ‘the altar, and them that worship therein.’ We who believe are God’s ‘royal priesthood,’ worshippers in the holy place, offering up sacrifices of prayer and praise to him through Christ Jesus (1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9). Third, the measuring of the temple in Ezekiel’s vision was for the same purpose as in this vision – The protection of God’s sanctuary, to separate the precious from the vile (Eze 40:3-5; Eze 22:25-26).
The outer court of the temple was not to be measured (Rev 11:2). God’s special care and protection does not extend to those who are believers in name only. This ‘court which is without the temple’ represents all false religion and all false professors of religion. This outer court is to be trampled under the feet of the heathen precisely because God is determined to destroy all false religion. The world invades the false church and possesses it. Worldly religionists welcome the ideas and principles of the world. They feel perfectly at home in the world. They are of the world; and the world loves its own. Even in the New Testament era, the true people of God were plagued with men and women in their midst who were governed and motivated by the principles and religion of the world. This condition of worldliness in the church will continue throughout the gospel age, represented by the time of 42 months.
The Lord’s two witnesses and their testimony (Rev 11:3-6)
Many conjectures have been made as to who these two witnesses are. But the context appears to indicate that these witnesses are another representation of the church of God. Throughout the gospel age, the church has been represented in the world by her two witnesses – pastors (elders) and evangelists (missionaries). The church functions as an organization through its pastors and missionaries, those who preach the gospel. These witnesses carry out their work for 1260 days. That is another symbolic figure. It represents a definite, long period of time, but an unknown (to men) period of time. This 1260 days, like the 42 months of Rev 11:2, represents the whole gospel age, from Christ’s ascension to his second coming.
Notice the characteristics of these two witnesses, as they are represented in John’s vision. First, those men who preach the gospel are, under God, the means by which his grace is bestowed upon his elect (Rev 11:4). Like olive trees, they bring forth the oil of grace, the blessings of the Spirit, and the light of the gospel (Rom 10:13-17; 1Pe 1:23-25). Second, God’s servants are under his special care and protection (Rev 11:5). It is written, ‘Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm’ (1Ch 16:22). That which is done to Christ’s church and his witnesses is done to him (Mat 10:40; Act 9:4). And, just as Jeremiah’s enemies were condemned by his word, those who oppose God’s kingdom today shall be condemned by the gospel we preach (2Co 2:14-16). Third, those who preach the gospel, as spokesman for Christ and his church, have power with God and power over men (Rev 11:6; I Kg. Rev 17:1; Exo 7:20). This power is not absolute; but it is real (Luk 10:3-12). Not only does God judge men according to the prayers of his afflicted people (Rev 8:3-5), but he also judges them according to the gospel we preach (Mat 16:19; Joh 20:21-23; Rom 2:16). Fourth, they shall finish their testimony (Rev 11:7). God’s church and his servants will fulfill their mission in this world. The gospel shall be preached throughout the world. All the elect, having been redeemed by Christ, shall be brought to Christ. But this present gospel age shall come to an end. God’s church and his witnesses will finish their testimony (Mat 24:14).
The death of Christ’s two witnesses and the joy of the world because of their death (Rev 11:7-10)
The beast, the antichrist and his religion, the outer court religionists, will arise with hellish, worldwide power, and kill the two witnesses. That does not mean that all God’s saints and all true preachers will be killed, though many may be tortured and put to death by men who think they are doing God’s service (Joh 16:2). There will be true believers and true witnesses upon the earth when Christ comes again (Luk 18:8). The gates of hell shall not prevail against Christ’s church (Mat 16:18). It must be remembered that the picture before us is symbolical, not literal. It simply means that there is a time coming when the true church of God and true gospel preachers will appear to be almost totally eradicated from the earth. Religion will thrive. But the church of God will appear to be a dead corpse in the earth, altogether without life and power (Amo 8:11-12).
That is precisely what will happen just before our Lord’s glorious second advent. The voice of God’s church will be smothered by the religion of antichrist. It will lie like a dead corpse on Main Street in the world. Sodom and Egypt, which crucified Christ, will again join forces to silence his church. For 3 1/2 days, a brief but definite period of time, the church in this world will appear to be dead. It will cease to have power and influence. The faithful will be so few that they cause no disturbance in the world. This will be a time of terrible trial and religious deception (Mat 24:22-25; Rev 20:7-9). This time of heresy and religious deception must come. God has ordained it (2Th 2:1-12; 1Co 11:19). And in this reprobate age, God’s elect are safe and have great reason for thanksgiving and praise (2Th 2:13-16). While the corpses of God’s two witnesses lie in the street, the world will throw a party (Rev 11:9-10). But their joy is premature. God is not finished yet. The end has not yet come. Christ has not yet turned the last page of the little book in his hand. Something else must take place…
The revival and final triumph of Christ’s two witnesses (Rev 11:11-14)
There is a day coming when the church of God will be revived, when the servants of God will be heard, when the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ will again be declared with heavenly power. The dog of Rome and the peddlers of freewill will not party forever! God will send the Spirit of life into his church again (Rev 11:11). Just before Christ’s second coming, right in the midst of wholesale apostasy, God will raise up his witnesses again! The church of God will again be triumphant (Rev 11:11-12). When God’s church is revived again, as in the days of the Reformation and the Great Awakening, the religious world and the political world will be frozen with fear. Then the end will come. A voice will be heard, as the voice of the archangel, saying, ‘Come up hither!’ As the saints of God, both the living and the dead ascend in a cloud of glory to meet the Lord in the air, ‘their enemies behold them!’ There is no secret, mysterious rapture here. This is talking about the glorious resurrection of the sons of God (1Th 4:13-18). In that same hour, God’s judgment will begin to fall upon the earth (Rev 11:13). It appears that immediately preceding Christ’s appearing in judgment, there will be a great earthquake, perhaps a great series of earthquakes. Multitudes will be slain. Those who remain will be terror struck. Though they will not repent, they will give ‘glory to the God of heaven.’ Now the stage is set. This is the beginning of the end. ‘The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly’ (Rev 11:14). Are you ready?
a reed: Rev 21:15, Isa 28:17, Eze 40:3-5, Eze 42:15-20, Zec 2:1, Zec 2:2, Gal 6:14-16
and the: Rev 10:1-5
Rise: Num 33:18, Eze 40:1 – Eze 48:35, 1Co 3:16, 1Co 3:17, 2Co 6:16, Eph 2:20-22, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9
Reciprocal: Isa 64:10 – General Jer 51:51 – for strangers Eze 41:1 – to the temple Eze 42:16 – the measuring reed Eze 47:3 – the man Amo 7:7 – a wall
IN THE OPENING verses of chapter 11, John has not only to see and hear, but to act. He was to measure the temple, the altar and the worshippers with a divinely-given reed. Once again the language is symbolic, for though a measure of length may suit a temple or an altar, it is quite inapplicable to worshippers in a literal sense. The thought seems to be that these three come under divine scrutiny and are taken account of, whilst the outer court is ignored as being under Gentile feet. This indicates, we gather, that God is going to support what is of Himself in the midst of His earthly people, Israel, and also maintain a remnant according to His election, but the court, the large outer circle, identified with the holy city, is to be defiled for the stated period. We ourselves are now in the times of the Gentiles, during which, Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (Luk 21:24). This period has been running since the days of Nebuchadnezzar, but there is to be a specially intense treading under foot of the holy city for these 42 months. The court is not measured so that the hostile powers are given full scope.
But though they act unhinderedly, they are not permitted to pollute without God raising up a witness against them, and verse Rev 11:3 speaks of this. The witness lasts for 1,260 days, which according to Jewish computation is exactly the 42 months of the previous verse. As to external things, the witnesses were marked by deepest humiliation, expressed by being clothed in sackcloth, but from a spiritual standpoint marked by the shining of a light, which is divinely given and supported. The reference clearly is to Zec 4:1-14, only here each witness is symbolized by an olive tree and a candlestick. The olive tree supplies the oil, and the oil feeds the light. God is the God of the earth, and though the holy city is trodden down He has not relinquished His claim to the earth. So before He makes good His claim in irresistible power He maintains His witness in the face of the foe. So much so, that for the time of their testimony they are invulnerable. It is their assailants who die, not they.
Verse Rev 11:6 shows that these two witnesses have the characteristics of both Elijah and Moses, so evidently they wield immense power. Yet it is not the kind of power we find characterizing believers of this dispensation, who are rather to be strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness (Col 1:11). In the earliest years, when apostles still wielded miraculous powers, none of them slew men, or shut heaven, or smote the earth with plagues. Such displays of power suit the Old Testament, but not the New. What then shall we deduce from verse Rev 11:6 ? Simply that here we are no longer in the present dispensation of the grace of the Gospel and the calling out of the Church. We are again on the ground of government and not of grace. It confirms what has been advanced; namely, at this time the Church has been taken to heaven.
The witnesses are invulnerable only until their testimony is completed. Then they are slain under the beast that ascends from the abyss, of whom we get details in Rev 13:1-18. Their witness was centred in Jerusalem, and there their dead bodies lay. Jerusalem had been called the holy city in verse Rev 11:2 : it is that in the purpose of God. With the slain witnesses lying in its street it is called the great city, which from a spiritual point of view is just Sodom and Egypt. It is clearly identified by the statement, where also our Lord was crucified.
Sodom has become symbolic of the world in its unbridled lust and wickedness, where man degrades himself below the level of the beasts, so that the cry of it arises for Gods intervention in judgment. Egypt symbolizes the world with its magnificent exterior, the supplier of all that ministers to mans pleasures and fleshly gratification, but withal itself dominated by an idolatry that degrades, and which even enslaves the people of God if they fall under its power. All this may be great in mans eyes but it certainly is not holy. This is what Jerusalem is to become by the treading under foot of the Gentiles and the domination of the beast from the abyss. In such a city the witnesses die, and the rejoicings over their end are to be great.
Verse Rev 11:10 mentions, they that dwell upon the earth,-the earth-dwellers, of whom we have before spoken. The people generally, according to verse Rev 11:9, will be glad, but these earth-dwellers rejoice exceedingly and hold high festivity, because the witness of the two prophets tormented them. We can quite understand this, for the same kind of thing can be seen today. True witness to Christ in the Gospel is opposed by the careless world, but it arouses specially fierce resentment and repudiation by present-day modernists, whose effort is to degrade the faith of Christ to a mere scheme for earthly improvements, denying its heavenly origin and the heavenly end to which it leads. Its truth they simply cannot abide; it torments them.
The jubilation of the earth-dwellers, and of the persecutors generally, is however to be short-lived. After 3.5 days they rise from death and ascend to heaven in a cloud. Their enemies behold it, so that their triumph is complete. They suffer under the beast, but are caught up to a heavenly portion, not an earthly one. Their going-up presaged the speedy fall of the beast and his satellites.
The question naturally arises: are we to understand these verses as predicting the rise of two actual men, or is it rather that God raises up and maintains, for as long as suits Him, a sufficient and powerful testimony having the characteristics of both Elijah and Moses? We incline to the latter view and that especially because of the symbolic character of the whole book. We think then that they indicate-not a large and abundant testimony; that would be indicated by 3 and not 2-a sufficient testimony, divinely, indeed miraculously, preserved and sustained at this epoch-the darkest in the worlds history since the cross of our Lord. If we are right in this, the witnesses may be identified with, or at least included in, those beheaded for the witness of Jesus, in Rev 20:4, who lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The great point of instruction for us today is the way in which God maintains His own testimony and yet terminates it as soon as its work is done. This instruction stands, whichever view of the two witnesses we take.
At the finish of their story the triumph of the two was complete, and this will be the finish of the story for all Gods rejected and persecuted witnesses. They went to heaven; at the same time a great earthquake smote the earth. They ascended; a tenth part of the city that persecuted fell. The Spirit of life from God had entered into them; seven thousand of their foes were plunged into death. Those not slain were filled with fear and compelled to give glory to the God of heaven. It looked as if they were still reluctant to admit Him to be the God of the earth.
This episode concludes the second woe, which is the sixth trumpet, and we are told that the seventh trumpet and third woe follows quickly, for there is to be no longer delay, as we saw in Rev 10:6. There is therefore hardly any interval between the resurrection and ascension of the witnesses and the final act, which brings mans day to a close and ushers in the kingdom.
The sounding of the seventh trumpet does not bring to pass some fresh infliction similar to the preceding trumpets. Great voices in heaven proclaim that which is the end of all Gods judgments-the establishment of the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, This phrase reminds us of Psa 2:2, where, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed. This they have done all along, but here their proud opposition is quelled, and the reign of the Lord by His Anointed is established. Once established, His dominion abides. Other Scriptures inform us how the kingdom of a thousand years will end, and the eternal state begin. But the tragic rebellion which is to close the thousand years will not mean any interruption in the reign. Our verse says, He shall reign for ever and ever. From this point of view the millennium and the eternal state are considered as one.
Verses Rev 11:16-18 give us the reaction of the 24 elders-the heavenly saints-to this tremendous climax. The first thing is their worship. Today false professors of religion abound, whose reaction is criticism, when they hear of the kingdom of God, enforced by righteous judgment. They denounce the idea of a God who acts in righteous judgment. In heaven it will provoke not criticism but worship. This is a striking fact.
This merges into thanksgiving. They address God by the names in which He revealed Himself of old as the Governor of men and nations-Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, the Eternal One-nothing before Him; nothing beyond Him, supreme and unchallengeable. He is known to us as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this name of love and near relationship would not come in suitably here, where His acts in judgment are being proclaimed. His reign in righteous authority, and not His saving grace, is what is now before us.
Verse Rev 11:18 summarizes in a remarkable way the things that come to pass when God establishes His kingdom. They are not mentioned in chronological order, as we might have been inclined to place them. For instance, the judgment of the dead does not take place till the end of the thousand years, as Rev 20:12 shows. Our verse states the results achieved, first in wrath, and then in discriminatory judgment, and not the order in which they will be achieved. Each statement is worthy of careful note.
When Jehovah and His Christ take the kingdom to reign for ever and ever, the nations were angry. This statement is sufficient to demolish altogether the false idea that the Gospel is going to convert the world, so that the kingdom will be established as the fruit of Gospel effort, and the nations will be delighted to see it! Again, the kingdom will be established as the result of the coming of (Gods wrath. This tells the same tale, and is in agreement with Psa 2:1-12 also. When the age of the Gospel closes and wrath comes, bringing with it righteous judgment, it will extend over a long period, only ending in the time of the dead that they should be judged- the final scene of wrath, as we have just seen.
But then, as well as the outpouring of wrath on manifested evil, there will be a condition of mixture, where discrimination is necessary. This had been predicted by our Lord in Mat 13:41-43, and here it is fulfilled and accomplished. The prophets, the saints, the God-fearing will have their reward in the glory of the kingdom, whereas the destroyers of the earth will be themselves destroyed.
All sin is destructive in one way or another. As man has become increasingly inventive and wilful, his powers of destruction have increased. In Europe and elsewhere today we see a sample of what is coming. But underlying all these powers of physical and material destruction, now so manifest, there is the propaganda of the destroyer himself-the deceiver, the father of lies. The real root of the terrible mischief is here. The primary destructive force is found in the region of mind, not matter: in false religion false philosophy,- masquerading as science, but really, science, falsely so called (1Ti 6:20). These false ideas reach into the moral, the political, even the material world, and today they are manifestly leading men, who are intoxicated with them, into uncontrollable violence. Them that destroy the earth, under cover of improving conditions, whether materially, socially or religiously, are becoming more and more numerous and powerful.
The establishment of the glorious kingdom of our Lord will mean the destruction of all such. Then at last earths golden age will begin.
The last verse of chapter 11 is evidently the preface to the visions that follow, marking a fresh division of the book. Rev 4:1-11 and Revelation
5 are a magnificent preface to the visions recorded from Rev 6:1 to Rev 11:18. There the sign was the rainbow and the throne. Here it is the temple and the ark of His testament. In that the visions deal with God securing a remnant for Himself, whether of Israel or of the Gentiles, and at the same time breaking the pride and power of men in the earth, and finally establishing His kingdom, and what is involved in this is stated succinctly in Rev 11:18. In this fresh section we are now to cover part of the same ground, but from another view-point.
The ark had been the throne of God in the midst of Israel, and the temple was the shrine for it in the days of the kingdom established through David. All had been desecrated and destroyed on earth, but we are permitted to see that the real things, of which the others were only the shadows, were secured in heaven. Davids greater Son is to be the supreme Ruler, exerting His authority through Israel on earth, and yet more widely through the church, as we shall presently see. God will fulfil and establish His covenant through judgment, hence the opening of the temple is accompanied by judgment, whether directly inflicted from heaven, or generated on earth-lightning, hail, etc., indicates the one; an earthquake indicates the other.
The point in this fresh section seems to be, not so much the establishing of the throne, as the question-Who is going to ascend the throne and thus dominate the earth? There is that Man whom He hath ordained (Act 17:31). But there is also a rival, as we are quickly notified-Satan, represented as a dragon. We shall also see his three chief agents-the two beasts of Rev 13:1-18, and the harlot of Rev 17:1-18. We are now to see these rival powers one by one disposed of, and thus the way cleared for Christ to ascend the throne.
The Two Witnesses
Rev 10:1-11 and Rev 11:1-19
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
By way of introduction to the study of the eleventh chapter of Revelation we wish to say a word about the tenth chapter.
1. The mighty angel which came down from Heaven. The angel described in Rev 10:1 came down with a cloud, a rainbow was round about his head; his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. The angel had in his hand a little book that was open. His right foot was set upon the sea, and his left upon the earth.
This is a graphic picture. The angel himself was either our Lord Jesus, or one of the mighty ones corning as his plenipotentiary. It will be interesting to watch this striking figure as he cries and the seven thunders utter their voices. Here are his words. “And the angel * * lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created Heaven and the things that therein are; and the earth, and the things that therein are; and the sea, and the things that therein are; * * that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.”
As we think of this majestic scene we must remember the statements of Psalm two, where the kings of the earth and its rulers take counsel together against the Lord. They are saying that they will break asunder the bands of the Lord. That they will cast His cords away from them. Thus do the nations make boasts that Christ will never take His throne. The Holy Spirit, however, by the psalmist, says that God will laugh at them, He will hold them in derision, He will mock them in His sore displeasure.
Then we read, “Yet have I set My king upon the holy hill of Zion.” There is nothing under Heaven that can keep Jesus Christ away from His kingdom. The majestic angel of chapter ten swears by the living God that the time is come, and shall not be delayed, when Christ shall rule.
2. The little book which was in the angel’s hand. As the angel, with uplifted hand, took his oath, a voice was heard out of Heaven, which said unto John, “Go and take the little, book which is open in the hand of the angel.” So he went and took the book, and the angel said unto him, “Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” John took the book and ate it up.
There is no doubt but what that book held the final judgments which were about to take place, and through which the kingdoms of the world were to become the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ.
This was sweet, certainly, to the taste. What news could be better and more wholesome? However, as John digested the book’s deeper meanings, he saw the tremendous travail and sorrow which must befall the earth, and particularly the Children of Israel, ere the Lord took His throne. This was bitter to his inward heart.
After John had eaten the book, the angel said unto him, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” These last words are most significant. Do you remember, when Christ told Peter by what method he should die, that Peter said to Christ, concerning John, “And what shall this man do?” The Lord responded, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”
The Lord knew that John was to stand on the earth during the tribulation period, and testify. This is included in the expression,-“What is that to thee?” The Spirit gives us truth just as rapidly as He wants us to have it. Personally, we have no doubt that John will be again upon the earth, to testify even as God hath said.
I. THE MEASURING ROD (Rev 11:1-2)
1. The command, “Rise, and measure the temple of God.” As a reed, like unto a rod, was placed in the hand of John, he was commanded to measure the inner temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. This presupposes that there will be a temple of God builded during these last days of trouble and tribulation.
The temple, however, was to be measured, apart from the outer court, because the outer court was to be given under the Gentiles; and the Holy City (including the outer court) they were to tread under foot for forty-two months. These things are deep, and yet who is there that does not want to know what our heavenly Father has purposed and planned in behalf of His people?
Even as we are writing, Jerusalem and all Palestine is under great throes of trouble. The Arabs and the Jews are watching one another with jealous eyes. Both groups are seeking to dominate the land which God gave unto His own people, Israel.
At this hour the Jews have a stronger grip upon the Holy Land, than they have had for twenty centuries. We need not be surprised if at any time the temple should again be builded unto the Lord, We saw the Mosque of Omar, as it stood there with its great dome, seeming to cry defiance against the living God. The Jews, though blinded in part, and set against the Lord Jesus Christ, still worship God, and if they could they would build Him a house.
2. The command to rise and measure, suggests that the Gentiles are still under control. Both the outer court and the temple were to be trodden down by the feet of Gentiles. Thus there shall be no surcease of Gentile domination, even though Israel is, even now, returning in such numbers to the chosen land.
The forty-two months, spoken of in verse two, covers a period of three years and a half. That period covers the latter half of the period of the Great Tribulation. During those days the enmity between Jew and Gentile, will be at white heat. The Gentiles, under the rule and reign of the antichrist, will put forth all the power they possess against the chosen people. We will see, however, that God will not leave them alone during these strenuous seasons.
Out of the turmoil and strife of those days a remnant will be preserved. The bush which Moses saw was never consumed, neither will Israel ever be consumed. The three Hebrew children came forth from the fiery furnace, so shall Israel come forth. Daniel, in the lions’ den, could not be destroyed; neither will Israel in the den of the Gentiles, be destroyed.
II. THE LORD’S TWO WITNESSES (Rev 11:3-7)
1. The personnel of the two witnesses. For many years Bible students have tried to name these witnesses. That one of them is Elijah, we are all assured. The Old Testament closes with the prophecy of the coming of Elijah. John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah. Our Lord said that Elijah must come. The epistles of John speak of his coming.
Yes. Elijah must be one of the witnesses. But, who is the second one? Chapter ten and verse eleven speaks of John, the beloved disciple, giving the testimony upon the earth. We would not say, however, that he is one of these two. The two witnesses are described in chapter eleven, as working miracles, just like Elijah and Moses worked miracles. But we would not attempt to say, therefore, that Moses is the second witness. There will be two, this we know.
2. The time in which the witnesses prophesy. Verse three says, “They shall prophesy one thousand, two hundred, and threescore days; that is three years and a half. The time, in days, parallels the forty-two months, during which the outer court is trodden under foot. The days and the months, certainly, cover the same period,-the last half of the Tribulation.
3. The raiment with which the witnesses are clothed. Verse three says, “They shall prophesy * * clothed in sack cloth.” Sack cloth is worn as a mark of sorrow and grief. It will suggest extreme bitterness of soul, while the gay clothing worn by the Gentiles will suggest ignorant pride against God’s judgments. It will be a somber sight to behold the two witnesses robed in black, while everybody is preaching peace and prosperity, the glories of the antichrist, and the sweep and the sway of his kingdom.
God’s two men, robed in black, will be prophesying the terrors of the Lord. They will be telling of judgments about to fall. They will be warning the people to flee unto the Lord for help. They will stand forth, as a shield, between the hated and persecuted Jews and the ravages of the Gentiles.
4. God’s description of the two witnesses. Verse four says emphatically, “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth.” Of course, one cannot but immediately think of Zechariah, chapter four. It is there that God definitely describes the two olive trees. Elijah is not seen there, at all, but Zerubbabel is there. If you will pause a moment and go back to verse two, of Zechariah, you have the discussion of the building of the temple. Then, immediately, in verse three, there appears the two witnesses.
In the book of Ezra and also of Haggai, Zerubbabel stood with Ezra in the rebuilding of the temple. That temple was built in most troublous times. It was built with tyrannic and titanic opposition against the builders. God, in speaking of Zerubbabel in those days, said, “Be strong, O Zerubbabel; * * and be strong, O Joshua, [Joshua was the high priest] * * for I am with you saith the Lord of hosts.”
Then God began to tell Zerubbabel,-“Yet once, it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the earth.” And He goes on to speak of the building of the temple. The twelfth chapter of Hebrews, in its concluding verses links Haggai’s statement, to the days of the Great Tribulation, We aver, therefore, that one of the two witnesses will be Zerubbabel. We do not mean, necessarily, that it will be the same Zerubbabel of the days of Ezra and Haggai, and Zechariah. It may be him, however, for he was faithful to God in his day; and, if we suffer for Him, we will reign with Him. If God found Zerubbabel faithful. under circumstances that are so similar to the darker days of the Tribulation, He may want to put him back on earth, the same as Elijah. However, we do assert that these two witnesses, at the least, are similar in position, in conflict, and in service, as the two witnesses in Zechariah, known as the two olive trees, that, stand before God.
III. THE PROTECTIVE JUDGMENTS OF THE TWO WITNESSES (Rev 11:5-6)
1. The fire that proceedeth out of their mouth. If any man desires to hurt the two witnesses, God has given them this protection,-they may devour their enemies by the fire of their mouth, and in this manner shall their enemies be killed.
The picture before us is that of consummate hatred against true witnesses. During the tribulation period we must remember that the world will be following after the antichrist. Every one will be bearing his image and his marks. These two witnesses, of course, stand forth in the limelight against everything which the Man of Sin, does against the Lord. No wonder they are hated, no wonder their lives are sought. Yet, for three years and a half God protects them.
2. The power to work miracles. Verse six tells us that the two witnesses have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; they also have power, that is authority from God, over waters to turn them to blood; and they smite the earth with plagues as often as they will. Certainly they are men to be feared, and they walk with God, and know His will.
Some may argue that it is cruel to bring famine, to turn water to blood, to bring frogs and all other terrible catastrophies, upon men, God has done these same things in the days past, through Moses and Aaron. God has, always, sent judgment on occasion, as it was necessary. God has chastened His own people, Israel, whom He loved. During many centuries they have been wanderers upon the earth. God, also, chastens backsliding and disobedient Christians of today. It will be nothing new, therefore, in the days of the Great Tribulation, for God to once more send judgments against those who spurn His love, and deny His power.
We must remember, withal, that God in wrath always remembers mercy. During these very judgments, many will be led to turn away from the antichrist and to pay the price of their new-found faith, by their martyrdom.
IV. THE MARTYRDOM OF THE TWO WITNESSES (Rev 11:7-10)
1. The two witnesses are invulnerable until their testimony is finished. We read in verse seven, “When they shall have finished their testimony.” We believe that God’s servants are always invulnerable against every onslaught of the enemy until their work is done. Think you that Satan can undo the purposes and the plans of God in the preachments of His faithful witnesses? That is impossible.
2. Satan’s great war. Verse seven says that the beast, which ascendeth out of the abyss, shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Do not think for one moment that God could not have withstood the beast. You remember how Syria sent soldiers against the prophet, to take him, but they went to no avail. God, more than once, sent forth His angels to slay the armies of them. Why then, was Satan now victorious? It was because the testimony of the witnesses was finished.
Why did God not translate them, if their work was done? We suggest two reasons:
(1) God desired to give them the martyr’s crown.
(2) God desired to set forth the villainy of earth’s people. God knew what was in men, but He wanted us to know. Verse eight tells us that that great city, where the two witnesses were slain, was spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. Think, if you can, of Jerusalem where the Lord was crucified, being thus described.
You will understand it all, when you read in verse nine about the dead bodies lying in the streets of Jerusalem and the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations of the earth viewing them there for three days and a hall They would not suffer their dead bodies to be put into graves. They that dwell upon the earth wanted to rejoice over them.
Verse ten tells us that they made merry, and sent gifts one to another, because the two prophets who tormented them were dead. Thus was revealed the heart of sin, and its utter rejection of God and His messengers.
V. THE RAPTURE AND RESURRECTION OF THE TWO WITNESSES (Rev 11:11-13)
1. “After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them.” They died, their bodies lay in the streets, but they came back to life. Immediately, we see that, in their death, God first of all portrayed the villainy of the people. But in their resurrection to life, God both vindicated His servants, and manifested His glory. God, moreover, showed that no work against Him can prosper. He stressed the utter futility of fighting against the Almighty.
To us, it seems that God also vindicated the resurrection of His Son. A mob also crucified the Lord, but God raised Him up; thus in the death of the two witnesses and in their new life. God seemed to be placing His yea and amen upon the Lord Jesus, whom their forefathers had crucified and slain.
2. “And great fear fell upon them which saw them.” Think of it! During the three days and an half, exposed to the heat of the sun and the elements, the dead bodies were already decaying. Putrefaction was already setting in. Then, suddenly, and without warning, they stood upon their feet. Do you marvel that a great fear fell upon men?
3. “Come up hither.” As the two witnesses stood before their foes, 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.” We wondered, a moment ago, why God did not take them up without dying. I think we will agree now that they went up with added glory, after having died.
4. “And the same hour was there a great earthquake.” The people stood gloating over the death of the two, the newspapers were full of it, the supremacy of the antichrist and his victory over the prophet, was heralded around the world. A gala day was on earth, as the people made merry, and sent gifts unto one another.
Then, suddenly, the two witnesses stood alive upon their feet. The people began to tremble, as, with amazed and marveling countenances they gazed upon them. Suddenly the two disappeared in the clouds, before their very eyes.
That same hour a great earthquake came, and a tenth part of the city fell. In that earthquake seven thousand men were slain, and the remnant became affrighted, and gave glory to the God of Heaven. Where now, was the victory of the antichrist? God was conqueror.
VI. THE SOUNDING OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET (Rev 11:15-18)
In Rev 10:7, we read, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” Now, therefore, we stand as it were on tiptoe, for the angel is about to sound, the seventh trumpet is about to be blown. We understand, therefore, the impact of the words which accompany the sounding of this trumpet in verse fifteen, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord; * * and He shall reign for ever and ever.”
You understand that this follows hot upon the rapture of the two witnesses into heaven. If there are any who vainly imagine that the kingdoms of the world will never become the kingdoms of our Lord, let them ponder this Verse. If any one doubts that His kingdom shall be forever and ever, let them also study this verse.
It is vital, withal, to remember that the kingdoms of this world do not become the kingdoms of our Lord, through the church, and the gradual growth of the Gospel. It occurs only after the twelve hundred and sixty days of the prophecies of the two witnesses are past.
When the voice in Heaven had spoken, we read that the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God. And this was the word of their praise: “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.” All of this came to pass as stated in verse eighteen, when the nations were angered. They certainly have not been converted.
The reign of Christ is established by the coming of the Son of Man, when His arrows are hot in the heart of the King’s enemies. The reign of Christ follows hard upon the day of His wrath. It is preceded immediately by the judging of, and rewards which shall be given unto His servants, and to the prophets, and to them that fear His name.
Let us not get things mixed up, lest we think that the church is steadily marching on to conquest. To the contrary, the church, which is His body, is marching on toward its rapture, And the earth and its people, are marching on to their undoing, and utter destruction.
VII. THE TEMPLE OF GOD OPEN IN HEAVEN (Rev 11:19)
As John saw the seventh angel about to sound, and the four and twenty elders giving praises to God, he also saw the inner temple of God, opened in Heaven. As he looked in the temple, he saw the Ark of the Covenant or Testament, as it is called here.
“What did this inner view of glory mean? It certainly means that God has not forgotten His covenant which He made unto Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Having had none greater by which to sware, He had sworn by Himself, and His. covenant is sure. Beloved, as the end of the tribulation shall hasten toward its close, God will let us see the fulfillment of every word He ever promised.
His covenant to Israel, His covenant to the church, will all be proved as yea, and amen. Every prophecy of the prophets will be fulfilled just as God willed. God will be vindicated in every promise He ever made. It will be shown that God’s Word was indeed forever settled in Heaven and fulfilled upon the earth. In that day, mid the throes of travail among the people, and mid the cataclysms and catastrophes upon the physical earth, it will be proved openly before the eyes of God’s people that though Heaven and earth shall pass His Word shall never pass away.
Following John’s vision of the open Heaven, and the ark of the covenant, there came lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. All of this was in anticipation of those final judgments, which, under the sounding of the seventh angel, should bring in the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.
Rev 11:1. The reed given unto John was a measuring rule and is a symbol of the word of God. This is clear from the fact that the angel gave it to John who was one of the apostles. We know the word of God is the divine standard for it is required in 1Pe 4:11 that, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.” At the time predicted by this chapter the apostasy (“falling away”) was an established fact. The Bible was virtually taken from the people and the religious lives of men and women were judged by the decrees of Rome instead of by the word of God. This verse is a symbol of the true standard of the measurement as the apostles were given the authority to execute (Mat 19:28). The temple of God means the church (1Co 3:16-17). The altar was the center of worship in the Mosaic system, and it is referred to here as a symbol of the worship under that of Christ. The in that worship therein means Christians, whose personal lives must be measured (regulated) by the word of God and not by the decrees of Rome.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Introduction.
SUMMARY OF THE SEVEN SEALS
It will be remembered that the seven trumpets were within the seventh seal. When the seventh seal was opened, seven angels appeared, having seven trumpets; in the hand of each angel, a trumpet. The significance of the sounding of the trumpets was to signal the commencement of the imp –was the signal of devastation, signified by the smitten earth, indicating divine judgmeRev 8:7he land of the Jewish powers.
(2) The second trumpet–Rev 8:8-9 –was the signal of the smitten sea. Casting the burning mountain into the sea signified the divine judgments on the sea power, the Roman monarchy, burning with the lust of war; the destruction of the power of the sea beast persecutors to make war against Christ.
(3) The third trumpet–Rev 8:10-11 –was the signal of smitten rivers, which signified by the great burning star the fall of the rulers, as spent meteors, from their former dominion; and the dissipation of the source of their power was symbolized by the drying of the fountain which supplied the river which flows through its channel.
(4) The fourth trumpet–Rev 8:12-13 –was the signal of the smitten sun, signifying the darkness that would settle over the Jewish state in the divine judgments to descend on Jerusalem, bringing an end to Judaism.
(5) The fifth trumpet–Rev 9:1-12 -was the signal of the fallen star, personified in a degenerate leader of impious forces, designated as an army of locusts from the smoke of the pit, and symbolizing the invasion of Judea by terrifying armies led by Satan personified in the persecuting emperor–the resulting calamities of which brought to pass the first of the three woes enumerated by John.
(6) The sixth trumpet–Rev 9:13-21 –was the signal of loosing the four angels, the imperial agents which had been restrained from hindering the messengers of Christ until the true Israel of God was sealed ” of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” The spiritual Israel was symbolized by the hundred forty-four thousand–the holy seed. With the completion of this mission of “sealing the servants of God,” the suspension period was declared ended, and the four angels of destruction were loosed to proceed with the encompassing desolation of Jerusalem.
(7) The seventh trumpet–Revelation 10-11 –was the signal of the finale, “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel”–the last days of the political Jewish state and the dispensation of Judaism–accompanied by the testimony of the two witnesses as necessary to establish testimony. It symbolized the two-fold mission and work of the prophets and apostles in the unfolding of the scheme of redemption, begun by Old Testament prophets, but completed by New Testament apostles, and fulfilled in the church. The tragic calamities surrounding these representatives of the church marked the passing of the second woe and the immediate pronouncement of the third woe in the sounding of the seventh trumpet, ending in the conquest of the kingdoms of the world by Christ the conqueror.
VI.
A RECAPITULATION OF THE FIRST APOCALYPSE
The apocalypse known by all as the Book Of Revelation is comprised of two parts–two series of visions–therefore, essentially two apocalypses, but consisting in a repetition of import under a second set of symbols. The first series surrounded the conquering Christ; the second series surrounded the victorious church.
The object of the visions of the first part, beginning with chapter four and ending with chapter eleven, was mainly the end of both spiritual and political Judaism, resulting in the expansion of the new “kingdom of God and Christ” over the whole Roman world.
In harmony with this objective the first century persecutions, with that generation of martyrs, were represented by a system of signs and symbols, consisting in the opening of seven seals and the sounding of seven trumpets. The seven seals contained the successive events of divine judgment in the symbols of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple of the Jews. The opening of the seals represented the making known, or the revelation, of these judgments; and the sounding of the trumpets signaled that the time to commence had come. This first series of apocalypses includes chapters 4-11 of Revelation.
(CHAPTER 4)
The Revelation began and proceeded from the Throne in heaven, with Him who sat on it; Christ in the midst of it, surrounded by twenty-four elders, symbolic of the complete New Testament church-the totality of spiritual Israel, based on the twelve patriarchs and apostles of the old and the new dispensations.
(CHAPTER 5)
The book with the seven seals could be opened only by Christ the slain Lamb, who had risen to prevail and who had become the Lion of the tribe of Judah, able to defeat and conquer all the forces set in opposition to his Cause. The seven seals portended the overthrow of the persecuting powers both Jewish and Roman.
(CHAPTER 6)
The four seals were in the order portrayed by the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
The white horse and its Rider of the first seal symbolized Christ, the Conqueror, the leading figure of the imagery, who appeared again at the end of the visions as the Rider of the white horse in the procession of victory in chapter 19.
The red horse and rider of the second seal signified the persecutor waging war against the Cause of Christ. The black horse and rider of the third seal, represented distress, calamity and deadly famine, indicated by the symbols of the balances and scales for the weighing and measuring of all food allowances.
The pale horse and rider of the fourth seal were designated as death and hades, and signified death, not death by martyrdom, but by pestilence and scourge.
The fifth seal was the martyr scene of souls “under the altar” asking for avenging judgment, which, though delayed in a waiting period until the procession of events “should be fulfilled,” was in due time and order received; and John saw them receiving this judgment in Rev 20:4, for which he had heard them asking in Rev 6:10 –thus signifying the resurrection of the Cause for which they had been slain.
The sixth seal was the earthquake, which signified the shaking of the existing powers of government by revolutions, upheavals and wars; and the various divine visitations on the persecuting authorities. This was symbolized by the darkened sun, the falling stars and the scrolled heaven, all of which meant the folding up of the powers of persecution and the fall of Judaism. The events of this seal ended in the scene of the great day of wrath, where these portents of judgment descended on the great and mighty men of the earth, who are envisioned as calling upon the mountains for a hiding place from the face of God on the Throne, and from the wrath of Christ, whose Cause they had persecuted.
(CHAPTER 7)
The seventh seal, the last in the book of seals, displayed seven angels standing before God, to whom seven trumpets were given; and they “prepared themselves” to sound the seven trumpets as signals that the time had come to accomplish the seals, and that they were ready to proceed.
(CHAPTERS 8-9)
In the sounding of the seven trumpets seven angels proclaimed the judgments which were attended by the woes which John periodically announced in the progressive vision of the seventh seal, which have been summarized in the preceding section of these comments.
(CHAPTERS 10-11)
Lastly, the culmination of all the events of the first apocalypse was depicted when the seventh angel sounded the seventh trumpet, and the great voices in heaven in grand unison proclaimed: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.” The Rider of the white horse had conquered. Judaism, the arch enemy of Christ had fallen; the stars of Jewish rulership had been plucked from their orbits of dominion; the Jewish state was ended; the temple was no longer standing. The New Jerusalem and the spiritual temple of New Israel had prevailed. From the apocalypse of the Conquering Christ, the visions turned in chapter 12, to his tortured but triumphant church.
Verse 1.
The measuring of the temple–Rev 11:1-2.
The contents of the eleventh chapter are a continuation of the scenes of the interlude, or intermediate visions, between the sixth and seventh trumpet announcements. The things narrated belong to the days of the voice of the seventh angel–the end of the Jewish state or political dispensation. The siege and fall of Jerusalem was at hand.
The pronouncement of chapter 10 that there should be time no longer had been made. The eleventh chapter presents intervening scenes of measuring the temple, for the preservation of the “holy seed,” the “true Israel,” the “one hundred forty-four thousand,” the “innumerable host,” the “remnant according to the election of grace,” and the “sealed number”–representative of all spiritual Israel, the whole faithful church, and the true spiritual temple in contrast with the old temple which though still standing, was measured for destruction. The old Jerusalem, the apostate city, was marked for its downfall.
1. A reed like a rod: The indication is that this reed was given to John in the same manner and, hence, by the same One by whom the book was given to him in Rev 10:9. And the angel that commanded him to measure the temple is the same angel that commanded him to eat the book. The use of the article the angel, rather than an angel, or another angel, designates the angel as Christ himself, as shown in the notes on the preceding chapter.
The reed was like a rod. The measuring reed was six cubits, about three yards in length. This measuring reed was like a rod, signifying the authority of its giver, the angel. In the psalm-prophecy of Christ, David said: “I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion . . . I will declare the decree . . . thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee . . . I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.” (Psa 2:6-9) Again the psalmist said: “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.” (Psa 110:1-2) Both of these psalms are applied in the New Testament to the rule and authority of Christ. In that same sense it is used in Rev 2:27, “He shall rule them with a rod of iron”– the rule of irresistible authority.
The rod was also the symbol of affliction, as signified in the phrase “passing under the rod” of Eze 20:37, and “take his rod away from me,” of Job 9:34.
This measuring reed given to John symbolized the authority of this “mighty angel” (Rev 10:1), and his power to protect and preserve the true believers.
2. Measure, temple, altar, worship: At the start of the interval between the sixth and seventh seals, the angel announced the purpose of the interlude (Rev 7:3) as time to seal the servants of God; and in verse 4 he described and defined the number of them which were sealed as being symbolically of all the tribes of the children of Israel. In the same imagery here, in the interval between the sixth and seventh trumpets, the command of the angel to measure the temple, the altar and them that worship is symbolic of the true Israel of God. They were measured for preservation, the holy seed of Israel, spiritual Israel, that should not perish. The measured number here in chapter 11 is the same company of believers as the sealed number of chapter 7. They are the symbolic one hundred forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel–of Rev 7:4 –computed on the basis of twelve times twelve for the twelve tribes, and in the numeral thousand for a symbol of the aggregated whole, complete, total body of true believers, of the spiritual tribes of Israel. (Act 26:7)
The symbolism of the measuring of the temple is exactly the same, the sealed servants of chapter 7 and the measured worshipers of chapter 11 are the same company, symbolic of the same thing, sealed and measured for the same purpose.
Rev 11:1. A reed was given to the Seer,it is not said by whom,and we are left to infer, as at chap. Rev 6:2; Rev 6:4; Rev 6:8; Rev 6:11, that it was by one in heaven. The word my in Rev 11:3 may lead us to the thought of the Lord Himself. The reed is for measuring, but it is stronger than a common reed, and is thus more able to effect its purpose: it is like unto a rod. May it not even be a rod of judgment (comp. 1Co 4:21)? Omitting for the present the import of the measuring, we notice only that the idea is taken from Eze 40:3; Zec 2:2. Three things are to be measured. First, the temple of God, meaning not the whole temple-buildings, but the Holy and Most Holy place. Secondly, the altar. This altar, considering where it stands, can only be that of incense, not the brazen altar transferred to another than its own natural position. Upon this altar the prayers of Gods persecuted saints were laid (chap. Rev 8:3), and it is with the persecuted saints that we have here to do (Rev 11:7). Thirdly, they that worship therein, that is, in the innermost sanctuary of the temple; while to worship is the expression of highest adoration. The last clause alone is a sufficient proof that the three things to be measured are not to be understood literally. How could those who worship in the temple be thus measured with a reed? But, if one of three objects mentioned in the same sentence and in the same way be figurative, the obvious inference is that the other two must be looked at in a similar light. By the temple, therefore, it is impossible to understand the literal temple in Jerusalem supposed to be as yet undestroyed. Even although we knew, on other and independent grounds, that the overthrow of the city by the Romans had not yet taken place, it would be entirely out of keeping with the Seers method of conception to suppose that he refers to the temple on Mount Moriah. His temple imagery is always drawn not from that building but from the Tabernacle first erected in the wilderness. It is the shrine of the latter not of the former that he has in view, and the word used in the original, however its rendering in English may suggest such associations to us, has no necessary connection with the Temple of Solomon. For a clear proof that this is St. Johns mode of viewing the Naos (i.e the shrine, the temple here in question) see the note on Rev 11:19. As to the import of the measuring there can be little doubt. It is determined, by the contrast of Rev 11:2, by the measuring of chap. Rev 21:15-16, and by the analogy of chap. 7, to be for preservation, not, as sometimes imagined, for destruction.
Observe here, 1. The command given by God to St. John to take a survey of his church, his spiritual temple, consisting of living stones, and built upon the chief corner stone, Jesus Christ. God’s faithful and true worshippers are only those whom God will have to be measured, and taken notice of as being his part and portion, his tabernacle in which he will dwell. And, blessed be God! in the worst of times they are measurable; even in times of epidemical degeneracy, and universal apostasy, God has a number to stand up for his name, and to bear witness to his truth.
Observe, 2. That the temple, the altar, and the worshippers therein, are here all joined together, and the command given is, to measure them together. Arise, and measure the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein; intimating, that the true church, and the true worshippers, are ever found together; and by the true worship, and the true worshippers, is the true church ever known; so that if the question be asked, “Where is the true church?” the answer is, where the true altar is; and where the true worship is, there the true church is; that church which will bear God’s measuring reed, the scrutiny of the scriptures, and the examination of his holy word; where that worship is found, here the church of God is found.
John is given a reed which is strong enough to be a rod one might use to measure. He is told to measure the “temple of God.” The word used here for temple is not hieron, which describes the buildings courts and porches ( Joh 10:23 ; Mat 24:1-2 ), but naos, which is literally the sanctuary. ( Mat 27:51 ) In the New Testament, the church, or its individual members, are frequently called the sanctuary, or dwelling place, of God. ( 1Co 3:16-17 ; Eph 2:21 ; 1Pe 2:5 ; 1Co 6:16 ; Rev 3:12 ) When one considers earlier references to the Jews as the synagogue of Satan ( Rev 2:9 ; Rev 3:9 ), it is impossible to believe we have here the Jewish temple. Instead, we conclude the Revelation follows the New Testament pattern with the temple being the church. The altar of incense is where the prayers of the saints are offered and the worshipers are faithful members of the church. After referring to Rev 21:15 ; Eze 40:5 ; Eze 42:20 and Zec 2:1 , Hendriksen concludes, “that measuring the sanctuary means to set it apart from that which is profane; in order that, thus separated, it may be perfectly safe and protected from all harm.”
Rev 11:1-2. And there was given me By Christ, as appears from Rev 11:3; a reed As there was shown to Ezekiel, whose vision bore a great resemblance to this, Eze 40:-43. And the angel Which had spoken to me before; stood by me, saying, Rise Probably he was sitting to write; and measure the temple of God and the altar The house and the inner court where the altar stood, in which the priests worshipped God and performed the duties of their office, and into which such as offered private sacrifices for themselves were admitted. A proper representation of the church of God and his true worship, and of such as were true worshippers of him. The reason, it seems, of St. Johns being commanded to measure the inner court and the temple was, to show that during all this period there were some true Christians, who conformed to the rule and measure of Gods word and worship. Measuring the servants of God is equivalent to sealing them. The unmeasured tenants of the outer court, and the unsealed men throughout the Roman empire, are alike the votaries of the apostacy; while they that were measured and they that were sealed, are the saints who refused to be partakers of its abominations. Faber, vol. 2. p. 53. This measuring might allude more particularly to the Reformation from popery, which took place under the sixth trumpet. And one of the moral causes of it was the Othmans taking Constantinople, which occasioned the Greek fugitives to bring their books with them into the more western parts of Europe, and proved the happy cause of the revival of learning; as the revival of learning opened mens eyes, and proved the happy occasion of the Reformation. But though the inner court, which includes the smaller number, was measured, yet the outer court, which implies the far greater part, was left out, (Rev 11:2,) and rejected, as being in the possession of those who were Christians only in name, but Gentiles in worship and practice, who profaned it with heathenish superstition and idolatry; and they shall tread under foot the holy city They shall trample upon and tyrannise over the church of Christ, which shall be filled with idolaters, infidels, and hypocrites, possessing its most eminent and lucrative places, while true Christians are oppressed in a grievous manner; and that for the space of forty and two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, thirty days being included in a month, the same period with that afterward termed a time, times, and a half time; that is, a year, two years, and half a year, or three years and a half, according to the ancient year of three hundred and sixty days, all which are prophetic numbers; so that twelve hundred and sixty days are twelve hundred and sixty years. Now it plainly appears from the predictions both of Daniel and St. John, that this period of persecution and trouble has no connection with the persecutions which the church endured from the pagan Roman emperors. We are, however, according to the same prophecies, to look for the promoters of it within the limits of the old Roman empire; and since that empire had embraced Christianity previous to its division into ten kingdoms, the little horn, which symbolizes one of these persecuting powers, and which is represented as being contemporary with the ten kingdoms, must be nominally Christian. And this is no other than the apostate Church of Rome, so minutely described by St. Paul, 2Th 2:1, as well as by Daniel and St. John. And the two latter specify with much exactness the era from which the computation of the twelve hundred and sixty years is to be made. Daniel directs us to date them from the time when the saints were, by some public act of the state, delivered into the hand of the little horn: and St. John, in a similar manner, teaches us to date them from the time when the woman, the true church, fled into the wilderness from the face of the serpent; when the mystic city of God began to be trampled under foot by a new race of Gentiles, or idolaters; when the great Roman beast, which had been slain by the preaching of the gospel, revived in its bestial character, by setting up an idolatrous spiritual tyrant in the church; and when the witnesses began to prophesy in sackcloth. A date which, as Mr. Faber justly observes, can have no connection with the mere acquisition of a temporal principality by the pope, but must evidently be the year in which the bishop of Rome was constituted supreme head of the church, with the proud title of bishop of bishops: for, by such an act, the whole church was formally given, by the head of the Roman empire, into the hand of the little horn. This was the year 606, when the reigning emperor, Phocas, the representative of the sixth head of the beast, declared Pope Boniface to be universal bishop; at which time, the saints being delivered into his hand, the twelve hundred and sixty years of the apostacy, in its public and dominant capacity, commenced.
Revelation Chapter 11
We are here at once in the centre of prophetic subjects-Jerusalem, the temple, the altar, and worshipers. The worshipers and the altar are recognised and accepted of God-those worshiping in the secret of God within. The general profession of Judaism is rejected and disowned. It is given up to be trodden down under the Gentiles, and that for the half-week of sorrow. Those who held the place of priests were owned. Real worshipers, according to Gods mind, were there and owned; and God gave also an adequate testimony-two witnesses -what was required under the law; and they continue day by day constantly to give witness the whole period, or half-week. The witnesses were in sorrow and reproach, but with power; as Elias and Moses were when the people were in apostacy and captivity. It was not the re-establishment of Israel with royalty and priesthood, as it would be afterwards -the candlestick of Zechariah with the two olive- trees-but the sufficient witness to it. Nor could they be touched while the half-week of their prophecy lasted; their word brought death on their adversaries. We have priesthood and prophecy in the remnant, not of course royalty, but a testimony to it practically: suffering marked its absence, yet none could touch them till their time were come. In this they were like Christ in His humiliation in the midst of Israel; only He did not slay His enemies. In the Psalms we marked it out as the remnants portion. Complete humiliation and the full answer of God to their prophetic word marked their state. But when they had finished their testimony, the case is different. They had to do with the beast out of the bottomless pit. They stood before the God of the earth-not preachers of heavenly gospel, but witnesses of Gods title to the earth-of His love to His people in connection with it. They bore witness to Gods claim when hostile Gentiles were in possession. The beast, now their hour is come, slays them, and their bodies are cast into the highways of the city. Those of the nations rejoice over them and make merry. The dwellers upon earth who would have the earth theirs and ease upon it; were delighted: for the witnesses of the God of the earth tormented them; but in three days and a half, quickened by the power of the Spirit of God, they ascended to heaven in a cloud, not as Christ did, apart, but in the sight of their enemies. A tenth of the great city of the world fell at the same time in the convulsion that took place on the earth; and the remnant are affrighted, and give glory to the God of heaven. But God was dealing already as the God of the earth. The second woe was now past.
Thus we get the close of the half week indicated; the seventh trumpet was quickly to sound, which was to finish the mystery of God. It sounds; and there were great voices in heaven declaring that the worldly kingdom of their Lord (Jehovah) and of His anointed (Christ) was come-the greatest woe and terror of all to the inhabitants of the earth. Satans woe had been specially on Jews; mans woe, specially on the men of the Latin Empire; this is Gods woe when the nations are angry, and Gods wrath is come, and full reckoning and final deliverance come. We have again the elders here announcing the reason of praise and thanksgiving. Voices in heaven announce the fact of the reign of Jehovah and of His Christ according to Psa 2:1-12, and that He (for, as ever, John unites both in one thought) should reign for ever and ever; and so it will be. But both the earthly and eternal kingdom are celebrated. Only in the eternal kingdom the distinction of the worldly kingdom and of Christs subordination is omitted. In the thanksgiving of the elders, Jehovah Elohim Shaddai is also celebrated; as the great King who takes to Him His power and reigns; for it is Gods kingdom. We have two parts in their statement: the nations angry-this brings in the time of Gods wrath; and the time of the dead to be judged. This is the first half: mans wrath, and Gods judgment. Then He gives reward to prophets, saints, and all that fear His name, and sets aside from the earth those who corrupted it. This is blessing. The first part is general, the time of wrath and judgment; the second is reward and deliverance of the saints on earth. This closes entirely the main symbolic history. The last trumpet has sounded, and the mystery of God is closed.
In what follows we have details: the beast, and the connection of the assembly and Jews with it; Babylon; and then the marriage of the Lamb; judgments of beast and false prophet; binding of Satan; two resurrections, and final judgment; and the description of the heavenly city. But this new prophecy begins (Rev. 12:19), as to earthly prophetic dealing, with special reference to the Jews. The temple of God is opened in heaven, the ark of His covenant, which refers to Israel is seen there. But judgment characterises it now; judgments of all kinds, those coming down from above, and subversion and disaster below. [13]
Footnotes for Revelation Chapter 11
13: Where the throne is set for judgment, it is characterized only by what proceeds directly from God. There are no earth quakes and hail; here there are.
THE reader must remember we are still in the period of the sixth trumpet.
1-3. Here we have the period of Jerusalems desolation and pollution, given in the phraseology, forty two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days, which are synonymous. Jerusalem was captured by the Mohammedans, A.D. 637; 1897 minus 637 leaves 1260. You see, from this calculation, that the Turks have but one more year in the Holy Land.
While these numbers are Gods invaluable lights hung out from the skies to illume the dark night of Satans reign on the earth, yet you must not be a numerical stickler, and permit your faith to be jostled if they are not literally fulfilled, since we do not know the exact chronology; but we certainly know it sufficiently for all practical purposes. I shall certainly look for the fall of the Turkish power in the Holy Laud in 1897. It may come sooner, or perhaps later; but rest assured, it will not long delay. No wonder the Church prophesies (i.e., preaches) clothed in sackcloth (i.e., amid great discouragements) while antichrist reigns.
4, 6. The two witnesses are regeneration and sanctification, wrought by the Holy Ghost in the heart. The tame olive tree (Jeremiah 11;
Romans 11) is the Jewish Church the Old Dispensation, on the basis of justification. The wild olive tree, grafted into the good olive tree, typifies the converted Gentiles, and represents the Pentecostal Dispensation, which is sanctification. The two candlesticks represent the two departments of the temple-the sanctuary, which is regeneration, and the sanctum-sanctorum, which is entire sanctification. Hence you see these two witnesses are Gods work in the heart i.e., regeneration and sanctification.
5. If any one wishes to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouth, and burns up their enemies. This statement of the Holy Ghost is profoundly significant of the utter irresistibility of Christian testimony. If you get a real sky- blue regeneration and a red-hot sanctification, you have nothing to do but open your mouth and testify. Your enemies will quail and skedaddle before you. History says the testimony of dying martyrs frequently converted their executioners, who, in turn, surrendered and likewise suffered martyrdom. This is the hope of the Holiness movement, to burn its way through the icebergy Churches, and conquer this wicked world for Christ. If the Holiness people are true, get the genuine experience, and keep full of love and fire, victory has come to stay. Gods people, though driven by their persecutors into mountains and caverns, still have the power to lock up the heavens by their prayers, and bring famine on the earth. Last summer it was my privilege to visit the deep, dark cavern beside the brook Cherith, where Elijah locked the heavens three years by his prayer. Responsive to the prayer of Moses, the waters of Egypt were turned into blood.
7. The beast coming up out of the bottomless pit is theerion. It means a ferocious, bloodthirsty wild beast. It is constantly in these prophecies used with reference to the papacy and the secular powers i.e., human governments all of which are symbolized by wild beasts. And he shall make war with the saints, and kill them. This has been abundantly fulfilled in case of both pagan and papal Rome, each having slain one hundred millions of martyrs. These two witnesses are Gods saints on the earth, testifying to His works wrought in them i.e., regeneration and sanctification. It is highly probable that these prophecies have their preliminary fulfillments at different epochs. As we approach the final culmination I see at least a preliminary verification of the prophecies relative to the witnesses in the French Revolution. Paris, the most debauched and fantastical city on the globe, is appropriately symbolized by Sodom, Egypt, and fallen Jerusalem when she murdered her Savior. During the French Revolution, which broke out in 1789, and finally terminated in Napoleons conquest, when the infidels got the political power and became the sole custodians of the imperial government, actuated by the writings and personal influence of Tom Paine, Voltaire, and Rousseau, they repudiated the Bible, interdicted all religions service, closed all the Churches against the worshipping congregations, and used them for club-meetings and other secular purposes; abolished the Sabbath, and proclaimed every tenth day for recreation and rest; sent men throughout the empire to superscribe over the gate leading into every graveyard, Death is an eternal sleep. This audacious infidel government swiftly culminated in the Reign of Terror. Men, women, and children, on the merest suspicion, were beheaded by the guillotine. The land flowed with innocent blood. A million of the best people were brutally murdered. Danton, Murat, and Robespierre, the terrorists, became absolutely intolerable. The people arose en masse, slew the tyrants, threw off the infidel government, reinstated the royal family, restored the Bible to the people, reopened the Churches, called back the surviving clergy from an exile of three years and a half, and restored the Sabbath, with all the institutions of the Christian religion. Here you see a fulfillment of this prophecy. During the Reign of Terror, three years and a half, Gods witnesses were slain; i.e., Christianity was utterly abolished and infidelity enthroned. At the expiration of three years and a half, infidelity was dethroned and Christianity restored; i.e., the witnesses were raised from the dead.
12. Here we see the witnesses ascend up to heaven in a cloud, responsive to the Divine voice calling them to mount up hither. There is at least a probability that the culminating fulfillment of this prophecy will take place at the rapture, when our Lord shall descend and receive his people; i.e., into the cloud. Remember that the two witnesses are regeneration and sanctification, which are Gods works in the heart, to which His people in all ages bear testimony. The Armenian Christians have the largest building in Jerusalem, their convent on Mt. Zion accommodating eight thousand pilgrims. I was in it, and many other Churches and edifices belonging to those people. Numerically and financially, they are the third Christian denomination in the Holy Land. In open violation of the Christian Toleration Treaty of 1844, the Turks have been murdering the Armenian Christians about eighteen months. Now perhaps these massacres will continue two years more, and then the Lord will descend and take up His murdered Armenian Christians, with His expectant bride, into the cloud. Will not that be a glorious fulfillment of this prophecy? It may have received its final fulfillment in the French Revolution, as above described; but I feel profoundly impressed that this fulfillment was only preliminary to the final and glorious verification which will take place at the rapture, when the Lords witnesses, who have been slain in all ages, will rise to meet Him in the clouds. And who knows but these Armenian massacres will continue till the Lord descends and takes them up, thus fulfilling this prophecy about the murdered witnesses who lay dead three years and a half!
13. Doubtless the latter days will be signally characterized by terrible earthquakes. Here we have the numbers ten and seven, both of which are sacred in these prophecies. Seven is symbolic of Christ, and ten is a multiple of Gods children. This is evidently a description of the rapture, when the Lord shall come in a cloud (1:7) and take up his people. Jesus says, in his sermon on the judgments (Matthew 24), that He will appear as the lightning shining around the world, and flashing into all eyes. No wonder this will produce a terrible and universal alarm, superinducing a mighty awakening!
We have now reached the terminus of the sixth trumpet and second woe. The current of Divine providence begins a tinkling rill. Augmented by innumerable tributaries, it soon becomes a swelling river. It then broadens out into a majestic arm of the sea; continues to widen and deepen, till it disembarks into the ocean. These seven trumpets proclaim the entire prophetic panorama. When we reach the fifth trumpet, Satans millennium is in full blast. Dark Age midnight fast culminated. The devil has shaken down every civil government on the globe, and so completely sidetracked the Apostolic Church as to get her literally turned around, so that she is running with all of her momentum straight down to hell. At this juncture Diabolus sends into the world his two favorite sons i.e., Mahomet and the pope dividing the world between them, giving to Mahomet the Eastern and to the pope the Western hemisphere. Oh, how the pandemonium rings with shouts upon the coronation of these two diabolical kings, as they sanguinely hoped, destined to rule the world forever, thus consummating Satans original scheme of augmenting the narrow limits of hell by the permanent accession of this world! In that case, there never would have been another civil government nor holy Church on the earth.
So momentous are the calamities transpiring in the fifth trumpet that it is denominated the first woe. It embraces five months i.e., one hundred and fifty years culminating in the Saracen invasion of Europe, threatening to sweep Christianity, which they had already driven out of Asia and Africa and exiled in Europe (at that time the wild West), from the globe. The defeat of the Saracens at the battle of Tours, France, by Charles Martel, in A.D. 732, was a sunburst on the hopes of Christendom, and the first decisive defeat of the Moslem invaders. Then a number of centuries intervened, culminating in the Crusades, during which Christianity was frequently on the aggressive, but finally culminating in hopeless defeat, so far as the recovery of the Holy Land was concerned.
The second woe is to continue a year, a month, a day, and an hour; i.e., in prophetic time, four hundred years. This embraces the second great period of the Moslem conquest, during which they overran the great East and founded the Mogul Empire, which embraced the fairest portions of the known world, and stood two hundred years, ruled by Moslem princes. Meanwhile they continue to press the war with indefatigable perseverance against Christian Europe, perfectly sanguine in their anticipation of conquering the world. The Chaldean, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires each in turn had conquered and ruled the world. Why shall not the Moslem warriors push the Islam conquest to the ends of the earth, unify the government of the nations under the broad pinions of the worldwide Turkish Empire, sweep idolatry from the globe, exterminate Christianity from the face of the earth, and concentrate all nations in the grand Monotheism of the Koran and its inimitable prophet? Exuberant with a thousand victories, their path strewn with laurels, golden scepters, crowns, from the Indian Ocean to the Baltic Sea, A.D. 1683, three hundred thousand panoplied Mussulmen lay siege to Vienna, the capital of Austria, and at that time the greatest city in Christendom. They coiled their innumerable host, like a huge boa-constrictor, around the city. Cutting off all possible ingress and egress, they propose to starve them into speedy capitulation. With the flight of the last hope, the Viennese dispatch a courier to John Sobieski, the world-renowned Polish Aero, who was then in the meridian of his military glory, and celebrated afar on account of his enthusiasm for the cause of Christ. He receives the message with unutterable gratitude to God for opening the door to serve His cause. He hastily rendezvouses seventy thousand Christian warriors, jubilant to march under the banner of the Cross to the relief of Vienna. But what shall they do with three hundred thousand Saracens? They outnumber them nearly five to one. Besides, they have everything possible in the way of arms and equipage; and last, though not least, they are flushed with a thousand victories, and feel certain of another, which will open all Europe to the Moslem conquest, and expedite the extermination of Christianity from the earth. The Poles are not only few in number and poorly armed, but the outstanding memory of four hundred years, in which the Crescent has triumphed and the Cross trailed in the dust, throws an ominous gloom over the forlorn hope of Viennas relief. They arrive at five oclock P.M. on Sunday, October 12, 1683. Sobieski delivers them a powerful war speech, in which he asseverates his determination to whip the Moslems and relieve Vienna, or die on the battlefield. His men all imbibe the same spirit. He gives them the battle-cry, Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thee, be the glory! He leads the assault in person at a sweeping gallop, waving his sword in the air and shouting aloud, Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thee, be the glory! Meanwhile, the seventy thousand Christian warriors follow, shouting that thrilling battle-cry at the top of their voices. The terrible impetuosity breaks the Moslem phalanx, generates confusion, which speedily culminates in wild disorder, incorrigible panic, general skedaddle, and an awful stampede for life. In the good providence of God, it was the time of a total lunar eclipse. The full Moon rises in all her effulgent beauty and glory. The sky is perfectly serene and cloudless. The total eclipse comes on, and she literally fades away from the Orient. When the superstitious Mussulmans, utterly ignorant of astronomy, see their banner fade from the sky, they give way to universal consternation and precipitate flight, screaming vociferously as they run for dear life: God has forsaken us; do you not see our banner fading from the skies? Thus in pell-mell confusion they run over one another in the universal stampede, leaving the earth groaning beneath the burdens they have abandoned in their trepidation. The finest war-horses, draft-animals, all sorts of vehicles, with immense spoils accumulated on a hundred battlefields, are all abandoned in the promiscuous flight for life. Then and there the tide of Saracen conquest, which had moved forward four hundred years, and bade fair to inundate the world, exterminating Christianity from the globe, began to roll back, and has been receding ever since. Within fifteen years from that signal and disastrous defeat, the Turkish Empire lost a dozen kingdoms, and has been going down with the velocity of an avalanche ever since. Rome possessed the whole world. Having ruled it a thousand years, it took her three hundred years to die. The Moslem power conquered the time-honored empires of the globe, possessed the fairest portions of the world, and ruled them a thousand years, before she met her fatal doom at. Vienna. Thus she has been dying two hundred years. She is now a political corpse, kept alive artificially by the jealousy of her neighbors. We are in daily anticipation of her long-expected collapse. The prophetical epoch of her fall is 1897. Making due allowances for chronological inaccuracies, we may rest assured the end is nigh. When Turkdom falls, the Holy Land passes into Christendom; the children of Abraham will be gathered home, and speedily converted to Christianity.
15. THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS HIS TRUMPET
And there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.
18. And the Gentiles were enraged, and Thy wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be vindicated, and to give reward to Thy servants the prophets and saints, and to those who fear Thy name, small and great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. These prophetical scenes frequently overlap and run into each other. We have now reached the seventh trumpet, which will sound on till the Lord comes to reign. But remember, since the beginning of the ninth chapter, we have been in the Oriental hemisphere, among the followers of the false prophet. When we reach the papal prophecies, appertaining to the Occidental hemisphere, we will fall back to the fifth and sixth trumpets, which proclaim the first and second woes. As we found the second woe vastly greater than the first, so we will find the third woe infinitely climaxing all the preceding.
The momentous issues predicted in all the latter day prophecies belong to the third woe, and will take place during the seventh trumpet. You see unmistakably, from the above quotations, that every human government on the globe, both political and ecclesiastical, is to be turned over to the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to reign. Two hundred millions of martyrs have sealed their faith with their blood. All their prayers for deliverance, victory, and the triumph of truth and righteousness in the world, are going to be answered. They will be rewarded with a place in the first resurrection, and receive kingdoms and crowns as the faithful subordinates of the reigning Christ in the coming millennium. The popular idea that the wicked multitudes will be converted during the Gospel Age is unscriptural. They may be saved, if they will; but there is the trouble. They love sin too much to give it up. Jesus says the saved are few, while the multitude travel the broad road. In the Jerusalem Council the end for which the gospel is sent into the world is defined: To gather out of all nations a people unto the Lord.
The wonderful prophecies about a nation being born in a day belong to the millennial period. As above quoted, these people who reject the gospel, and destroy the prosperity and happiness of the earth by their wickedness, are not to be converted, but destroyed. The rulers of the world, political and ecclesiastical, with the millions who sycophantize them into office, would not let the Lord reign, if He were to come down today on His millennial throne. Therefore, when He comes and takes His blood-washed bride out of the world, the Ancient of Days will descend (Dan 7:9), encumber His castigatory judgment throne, and enter into righteous judgment with all the wicked nations and fallen Churches of the earth. He said to His Son: Sit Thou on my right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Hence you see the invisible Father will descend and sit in judgment on all the powers of the earth, political and ecclesiastical, and administer to them the just reward of their rebellion, maladministration, high-handed iniquities vices, and crimes, till the sweeping catastrophes of the great tribulation shall remove from the earth the unsaveable, incorrigible population. Dan 7:13-14 reveals the Son of Man coming down on His millennial throne to take possession of this world, immediately after the Father has prepared the way by His pre- millennial judgments. The very fact that the Holy Spirit says that the Son of man shall come and reign on the earth forever beautifully corroborates Act 1:11 :
This same Jesus whom you saw ascend up to heaven, will also come again in like manner as ye saw Him go into heaven.
When Jesus gave us the commission, He said: Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. Hence we see that the God-Christ is with us throughout the Gospel Age; but the man-Christ has not been on earth since his ascension from Mt. Olivet. Zec 14:4 says:
His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.
Hence, pursuant to these prophecies, we fondly anticipate the return of our Lord to this earth in His glorified humanity. Just so surely as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, He will come in on a cloud; so surely as He hung on the cross, will He sit on the throne. These Scriptures are plain and unmistakable, all theological tergiversations notwithstanding. Our Lords blood-washed bride in every nation under heaven now hears His voice, thrills with holy enthusiasm, and hastens to meet Him as He comes back to earth, not to suffer and to die, but to conquer and to reign. As Daniel and John, with many other inspired writers, constantly speak of His kingdom as everlasting, a moments reflection will readily harmonize the eternity of His kingdom on earth with all other phases of revealed truth. While the Bible reveals that God the Father administers the retributive judgments which supervene during the Gospel Ages, the final judgment at the end of time, which is not castigatory, but revelatory and vindicatory of the unimpeachable integrity and immaculate purity of the Divine administration, will be the prerogative of the Son. Now, when you consider this fact in connection with the signal failure of Satans post- millennial invasion, you recognize at once the uninterrupted reign of Christ from the inauguration of the millennium, not only through the Millennial Ages, the post-millennial times, and final judgment, but on through all eternity, this earth having been sanctified by fire, and transformed by the creative presence of Omnipotence into a glorified celestial sphere.
HUMAN GOVERNMENT
Dan 2:31; Dan 2:35 : The chronological image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his prophetic dream reveals not only the entire panorama of Gentile governments, from the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587, to the end of the Gospel Age, but the stone emblematizes the millennial kingdom. Man has been a failure amid all environments and throughout all ages. He failed in Eden. He failed in the Antediluvian times, till the very mercy of God forced Him to destroy the wicked world and give humanity another chance. How speedily did wickedness flood the post-diluvian world! The people proved so wicked as to defeat the grace of God in the main in every dispensation, finally breaking down and exterminating the last vestige of the theocracy, when Nebuchadnezzar, having conquered the world, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the last remnant of the holy people into Babylonian captivity. Thus the Divine government having gone into eclipse, human rule prevails throughout the whole world.
The first form of human government which superseded the theocracy was the absolute monarchy represented by the golden head. This is the most powerful form of human government. It built the Egyptian pyramids, and many other monuments of autocratic power which this day bewilder a contemplative world.
The golden empire of Nebuchadnezzar is followed by the Medo-Persian, represented by the breast and arms of silver. This is conquered by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great, emblematized by the abdomen and thighs of brass, and bears rule over the whole earth.
Then mighty Rome, symbolized by the great iron legs, conquers all nations, and rules the world a thousand years. The two legs of the image represent the two great hemispheres of the Roman world, centralized at Rome and Constantinople. The ten toes of the image represent the ten grand divisions into which the Roman Empire was disintegrated when destroyed by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals, A.D. 476. You see the progressive depreciation from the pure gold of the Chaldean Empire down to the iron and the clay of modern democracies. Multitudes of concurrent prophecies, corroborated by all the signs of the times, force on us the conclusion that we are living in the toe stage of human government. The trend of the whole world, at the present day, is into democracies, which are fully exposed to all the whimsical caprices of the popular will, swayed by bribery, and inflamed by demagogues. There is but one step out of democracy into anarchy, which is no government at all. We are on the daily outlook for the fatal plunge of all nations into the unutterable horrors of anarchy, when every government on the globe will totter and fall. This will doubtless peculiarize the horrors of the great tribulations.
Thus we see that human government has run its race, from the golden head down to the dirty feet of the chronological image. Daniel says they have the strength of the iron; i.e., the great standing armies which this day belt the globe, eat up the substance, and impoverish the nations. They also have the weakness of the clay; i.e., internal factions, led on by thieves, who call themselves patriots. They are vampires in disguise, sucking from the nation the last drop of blood, and reducing her to a loathsome political corpse, which the vultures of revolution are eager to devour. Dan 2:34-35 :
Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Dan 2:44 :
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Theologians have resorted to a thousand tergiversations to evade the plain, simple, and unsophisticated meaning of this prophecy. They have generally identified the kingdom with the gospel Church. This construction flatly contradicts Scripture chronology, as the Church was set up during the Roman Empire, and this kingdom at the terminus of the toe stage of human government.
LITERALIZATION AND SPIRITUALIZATION
A misconstruction along these two lines comprehends the greater part of all those unfortunate theological manipulations which have perverted, neutralized, futilized, and misconstrued Gods word in all ages, filling the Bible with contradictions antagonizing the warring sects, beclouding the inspired page, and discouraging the popular mind in all Biblical study. When I was preaching in Jacksonville, Florida, I had in my audience a Swedenborgian, who spiritualized the whole Bible, and soul-sleepers, who literalized it all. You will always find the truth midway between two errors. In all Biblical interpretation, you must fix your eye on Jesus, and, guided by the Holy Ghost, sail between the Scylla of literalizing the spiritual and the Charybdis of spiritualizing the literal. In the latter case, you will find yourself tangled up in the gloomy speculations of Swedenborgianism; in the former, you plunge into the dismal fogs of materialistic infidelity. The Bible is a plain book. It means what it says, says what it means. This wonderful kingdom, which Daniel saw cut out without human hands, and smite the image on the feet, utterly demolishing it into chaff, is homogeneous with all the preceding kingdoms represented by the image; i.e., the golden, Chaldean Empire; Medo-Persian, silver; the Grecian, brass; the Roman, iron; and the ten great powers of the earth at this day, represented by the toes of iron mixed with clay. Remember the governments of the present day are not the pure, strong iron of mighty Rome, which conquered all nations and ruled them a thousand years; but they are all iron mixed up with clay. The clay is not only symbolic of utter weakness, but the iron interpenetrated with clay is very brittle and weak, ready to fall into a thousand pieces when violently smitten by an external force. This stone kingdom is not only to utterly demolish and exterminate all the kingdoms of the earth, but become a great mountain, covering the entire globe, and stand forever. A thousand prophecies pour floods of light on the tenable conclusion as to the character and destiny of this kingdom.
It is the glorious kingdom for which Christendom has been praying for in the Lords Prayer the last eighteen hundred years. Of course we enter the spiritual kingdom in regeneration; but the construction of this, in a merely spiritual sense, would be irreconcilably heterogeneous to all these earthly kingdoms. You see this kingdom is to destroy and supersede all earthly governments, fill the world, and stand forever. It is the restoration of the theocracy in the Edenic splendor and glory, never again to be superseded by an alien power, human or Satanic. The Dark Ages of diabolical misrule, sin, and misery will pass into an eternal eclipse, forever superseded by the glorious kingdom of our triumphant Savior.
Luk 21:24 :
TIMES OF THE GENTILES
Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Rom 11:25 :
Blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles may come in.
Dan 8:14 :
And He said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
All the lights of prophecy, corroborated by history, force on us the conclusion that we are living in the end of the Gentile times. They began with the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews by the Gentiles, B.C. 587. To this add 1896, which equals 2483. The Gentile time, in lunar chronology, is 354 multiplied by 7, which equals 2478; calendar, 360 multiplied by 7, which equals 2520; and solar, 365 multiplied by 7, which equals 2555. Now, 2483 minus 2478 leaves 5. Hence you see, according to lunar, the Gentile times are 5 years over. 2520 minus 2483 leaves 37. Calendar time gives us 37 years yet to elapse. 2555 minus 2483 leaves 72. Solar chronology gives us 72 years of Gentile time yet to come.
From these calculations the conclusion follows, with all of the infallibility of Gods mathematics, that we are living in the time of the end of the Gentile Age. Dan 8:14 calculates from Persian rule. The temple was rebuilt by Cyrus, B.C. 444. Add to this 1896, which equals 2340. It was 49 years in building. 2340 minus 49 leaves 2291, which, subtracted from 2300 (Dan 8:14), leaves 9. Hence you see it will be only nine years till the temple is cleansed from idolatry.
Jerusalem was taken by the Mahometans, A.D. 637, when the daily worship (not sacrifices, which is not in the Hebrew) closed. It is to be restored after a time, times, and a half-time (Dan 12:7). By calendar time 360 plus 720 plus 180 equals 1260 prophetic years. 1896 minus 637 leaves 1259.
Hence you see 1897 is the auspicious era of this glorious and long-prayed- for downfall of the Turkish power.
Rom 11:26 :
FINAL DESTINY OF THE JEWS
So all Israel shall be saved, as has been written: A Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
The glorified Jesus, returning to reign, is this great Deliverer. The valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) teaches that the Jews will be gathered into Palestine, mainly in an unconverted state. All the prophecies inspire us, and the signs of the times abundantly corroborate the universal anticipation of Moslems speedy fall in the Holy Land, which will be quickly followed by the return of the Jews. Then all Christendom will unite for their conversion. It is highly probable that the Savior, when He comes to steal away His bride, will so reveal Himself to His consanguinity as to expedite their conversion. Zechariah 8 teaches wonderful things relative to the destiny of the Jews in the latter days. Having returned to Palestine and been converted to Christ, they will suffer terrible ordeals. During the great tribulations, a combination of nations will invade Palestine, besiege and capture Jerusalem, commit appalling depredations, slay two-thirds of the Jews, and carry half of the survivors into captivity. The surviving third will only be rescued from slaughter and captivity by the sudden descension of the glorious King.
Zec 14:4 :
His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west, a great valley…And the Lord my God shall come and all His saints with Thee.
Zec 14:8 :
And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea…
Zec 14:9 :
And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
From these prophecies we see that the Jews, during the tribulations, after their return to Palestine and their conversion to Christianity, will suffer these terrible and appalling catastrophes, which will utterly expurgate from them the dross and debris of the Gentile world, in which they have so long sojourned. Through these fiery ordeals and castigatory judgments they will be thoroughly sanctified, robed, and ready to meet the King of Glory, and come to the front of the millennial administration. Then will be verified that wonderful truth (Rom 11:26):
All Israel shall be saved.
Thus we see the Gentile period having wound to a close, their power, political and ecclesiastical, throughout the whole world, will come to an end; they will be relegated to the rear.
Meanwhile, the Gentile kingdoms are everywhere toppling to their doom. The Jews will be gathering home, getting converted, suffering bloody persecutions and deportations, eliminating the unsanctifiable elements, leaving the true and the tried, who, with the victories of persecutionary fires flashing from their eyes, will meet their descending King with shouts of welcome, and come to the front of the world again, as in the days of the patriarchs and prophets. This faithful, sanctified remnant will lead the way in the evangelization of the millennial world. Then shall a nation be born in a day.
THE WONDERFUL DESTINY OF JERUSALEM
There is a tradition that Adam and Eve were created on the spot where Jerusalem now stands. When I was in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, my guide showed me what was claimed to be Adams skull. Perhaps it is incredible; but I certainly saw a number of mummies in Cairo, Egypt, doubtless four thousand years old, and looking like they would last forever. If the flesh of an Egyptian mummy has lasted four thousand years, why not the solid bone of Adams skull five thousand? Hence Jerusalem, with her sacred and imperishable memories, is the place of all places on which the Son looks down; therefore, it is the representative of the world from creation through the sweep of ages, the coming kingdom, and eternal cycles. We are living in Satans period, denominated by the apostles the night, which is to be followed by the millennial day, whose glorious dawn now electrifies expectant saints.
The terrible degradation, desolation, and impoverishment to which the Holy Land is subjected during the long misrule of the Turkish pashas, vividly emblematizes the reign of sin, and the triumphs of Satan on the earth. Water is the element of physical life, and throughout the Bible symbolizes spiritual life. Jerusalem, five thousand feet above the Mediterranean Sea, is too high for wells and fountains. She is above the water-line, and dependent on the winter rains, which are diligently garnered in tanks and cisterns beneath their stone houses, and carefully preserved, to supply them through the long, dry, hot summer. The suffering for water at Jerusalem every year, especially among the poor, is distressing in the extreme. Hence we do not wonder that for all this burning thirst, which has wasted that land for ages, there will be a glorious remedy in the good time coming.
In the above prophecy, Zechariah positively certifies that when our Savior returns from the skies, His feet shall stand on Mt. Olivet. Though Jerusalem stands on four mountains Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, and Acra Olivet is two hundred feet higher than the mountains on which Jerusalem is built. How convenient is great Mt. Olivet for our Savior to split open from east to west, and fill the valley with sparkling waters, flowing westward to the Mediterranean and eastward to the Dead Sea, thus forever relieving the thirst of coming generations, both man and beast! So you see Jerusalem will not be dry and thirsty, as she has been during the weary centuries of sin and desolation but the city will have an inexhaustible supply of pure water, gushing copiously from the mighty strata of Mt. Olivet. This water-supply will be a sunburst of prosperity on Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Meanwhile, it gloriously symbolizes the water of life, which shall inundate the nations from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, when Satan and his myrmidons shall have been forever cast out, and the Prince of Glory enthroned, to reign forever and ever.
Jerusalem stands on the great Palestinian mountain table-lands, five thousand feet above the sea. The prophet says she is beautiful for situation, and in the good time coming will be the joy of the whole earth. Palestine has the finest climate and soil on the globe, producing exuberantly the wheat of the north and the fruits of the south. These great highlands consist of calcareous and bituminous strata, the finest building material and the richest soil on the globe. You have nothing to do but take all the materials- i.e., stone and cement of the earth, and build the most comfortable and durable house right on the spot, leaving your soil richer than when you began. Methinks, in the oncoming millennial years, Jerusalem will be built all over that great interior highland, become the greatest and most populous city on the globe, the capital and metropolis of all nations, and, truly, the joy of the whole earth.
The Jews are Gods earthly people the original custodians of the theocracy. Though that theocracy went into eclipse at the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587, and has remained unseen to this day, it is destined to rise in the good time coming, and throw its benignant administration of peace, righteousness, and love over the nations lacerated for ages by the tread of sin. Glory to God, it will come out of its long eclipse bright with the glory of an unfallen Eden; and, best of all, it will come to stay aye, too, forever! God, in a most wonderful way, is this day preparing the Jews for the metropolitanship of the millennial world. They are the miracle of Providence which has puzzled all nations the last four thousand years. Driven from their country by usurpers and robbers, their weary feet have found no rest beneath the skies. Robbed, scathed, peeled, and persecuted by every nation under heaven, they are ever like the bush that burned and was not consumed. In every age they have ever proved the most thrifty people on the globe. They went down into Egypt seventy- five souls, and in two hundred years swelled to three millions, so the kingdom of the Pharaohs trembled for its safety. Only fifty thousand followed Nehemiah in the memorable exodus out of Babylonian captivity; yet they had multiplied into millions in the days of Christ. Mat 24:34 :
Truly I say unto you, this race may not pass away, until all these things may come to pass.
Our Savior made this notable statement in that wonderful sermon on the judgments, which He preached on Mt. Olivet, the day before He suffered. The English reading, generation, is a misleading translation of genea, which simply means race. While all the races who fought the Jews in the olden times have passed away, the children of Abraham, with no country of their own to perpetuate their nationality, have survived a thousand bloody revolutions, and perpetuated their identity, the wonder of all nations, despite the whole world combined for their persecution, degradation, and extermination. They have not only survived, but outstripped all nations in the competition for wealth and learning. They, this day, stand at the head of the worlds finances, learning, and jurisprudence. Hence you see, when they get gloriously saved, and their triumphant King shall honor them again with the custodianship of the theocracy, and the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no more, how convenient to refer all national controversies to the Jews, who are this day thoroughly posted in the languages, institutions, finances, and laws of all nations. Jerusalem is located at the center of the world, the most convenient spot in all the earth to the nations of Asia, Africa, Europe, and both Americas. While it is in Asia, the largest and most important of all the grand divisions; it is within a few hours of Africa and Europe, while North and South America are reached in a few days. It is wonderful how God made the beautiful cerulean Mediterranean Sea, two thousand miles long, giving all America a straight shoot to the Holy Land. The wonderful prophecies about Jerusalem, beautiful for situation, joy of the whole earth, are to be fulfilled in the millennial reign. Oh, how wonderfully the hand of God is upon the Jews in all nations, preparing them for the metropoiltanship of the world
Rev 11:1. There was given me a reed like unto a rod to measure the temple of God, the new-testament church. The prophet of old had a similar vision, and all the prophets spake of the enlargement of Christs kingdom. Eze 40:2-5. Mic 4:1-2. John also was to measure the altar which stood in the inner court; and the altar here is figuratively understood, as in the epistles of Ignatius, who considered a separation from the altar as an exclusion from the church. The altar is a commemoration of the death of Christ, and he who eats the sacramental bread, eats the food of immortality. Those, and those only who worship before this throne, and worship in Spirit and in truth, are the true church, the living temple of the living God.
Rev 11:2. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not. What an awful charge is this; a charge which excludes all nominal christians, like the foolish virgins, from the kingdom of God. Oh Nicodemus, how learned soever you may be as a doctor of the law, you must be born again. It has been justly remarked by Mr. Fletcher, that Luther cleared away the rubbish, but still the sanctuary wanted adorning with revivals of pure religion. These courts, according to Dan 12:7, and repeated here by John, must be profaned for forty two months, that is, as the jews themselves allow, 1260 years: and this period, whose commencement is known with certainty to God alone, may notwithstanding be safely reckoned from the gradual decay of the old empire to the rise of the ten kingdoms. Our hope is, that the time for Gods afflicted witnesses to prophesy in sackcloth is now about gradually to expire, when Christs dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Zec 9:10.
Rev 11:3. I will give power to my two witnesses, the number required by the law. Deu 19:15. The christian fathers remark, that God has often raised up a right-hand man, as a support to a faithful witness, Aaron went with Moses. Elijah prepared and trained up Elisha. Zerubbabel and Joshua were the ancient olive trees who caused the lamps to burn anew in the sanctuary. Our Saviour also sent the apostles out two and two. This evidence chiefly regards the testimony of our Lords resurrection, as stated in Rev 2:13, in reference to Antipas the faithful martyr. In addition to which, Ignatius, when writing to the church of Smyrna, and when going to fight with beasts, says, I know that Christ, after his resurrection, was in the flesh, and I believe that he is so still. For when he came to those who were with Peter, he said to them, take, handle me, and see that I am not an incorporeal dmon. They then handled him, and believed, being alike convinced by his flesh, and by his spirit. For this cause they despised death, and were found invincible to its fears. Sect, 3. But the ark is called the testimony, and the christian scriptures the new testament; many therefore call these Gods two witnesses.
The time of the two witnesses to prophesy in sackcloth is fixed to the period of 1260 years, in Daniel, and in John; and is associated with four distinctive departments of the antichristian oppression of the saints.
1. The outward court of the church, neglected and unmeasured, lies in ruins for forty two months: Rev 11:2.
2. The witnesses prophesy in sackcloth during the same period, mourning, like Daniel, for the desolations of the sanctuary.
3. The woman flees into the wilderness, to the retreats and places which God had prepared for her: Rev 12:6. This period is repeated in Rev 11:14. To the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time, (a year) and times, (two years) and a half time, (six months) or 1260 years, designated by 1260 prophetic days. The earth helped the woman. The two great wings, the eastern and western empires, sheltered her from Satans rage.
4. Power was given to the beast to make war with the saints forty and two months: Rev 13:5-7. These four periods are coval, and understood to commence and terminate at the same time.
Rev 11:5. If any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth. Herod, after killing James, was smitten by an angel. Eusebius describes the deaths and troubles of the emperors who had persecuted the church, and Lactantius has left us a small book on the death of persecutors. The hand of heaven pursued with blood the men who had shed the blood of the saints.
In later times, John Fox, pp. 2109-2112, translates cases from the French martyrology. Anno Domino 1558, when Henry 2. had filled the prisons of Paris with saints, and stained the streets with their blood, he would distinguish himself at a tournament with Montgomery; and having broken five spears, being still eager for more praise, on galloping the sixth round, the end of the broken spear went into the kings eye, and so he perished adjacent to the prison where the saints were confined. His two sons presently perished, after the murder of the admiral of France.
Ponchet, archbishop of Tours, having established a court called La chambre ardente, the court for burning heretics, was seized with such a burning in his feet that one member after another was amputated till he died.
John Ruse, councillor in parliament, as he was returning from impeaching the saints, was seized with a burning heat in his bowels, which communicated to his secret parts, so that he died miserably.
The emperor Sigismund, after burning John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, was defeated in a succession of battles with the Turks, and all his family were cut off in that age.
Our bloody Mary was cut off in six years. A volume of the like visitations might be adduced, to swell the catalogue. Thus the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men.
Rev 11:6. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not. Facts are here more forcible than words. The drought in Elijahs time was noticed by the heathens. 1 Kings 18. Certainly the jewish affairs never prospered after killing the prophets; certainly the Romans had visitations for the blood of the saints; certainly in Marys time, the nation was running to ruin; whereas in the reign of Elizabeth, the great Armada of Spain was defeated by a tempest, and destroyed by a small fleet. Afterwards, naval strength, agriculture, commerce, population and literature flourished as vernal beauties after a severe winter.
Rev 11:7. When they have finished their testimony, the beast shall kill them. On a comprehensive view of the martyrology of the church, the more illustrious martyrs had mostly attained to grey hairs. The apostles, and Ignatius, were spared to tell the third and fourth generation, that they had seen Christ in the flesh. Huss and Jerome were aged men; so were our five bishops who suffered for the truths sake. The Lord spared them to do their work, before they received the reward.
Rev 11:8. Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of Sodom and Egypt, names dictated by prudence. It would not have been wise to say Rome, Paris, and Lyons; lest the rage of the rulers should have been kindled against the bible and the saints. St. Paul uses similar caution in distinguishing the Roman power by the epithet, He that now letteth. 2Th 2:7. Sodom is figuratively put for Rome, because of her abominations. Ezekiel 16. Egypt, because of her pride; and Jerusalem, because of her wickedness. In the massacre of Paris, thirty thousand lay in the streets. A.D. 1572.
Rev 11:9. The people, the kindreds, and nations, and tongues shall see their dead bodies. Oh yes. The whole christian world shall see the martyrs; it was not possible to bury them. Like so many Abels, their lives, their writings, their victories, still speak to us. Their deaths so glorious give life to the world.
Rev 11:10. They that dwell on the earth shall rejoice over them, and sing Te Deums in all their churches. But transient and frantic are their joys; the witnesses shall revive, and the beast and his followers must soon go into the abyss, to weep and wail without one ray of hope. Job 26:4.
Rev 11:13. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. Peter Jurieu and the French protestants are agreed that France is this tenth part of the city. The commencement of the fall was a revolt of the nation from superstition to infidelity. On the revolution of 1789, there were slain of the , names of men, seven thousand. The nobility, male and female, amounted to nearly half a million, and all who adhered to the crown lost their titles, and their lands; and the immense church property was in like manner sold by auction. An order passed, that the pope should make no decrees respecting France, unless it was first approved by the National assembly; and Napoleon Bonaparte deprived the pope of his power to appoint the French bishops. Thus in one hour, by a great political earthquake, the tenth part of the city fell from the antichristian beast. He could no longer speak great swelling words.
Rev 11:15. The seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, and joyful voices, which sing the victories of the witnesses, who won over and gained the kingdoms of this world to be the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. And his kingdom, as Daniel had said, shall not be left to other people, to be subdued by conquest and by war; he shall reign for ever and ever. Zion, after weeping, and bearing precious seed in the fields of labour, now returns with sheaves of joy.
Rev 11:18. The nations were angry, to see the true God worshipped and adored, and themselves about to be dragged to the judgment-seat. Oh what a defeat to the wicked, what a mortification to Jews, Turks, and the whole infidel race of Gog and Magog. Ezekiel 38. Their anger against God and his people was without a cause, but now his anger is justly excited by their infidelity, and by their having shed the blood of his saints.
Our hope is, that all these revivals of religion at home, connected with the most brilliant institutions of religious charities, and the collective labours of the missionaries abroad, will finally effectuate the conversion of the world to God.
Rev 11:19. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, giving demonstrations that the church above and the church below is one church. A flood of glory and righteousness is poured down from above, grace, grace, upon Zion. Then her pastors shall be divines; her eye shall see her teachers, they shall not be hid in a corner any more. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Coruscations of glory shall sparkle from the altar; the voices shall create echoes of thunder, and the earth shall be shaken with the power of our God, and of his Christ. The Lord will hasten it in his time.
REFLECTIONS.
Some understand by the inner court, the purer ages of christianity; and by the outer court, trodden down of the gentiles, the later and corrupt state of the church. But as Joseph Mede very justly remarks, the forty and two months for treading down the outer court, cannot be literally understood, as the fathers say, and as the papists still contend, because the ten kingdoms were to be founded at the same hour with the kingdom of the beast, which was to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. The harlot church, riding on this beast, is to make all nations drink of the wine of her fornication, or mix in her idolatrous worship, and the merchants or secular priests are to grow rich by trading with her. Moreover, were we to take these days literally, the time of the two witnesses would only be three days and a half. But this period is four times repeated in this book, that the witnesses are to prophesy 1260 days. The power of the beast is also to continue for the same period, as likewise the banishment of the true church into the wilderness.
The two witnesses are understood by some to be, and with the greatest probability, the churches of the Waldenses and Albigenses, and others who suffered the severest persecution from the church of Rome. Reference seems to be had to the crusades against these faithful people in the south of France, reproachfully called Hugonots, in the year 1685. The pontificate rejoiced over the extermination of the reputed heretics, but they could not bury these martyrs. Their cause still lived, and their spirit shall be revived in a succession of faithful witnesses to the truth.
We hope that the time is near when tyranny shall no longer exist in the church, when the world shall be filled with bibles, when the churches shall be adorned with evangelical men, when the infidels shall be affrighted, and when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. The church stands on tip-toe for the dawn of the latter day glory, and the twenty four elders are all waiting for the new song on the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The promise is sure: I the Lord will hasten it in its time.
Rev 11:1-13. The Interlude continued. The Second Episode.The first two verses are introductory, and represent the survey or measuring of the holy city by the seer. Then comes the prophecy concerning the two witnesses, followed by the first appearance in the book of the beast or Antichrist (Rev 11:7).
Rev 11:1. a reed: a measuring rod (Ezekiel 40 ff., Zec 2:1), Ezekiels reed (Eze 40:5) was nine feet long.measure the temple: the allusion is not to the heavenly sanctuary but to the Temple at Jerusalem. The object of the measuring was to provide for its preservation in the day of crisis. The reference, therefore, is not so much to the material Temple as to that which the Temple represented, viz. the spiritual Israel; cf. the sealing of the 144,000 in Rev 7:3*.the altar: the altar of burnt offering.
Rev 11:2. the court: the court of the Gentiles, separated from the Temple proper by the middle wall of partition on which were inscribed the words, No man of another nation to enter within the fence and enclosure round the Temple. And whoever is caught will have himself to blame that his death ensues.forty and two months: the 1260 days of the next verse, i.e. the 3 years of Dan 7:25; Dan 12:7. This period represents the actual duration of the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes (from the spring of 168 B.C. to the autumn of 165 B.C.), when the Temple was profaned, the sacrifices interrupted, and a pagan altar erected. This historical event invested the period of 3 years with a special significance for Apocalyptic, and henceforth it became the typical figure for the length of the persecution under Antichrist. [This may have seemed the more reasonable that it is the half of the number of perfection.A. S. P.]
Rev 11:3. The two witnesses: it is impossible to discover what the writer intended his readers to understand by these two witnesses. The use of OT phrases has led many scholars to identify them with two OT heroes from the following list: Abel, Enoch, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah. Others maintain that the phrase is symbolical, and that the witnesses represent the Church in her function of witness-bearing (Swete). A third school regards them as referring to two prophets or leaders who were to appear as champions of the faith before the end came. [C. H. Turner (Studies in Early Ch. Hist., p. 214) suggests Peter and Paul, the two most illustrious victims of the Beast (Nero), the martyrs whose bodies lay in the great city.A. J. G.] We have not sufficient data to solve the enigma, but the context seems to point to Moses and Elijah. For the period of their ministry, 1260 days, cf. Rev 11:2*.
Rev 11:4. the two olive trees: an allusion to Zechariah 4, where the two sons of oil, Zerubbabel and Joshua, representing the civil and ecclesiastical power, supply the needs of the candlestick, i.e. the theocratic state.
Rev 11:5. fire proceedeth: as in the case of Elijah (2Ki 1:10).
Rev 11:6. power to shut heaven: so Elijah (1Ki 17:1).power over the waters: so Moses (Exo 7:19).smite the earth: so Moses, a reference to the plagues of Egypt.
Rev 11:7. the beast: the first reference to the figure of Antichrist, which plays such an important rle in the later part of the book (cf. Rev 17:8). With the description cf. the four beasts of Dan 7:5.
Rev 11:8. Sodom: the term Sodom is applied to Jerusalem in Isa 1:10 in token of its wickedness.Egypt: also a term of reproach, though not applied to Jerusalem elsewhere.where also their Lord was crucified: the great city thus seems to be Jerusalem, though some scholars think that the context points to Rome, and the phrase, the great city is applied to Babylon, i.e. Rome, in Rev 16:19, Rev 17:18, Rev 18:10 ff.
Rev 11:9. three days and a half: day here means year, and the reference is to the 3 years of Dan. (Daniel 2*).
Rev 11:10. This verse describes the general exultation at the death of the two prophets or witnesses, who had tormented mens consciences.
Rev 11:11. the seer sees the Church of the martyrs recovering herself from an age of persecution as Ezekiel (Eze 37:10) had seen new life infused into a dead Israel (Swete).
Rev 11:12. The final triumph of the witnesses and their ascension to heaven in full view of their enemies.
Rev 11:13. The witnesses are vindicated by a great natural catastrophe in the form of an earthquake which destroys a tenth of the city and 7000 people. The reserve of the writer is still maintained. The disaster is only partial; the final doom is still postponed.
We have seen under the sixth trumpet the desolating invasion of Israel by the King of the North, which takes place because of Israel’s idolatrous image of the Beast set up in the temple at the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week. Rev 11:1 to Rev 13:18 therefore deals with conditions in the last half of this seven year period, designated in scripture as “the Great Tribulation.”
John is given a reed like a rod and told by the Angel (the Lord) to measure the temple, the altar and those who worship (v. 1). The court is given to the Gentiles who will tread it down for 42 months (3 1/2 years) (v. 2). This is not a literal measurement in feet or meters, for the worshipers also are measured. The reference is plainly to Israel’s temple and altar, and at a time when these have been grossly desecrated by the Antichrist and the Jews themselves by the idolatry of the image to the Beast at the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week, and then further desecrated by the Assyrian invasion which immediately follows.
The measurement speaks of a true spiritual discrimination that separates the godly minority in Israel who care for God’s interests in His temple and in His altar, from the masses of the nation. The altar-the altar of burnt offering-speaks of the absolute necessity of the sacrifice of the blessed Messiah of Israel; and the temple, of the dwelling of God among His people. These things will be valued by the minority, though despised by the majority of the nation.
Two Unusual Witnesses in Jerusalem
(vv. 3-14)
Two remarkable witnesses, empowered by the Lord, will appear in Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation, but will be killed about the end of this 3-1/2 year period. Therefore, they are killed just before the Lord appears in glory. These prophets are only two of a large number who will also bear some witness in other parts of the land beside Jerusalem, but these will have particular power given them of God. Being clothed in sackcloth, they feel the shame of Israel’s guilt. Their prophecy is specifically required in Jerusalem because of the idolatry prevailing there.
In verse 4 they are designated as the two olive trees and the two lampstands of Zec 4:2-3, the anointed ones (sons of oil) bearing testimony (the lampstands). Their testimony is to the fact that there is a true anointed Messiah of Israel (anointed as both King and Priest) who will be manifested to Israel. Indeed, “He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on His throne, so He shall be a Priest on His throne” (Zec 6:13).
The fire from their mouths (v. 5) reminds us of Elijah’s burning words to the two insolent captains who were immediately devoured by fire with their bands of fifty men (2Ki 1:9-12). Power to restrain the rain from heaven (v. 6) was also given to Elijah (Jam 5:17). Power to turn the waters to blood is seen in the conflict of Moses with the Egyptians (Exo 7:19-20) as well as smiting the earth with many plagues. It would be totally contrary to Christian character for us to attempt such things today (see Luk 9:54-56), for today is the day of grace, but when God initiates judgment, He will not be without clear witness. These two prophets then will be similar to Moses and Elijah, not the same individuals as some have wrongly supposed in reading Mal 4:5, but coming in the spirit and power of Elijah as was true also of John the Baptist (Luk 1:17).
God allows nothing to stop them until their testimony is finished. He then permits the Roman Beast (the Western European dictator) who ascends from the abyss (Rev 17:8), who is also said to rise out of the sea (Rev 13:1), to murder them so that God’s power over the Beast may become more clearly manifest (v.7). The fact of the Beast’s ascending out of the abyss speaks of the direct satanic power by which he is influenced and energized. He will not be personally in Jerusalem, but will have many willing tools there to do his work. Yet very soon after this, the Roman Beast
personally, with the false prophet (the Antichrist), will be terrified by the sudden appearance of the Lord Jesus from heaven at Armageddon in the north of Israel, and the two of them will be captured by divine power and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire (Rev 19:11-20).
The two witnesses suffer bitter rejection and apparent shameful defeat. Not content with murdering them, their enemies leave their dead bodies on the street in Jerusalem (called Sodom for its revolting corruption, and Egypt for its proud independence of God) (vv. 8-10). Gloating in fiendish delight over their horrible work, they send congratulatory gifts to one another. These dead bodies are observed for 3 1/2 days by other nations also, perhaps by means of television. There can be no doubt of their actual physical death.
However, this wicked folly of Israel’s leaders causes them to witness their own defeat. In the sight of their enemies the two witnesses are raised from death and stand upon their feet (v. 11). If they had buried them, they would not have seen this great sight, but having morbid delight in observing their dead bodies, they expose themselves to the terror of seeing them come to life. These witnesses stand there long enough to impress men with the reality of their resurrection and then are called by a great voice from heaven to come up there. The voice also is heard by their enemies who observe them as they go up to heaven.
Immediately following this, “in the same hour,” a great earthquake (literally as well as morally) shakes the city, destroying a tenth part of it and killing seven thousand (v. 13). This again is just preceding the appearing of the Lord in awesome majesty. It would seem that Jerusalem will have almost no time to recover from the earthquake before the King of the North returns from Egypt to besiege the city. The shaking does some good, however, for those who were not killed at least were terrified enough to give glory to the God of heaven. Whether they were really brought to God in faith is another question.
The Seventh Trumpet:
Christ’s Kingdom Announced
(vv. 15-18)
The third woe comes with the seventh trumpet. Great voices in heaven announce, “The world kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ is come and He shall reign unto the age of ages” (v. 15, Numerical Bible). Far from being woe to the renewed heart, that great kingdom will bring unspeakable blessing, but to the ungodly rebel it is the worst of all woes, for each such rebel must now face the exposure of his accumulated guilt and be judged by the One whom he has despised and rejected-Jesus, the exalted Son of Man, the eternal Son of God. All other kingdoms fall “and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa 2:11).
The redeemed in heaven (the 24 elders) respond in deepest adoration, falling on their faces to worship the living God, speaking of Him as the Lord God Almighty, the eternal Sovereign of the present, the past and the future (vv. 16-17). They make it clear that this great dignity fully belongs to the Lord Jesus who has asserted His right of absolute authority to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Their words in verse 18 encompass a long period of time and the events spoken of are not put in chronological order. The anger of the nations and God’s wrath against them will be manifest at the time of the revelation of the Lord from heaven, but “the time of the dead, that they should be judged,” anticipates the end of Christ’s millennial reign. If He judges the living, there remains no doubt that He will judge the dead. All these things are connected with the kingdom of the Son of Man who will put all things in subjection before delivering the kingdom up to the Father (1Co 15:24-28). Rewards also, to His servants, to prophets, to saints and to all who fear His name, are connected with the kingdom, as will be the destruction of those who destroy the earth. This will include the Tribulation judg- ments and the judgment by fire from heaven of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years (Rev 20:7-9), and is completed with the Great White Throne judgment of all the unsaved dead (Rev 20:11-15).
The Temple and the Ark
Verse 19 begins a new subject and is connected with Rev 12:1-17. The trumpets take us to the end of all the judgments. The scene now reverts to consider the development of various details connected with the span of time the trumpets have embraced.
The temple of God opened in heaven is not itself a heavenly temple, for in the heavenly city there is no temple (Rev 21:22). The temple and the ark seen here are connected with Israel at a time when Israel on earth is in a state of guilty apostasy, having deliberately turned from the truth they once claimed to believe, apostatizing from God and from any recognition of a coming Messiah. But God’s counsels concerning her blessings are still established in the heavens, the temple speaking of God’s dwelling among His people; and the ark, of Christ glorified, the center of all blessing for Israel. The literal ark will be forgotten (Jer 3:16): its spiritual significance is the vital matter. Therefore, Israel will learn that “the heavens do rule.” But the counsels of God in blessing will not be accomplished before the awesome judgments take place, of which the lightnings, thunderings, voices, an earthquake and great hail assure us.
(Rev 11:1) Having been prepared for service, a reed is given to John, and he is told to “measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” The mention of the temple and the holy city clearly shows that the events foretold in this portion of the Revelation have their centre in Jerusalem, and are in connection with the nation of Israel.
As a symbol the temple sets forth the dwelling place of God, and the altar the way of approach to God on the ground of sacrifice. Measuring would seem to set forth that the man of God is to take account of all that God has reserved for Himself as having His approval. Does not this action, and the figures used, tell us that during the time of these judgments God will have His people whom He delights to own as drawing near to Him in worship?
(V. 2) The court was not to be measured setting forth the fact that at this time the Gentiles will be allowed to tread under foot the holy city for three and a half years. It is clear, then, that during the closing period of the times of the Gentiles, while God reserves to Himself a godly remnant, the mass of the Jewish nation will be given over to the violence of the Gentiles, who will tread under foot their city. During this time the world will return to pagan savagery and corruption, and like the dogs and swine will trample under foot all that is “holy,” and, as the following verses show, will rend the people of God (Mat 7:6). So Peter warns us that in the last days men will act like the dog that returns to its vomit, and the sow to her wallowing in the mire (2Pe 2:22).
The mention of the forty-two months, or three and a half years, at once connects the Revelation made to John with the prophecies of Daniel. In Dan 9:24-27, we read of a period of seventy weeks, at the end of which everlasting righteousness under the reign of Christ will be established. We are then told that these weeks would commence with the command to rebuild Jerusalem, which we know was in the reign of Cyrus. Further we learn that after seven weeks and sixty-two weeks the Messiah would be cut off. It is evident then that each day of these weeks represents one year and that the first sixty-nine weeks of years were completed at the crucifixion of Christ. This leaves one week of seven years yet to be fulfilled. At the commencement of this last seven years Daniel tells us that the leader of the Roman Empire will enter into a covenant with the Jews for seven years, and in the midst of the seven years will cause the Jewish sacrifice to cease. In Dan 7:25 we further learn that he will wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change times and laws during this period of “a time and times and the dividing of time,” in other words, for three and a half years.
(Vv. 3, 4) It is this last week of seven years that is brought before us in the Revelation, and more especially the last half of this week. Thus, in this passage, we learn that during this period not only the opposition of the Gentiles against God’s ancient people will come to a head, but during this same time God will raise up two outstanding witnesses in accord with the principle of Scripture that “out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” Being clothed in sackcloth may show that their message is one that calls aloud for repentance. In this case the period of three and a half years is stated in days, possibly to emphasise the fact that the witness will be daily.
The figures used to set forth the character of these witnesses are similar to those used in the fourth chapter of the prophet Zechariah. From this passage it becomes clear that the olive tree indicates that these witnesses are anointed by the Holy Spirit to “stand before the Lord of the whole earth” (compare Zec 4:14 with Rev 11:4). As candlesticks they become witnesses before men. Their testimony is to the Lord who has claimed the sea and the earth and is about to establish His kingdom. In the day when those that dwell on the earth are seeking to claim the world for themselves, God will have His witnesses that testify that He is “the Lord of the earth.”
(Vv. 5, 6) This witness will call forth intense opposition from the enemy which will be met by acts of Divine power. The two witnesses will be empowered to shut the heavens that it rain not during the days of their prophecy, even as Elijah acted in his day (1Ki 17:1); and as Moses smote Egypt with plagues, so again will these witnesses to the Lord of the earth “smite the earth with all plagues.”
To-day God’s people witness to the God of heaven in His sovereign grace saving sinners for heaven, through faith in Christ. Therefore, no outward signs of judgment accompany their witness. In the coming days of these witnesses, God will be giving testimony to the coming reign of Christ on earth, to be introduced by judgments that will clear the inheritance of evil. In consistency with this testimony solemn signs of coming judgment are given.
(Vv. 7, 8) At the end of the three and a half years, when the testimony of the two witnesses is finished, the beast, which we learn a little later is the head of the revived Roman Empire, will be allowed to overcome and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, the moral condition of which in these last days will be so utterly degraded that it is likened to Sodom with its gross immorality, and Egypt with its idolatry and worldliness. Then we are reminded that this appalling condition is the outcome of the greatest of all sins, for this great city is “where also their Lord was crucified.”
In accord with the revelation to John, the Lord when on earth warned His disciples that the condition of the world immediately preceding His appearing will be one of violence and corruption as in the days before the flood, and of gross filthiness, as in the day of Lot when judgment from heaven fell upon Sodom. As we see the increasing violence, corruption, lust, and godlessness that mark the lands that have so long had the light of Christianity do we not discern how all is preparing for the terrible crisis of evil described in these verses?
(V. 9) If the Gentiles joined with the Jews in crucifying the Lord, we cannot be surprised to learn that all the world will unite in expressing their hatred and contempt of the witnesses to the Lord, by leaving their dead bodies unburied.
(V. 10) Further, we are told that there will be a distinct class, described as those “that dwell upon the earth,” who not only leave their bodies exposed to insult but will “rejoice over them,” “make merry,” and “send gifts to one another.” These earth dwellers, whose one aim, like the rich man of Luke 12, is to eat, drink, and be merry without any thought of God or the future, find the testimony of these two witnesses a perfect torment to them, and rejoice when, as they judge, they are overcome and for ever silenced.
(Vv. 11, 12) However, the rejoicing of the world will be short-lived, for at the end of three and a half days God will intervene, and in the sight of the people will raise up His witnesses, and they will hear a great voice from heaven that will call them to “Come up hither.”
(V. 13) God’s witnesses having been rejected there is nothing left for man but judgment. Witness is borne to this solemn fact by a great earthquake in which seven thousand men are slain. For the moment men are terrified and will give glory “to the God of heaven.” The testimony of the two witnesses was to “the Lord of the earth,” thus asserting the title of Christ to the earth. Alas! though in a moment of terror men may admit there is a God in heaven, they will not submit to the Lord of the earth. Nevertheless, God has determined “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth” (Php 2:10).
We thus learn from this deeply solemn passage that the closing events of this age will have their centre in Jerusalem and take place during a period of three and a half years. Further, we are told, that during the great tribulation of these last days there will be a God-fearing remnant, and amongst them two outstanding witnesses, whose testimony will be accompanied by mighty acts of power that will bring plagues upon men. Opposed to the people of God, and in contrast to them, there will be a great company of earth dwellers led by two pre-eminently wicked men – the head of the Roman Empire and the Antichrist (Rev. 13), whose opposition will be accompanied by “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2Th 2:9).
(Vv. 14-17) The solemn events brought before us in Rev_10-11:13 ends the period of the second woe and prepares the way for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, brought before us in the third woe by the sounding of the trumpet of the seventh angel.
With the sounding of the seventh trumpet we are carried from earth to heaven to hear great voices in heaven announcing the glad tidings that “The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of His Christ is come, and He shall reign to the ages of ages.” The great day will at last come when the government of this world will pass into the hands of the Lord Jesus. All heaven rejoices at the announcement, and the saints, represented by the Twenty-four elders, worship with thanksgiving to God.
(V. 18) How solemn that the introduction of this reign of blessedness will be a “woe” upon the earth dwellers who have rejected Christ and His witnesses. The reign that brings in everlasting blessing to the people of God will mean everlasting woe to the haters of God and His Christ. They see in this solemn announcement that at last the time has come when the wrath of the nations against Christ and His people, will be met by the wrath of God.
Then, too, “the time of the dead to be judged” will come. May this not refer to the martyred saints as in Rev 14:13, who will be recompensed for the sufferings they have endured at the hands of men? Further, in the days of Christ’s reign, God’s servants, prophets, saints, and all that have feared God’s Name throughout the ages, both small and great, will receive their reward, while those who have destroyed the earth will themselves be destroyed.
10 The Dragon (Rev 11:19-12)
In the previous division of the Rev_6to11:18 we have had a prophetic unfolding of a series of judgments that will take place on earth between the rapture of the church and the appearing of Christ to claim His kingdom.
In the division that follows, from Rev 11:19 to Rev 19:10, we are given details concerning leaders, and great events in heaven and earth during this solemn time. Then, this parenthetical division being completed, we have in the division that follows, from Rev 19:11 to Rev 21:8, the unfolding of the future again continued from the appearing of Christ on to the eternal state.
In the opening section of this fresh division, Rev 11:19 to the end of Revelation 13, there pass before us the prime movers in opposition to God, to Christ, and to His people, during the period of the three woes, or last three trumpet judgments, a period, as we have learned, of three and a half years that will immediately precede the appearing of Christ. During this terrible time, when all wickedness comes to a head, there will be a trinity of evil in the forefront – the Dragon, or Satan (12); the first beast, or head of the revived Roman Empire (Rev 13:1-10); and the second beast, or Antichrist (Rev 13:11-18).
(Rev 11:19) This division of the Revelation would seem more properly to commence with the last verse of Revelation 11, as being introductory to the scenes that follow. In this verse we have a symbolic intimation that God is about to resume His public dealings with the nation of Israel, for we see the temple of God opened in heaven and discover the ark of the covenant. We know from the Old Testament that the temple speaks of God’s dwelling, and the ark of the presence of God, in the midst of His earthly people. Does not this vision tell us that, in spite of Israel’s long history of failure, God remains true to His covenant with His ancient people? Time was when the ark was in the temple on earth, the witness of God’s covenant with Israel, and the token of His presence in their midst. Because of the idolatry of the nation the temple was destroyed and the ark of the covenant removed; and though after the captivity the temple was rebuilt, yet the ark, that spoke of God’s immediate presence, was never restored. Now we learn that the ark abode, as it were, in heaven, and hence the covenant with Israel remains; though, on account of their low state, there has been no public witness to this on earth during long centuries. It was a secret cherished in heaven to be disclosed for the comfort of a godly remnant in Israel in the time when God is once more about to bring the nation into blessing.
11:1 And there {1} was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and {2} measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
(1) The authority of the intended revelation being declared, together with the necessity of that calling which was particularly imposed on John after which follows the history of the estate of Christ his Church, both conflicting or warring, and overcoming in Christ. For the true Church of Christ is said to fight against that which is falsely so called, over which Antichrist rules, Christ Jesus overthrowing Antichrist by the spirit of his mouth: and Christ is said to overcome most gloriously until he shall slay Antichrist by the appearance of his coming, as the apostle teaches in 2Th 2:8 . So this history has two parts: One of the state of the Church conflicting with temptations until Chapter 16. The other of the state of the same church obtaining victory, thence to Chapter 20. The first part has two sections most conveniently distributed into their times, of which the first contains a history of the Christian Church for 1260 years, what time the gospel of Christ was as it were taken up from among men into heaven: the second contains a history of the same Church to the victory perfected. These two sections are briefly, though distinctly propounded in this chapter, but both of them are discoursed after in due order. For we understand the state of the Church conflicting, out of Chapters 12 and 13, and of the same growing out of afflictions, out of Chapters 14 to 16. Neither did John unknowingly join together the history of these two times in this chapter, because here is spoken of prophecy, which all confess to be but one just and immutable in the Church, and which Christ commanded to be continual. The history of the former time reaches to Rev 11:2-14 , the latter is set down in the rest of this chapter Rev 11:15-19 . In the former are shown these things: the calling of the servants of God in Rev 11:4 the conflicts which the faithful must undergo in their calling, for Christ and his Church, thence to Rev 11:5-10 and their resurrection, and receiving up into heaven to Rev 11:11-14 . In the calling of the servants of God, two things are mentioned: the begetting and settling of the Church in two verses, and the education of it in two verses. The begetting of the Church is here commended to John by sign and by speech: the sign is a measuring rod, and the speech a commandment to measure the Temple of God, that is, to reduce the same to a new form: because the Gentiles are already entered into the Temple of Jerusalem, and shall shortly defile and overthrow it completely.
(2) Either that of Jerusalem’s, which was a figure of the Church of Christ, or that heavenly model in Rev 11:19 but I like the first better, and the things following all agree to it. The sense therefore is, you see all things in God’s house, almost from the passion of Christ, to be disordered: and not only the city of Jerusalem, but also the court of the Temple is trampled under foot by the nations, and by profane men whether Jews or strangers: and that only this Temple, that is, the body of the Temple, with the altar, and a small company of good men who truly worship God, do now remain, whom God sanctifies and confirms by his presence. Measure therefore this, even this true Church, or rather the true type of the true Church, omitting the rest, and so describe all things from me, that the true Church of Christ may be as it were a very little centre, and the Church of Antichrist as the circle of the centre, every way in length and breadth compassing about the same, that by way of prophecy you may so declare openly, that the state of the Temple of God, and the faithful who worship him, that is, of the Church, is much more upright than the Church of Antichrist.
F. Supplementary revelation of the two witnesses in the Great Tribulation 11:1-14
John recorded the revelation dealing with the two witnesses to inform his readers of the ministries of these important individuals during the Great Tribulation. This section continues the parenthetical revelation begun in Rev 10:1. It is one of the more difficult chapters to interpret, and students of the book have proposed many different explanations.
1. The temple in Jerusalem 11:1-2
"And" (Gr. kai) ties this chapter closely to the previous one. John’s first prophetic assignment after receiving his fresh commission was to provide this information.
Again John became an active participant in his vision (cf. Rev 1:12; Rev 5:4; Rev 7:14; Rev 10:8-10; Rev 19:10; Rev 22:8). John’s "measuring rod" was probably a lightweight reed (cf. Eze 29:6; Eze 40:5; Eze 42:16-19; Mar 6:8; 3Jn 1:13). The person giving the reed and the instructions was probably the strong angel just referred to (Rev 10:9-11). John received instruction to perform a symbolic act, as many of his prophetic forerunners had done (cf. Isa 20:2-5; Eze 12:1-17; Ezekiel 40; Zechariah 2). The act of measuring probably signifies that the temple is God’s possession and that He approves of it. One carefully measures what is his personal property (cf. 2Sa 8:2; Eze 40:3 to Eze 42:20). Sometimes measuring in Scripture anticipated judgment (2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 21:13; Isa 28:17; Lam 2:8; Amo 7:7-9). A few references to measuring involve protection (Jer 31:39; Eze 40:2 to Eze 43:12; Zec 1:16; Zec 2:1-8), but this can hardly be the connotation here in view of the context (Rev 11:2). However, since John received instruction not to measure profane areas (Rev 11:2), this measuring is probably an indication of God’s favor and approval.
"In other words, John’s future prophecies will distinguish between God’s favor toward the sanctuary, the altar, and their worshipers and His disapproval of all that is of Gentile orientation because of their profanation of the holy city for half of the future seventieth week. . . . So the measuring is an object lesson of how entities favored by God will fare during the period of Gentile oppression that lies ahead." [Note: Ibid., pp. 80-81.]
The "temple" (Gr. naos, inner temple) refers to both the holy place and the holy of holies, excluding the courtyards. This is evidently the temple that the Jews will build in Jerusalem before or during the first half (three and a half years) of Daniel’s seventieth week (i.e., the Tribulation; cf. Rev 11:8; Rev 13:14-15; Dan 9:26-27; Dan 12:11; Mat 24:15-16; 2Th 2:4). [Note: See John F. Walvoord, "Will Israel Build a Temple in Jerusalem?" Bibliotheca Sacra 125:498 (April-June 1968):99-106; Thomas S. McCall, "How Soon the Tribulation Temple?" Bibliotheca Sacra 128:512 (October-December 1971):341-51; and idem, "Problems in Rebuilding the Tribulation Temple," Bibliotheca Sacra 129:513 (January-March 1972):75-80. See also Martin Levin, "Time for a New Temple?" Time, 16 October 1989, pp. 64-65. For refutation of the preterist view that this is the Second Temple, which Titus destroyed in A.D. 70, see Mark L. Hitchcock, "A Critique of the Preterist View of the Temple in Revelation 11:1-2," Bibliotheca Sacra 164:654 (April-June 2007):219-36.] The "altar" probably refers to the brazen altar of sacrifice outside the sanctuary to which non-priests will have access. John was to measure (in the sense of quantifying) the worshippers too. This probably means that God will know or perhaps preserve them. These worshipers evidently represent godly Jews who will worship God in this Tribulation temple (cf. Eze 14:22; Rom 11:4-5; Rom 11:26).
When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming He will build a new millennial temple that will replace this Tribulation temple (Ezekiel 40).
Some interpreters who favor a more symbolic understanding of this verse take the temple as a reference to the church (cf. 1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21; 1Pe 2:5). [Note: E.g., Johnson, pp. 499-502; Mounce, p. 221; and Swete, p. 132.]
"The church will be protected in the coming disaster." [Note: Morris, p. 147.]
However if the temple is the church, who are the worshipers, what is the altar, and why are the Gentiles segregated from it?
CHAPTER VIII.
SECOND CONSOLATORY VISION AND THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.
Rev 11:1-19.
FROM the first consolatory vision we proceed to the second: –
“And there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple cast without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (Rev 11:1-2).”
Various points connected with these verses demand examination before any attempt can be made to gather the meaning of the vision as a whole.
1. What is meant by the measuring of the Temple? As in so many other instances, the figure is taken from the Old Testament. In the prophet Zechariah we read, “I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. 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.”1 To the same effect, but still more particularly, the prophet Ezekiel speaks: “In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. . . . And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an handbreadth, so he measured,”2 whereupon follows a minute and lengthened description of the measuring of all the parts of that Temple which was to be the glory of Gods people in the latter days. From these passages we not only learn whence the idea of the “measuring” was taken, but what the meaning of it was. The account given by Ezekiel distinctly shows that thus to measure expresses the thought of preservation, not of destruction. That the same thought is intended by Zechariah is clear from the words immediately following the instruction given him to measure: “For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her;”3 while, if further proof upon this point were needed, it is found in the fact that the measuring of this passage does not stand alone in the Apocalypse. The new Jerusalem is also measured: “And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.”4 When God therefore measures, He measures, not in indignation, but that the object measured may be in a deeper than ordinary sense the habitation of His glory. (1 Zec 2:1-2; 2 Eze 40:2-5; 3 Zec 2:5; 4 Rev 21:15; Rev 21:17)
2. What is meant by the temple, the altar, and the casting without of the court which is without the temple? In other words, are we to interpret these objects and the action taken with the latter literally or figuratively? Are we to think of the things themselves, or of certain spiritual ideas which they are used to represent? The first view is not only that of many eminent commentators; it even forms one of the chief grounds upon which they urge that the Herodian temple upon Mount Moriah was still in existence when the Apocalyptist wrote. He could not, it is alleged, have been instructed to “measure” the Temple if that building had been already thrown down, and not one stone left upon another. Yet, when we attend to the words, it would seem as if this view must be set aside in favor of a figurative interpretation. For –
(1) The word “temple” misleads. The term employed in the original does not mean the Temple-buildings as a whole, but only their innermost shrine or sanctuary, that part known as the “Holy of holies,” which was separated from every other part of the sacred structure by the second veil. No doubt, so far as the simple act of measuring was concerned, a part might have been as easily measured as the whole. But closer attention to what was in the Seer s mind will show that when he thus speaks of the naos or shrine he is not thinking of the Temple at Jerusalem at all, but of the Tabernacle in the wilderness upon which the Temple was moulded. The nineteenth verse of the chapter makes this clear. In that verse we find him saying, “And there was opened the temple” (the naos) “of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple” (His naos) “the ark of His covenant.” We know, however, that the ark of the covenant never had a place in the Temple which existed in the days of Christ. It had disappeared at the destruction of the first Temple, long before that date. The Temple spoken of in the nineteenth verse is indeed said to be “in heaven;” and it may be thought that the ark, though not on earth, might have been seen there. But no reader of the Revelation of St. John can doubt that to him the sanctuary of God on earth was an exact representation of the heavenly sanctuary, that what God had given in material form to men was a faithful copy of the ideas of His spiritual and eternal kingdom. He could not therefore have placed in the original what, if he had before his mind the Temple at Jerusalem, he knew had no existence within its precincts; and the conclusion is irresistible that when he speaks of a naos that was to be measured he had turned his thoughts, not to the stone building upon Mount Moriah, but to its ancient prototype. On this ground alone then, even could no other be adduced, we seem entitled to maintain that a literal interpretation of the word “temple” is here impossible.
(2) Even should it be allowed that the sanctuary and the altar might be measured, the injunction is altogether inapplicable to the next following clause: them that worship therein. And it is peculiarly so if we adopt the natural construction, by which the word “therein” is connected with the word “altar.” We cannot literally speak of persons worshipping “in” an altar. Nay, even though we connect “therein” with “the temple,” the idea of measuring persons with a rod is at variance with the realities of life and the ordinary use of human language. A figurative element is thus introduced into the very heart of the clause the meaning of which is in dispute.
(3) A similar observation may be made with regard to the words cast without in Rev 11:2. The injunction has reference to the outer court of the Temple, and the thought of “casting out” such an extensive space is clearly inadmissible. So much have translators felt this that both in the Authorized and Revised Versions they have replaced the words “cast without” by the words “leave without.” The outer court of the Temple could not be “cast out;” therefore it must be “left out.” The interpretation thus given, however, fails to do justice to the original, for, though the word employed does not always include actual violence, it certainly implies action of a more positive kind than mere letting alone or passing by. More than this. We are under a special obligation in the present instance not to strip the word used by the Apostle of its proper force, for we shall immediately see that, rightly interpreted, it is one of the most interesting expressions of his book, and of the greatest value in helping us to determine the precise nature of his thought In the meanwhile it is enough to say that the employment of the term in the connection in which it here occurs is at variance with a simply literal interpretation.
(4) It cannot be denied that almost every other expression in the subsequent verses of the vision is figurative or metaphorical. If we are to interpret this part literally, it will be impossible to apply the same rule to other parts; and we shall have such a mixture of the literal and metaphorical as will completely baffle our efforts to comprehend the meaning of the Seer.
(5) We have the statement from the writers own lips that, at least hi speaking of Jerusalem, he is not to be literally understood. In Rev 11:8 he refers to “the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.” The hint thus given as to one point of his description may be accepted as applicable to it all.
We conclude, therefore, that the “measuring,” the “temple” or naos, the “altar,” the “court which is without,” and the “casting without” of the latter are to be regarded as figurative.
3. Our third point of inquiry is, What is the meaning of the figure? There need be no hesitation as to the things first spoken of: “the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein.” These, the most sacred parts of the Temple-buildings, can only denote the most sacred portion of the true Israel of God. They are those disciples of Christ who constitute His shrine, His golden altar of incense whence their prayers rise up continually before Him, His worshippers in spirit and in truth. These, as we have already often had occasion to see, shall be preserved safe amidst the troubles of the Church and of the world. In one passage we have been told that they are numbered*; now we are further informed that they are measured. (* Joh 7:4)
It is more difficult to explain who are meant by “the court which is without the temple.” But three things are clear. First, they are a part of the Temple-buildings, although not of its inner shrine. Secondly, they belong to Jerusalem; and Jerusalem, notwithstanding its degenerate condition, was still the city of God, standing to Him in a relation different from that of the “nations,” even when it had sunk beneath them and had done more to merit His displeasure. Thirdly, they cannot be the Gentiles, for from them they are manifestly distinguished when it is said that the outer court “hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”1 One conclusion alone remains. The “court that is without” must symbolize the faithless portion of the Christian Church, such as tread the courts of the house of God, but to whom He speaks as He spoke to Jerusalem of old: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them.”2 (1 Rev 11:2; 2 Isa 1:13-14)
The correctness of the sense thus assigned to this part of the vision is powerfully confirmed by what appears to be the true foundation of the singular expression already so far spoken of, “cast without.” Something must lie at the bottom of the figure; and nothing seems so probable as this: that it is the “casting out” which took place in the case of the man blind from his birth, and the opening of whose eyes by Jesus is related in the fourth Gospel. Of that man we are told that when the Jews could no longer answer him “they cast him out.”1 The word is the same as that now employed, and the thought is most probably the same also. Excommunication from the synagogue is in the Seer s mind, not a temporal punishment, not a mere worldly doom, but a spiritual sentence depriving of spiritual privileges misunderstood and abused. Such a casting out, however, can apply only to those who had been once within the courts of the Lords house or to the faithless members of the Christian Church. They, like the Jews of old, would “cast out” the humble disciples whom Jesus “found”;2 and He cast them out. (1 Joh 9:34; 2 Joh 9:35)
If the explanation now given of the opening verses of this chapter be correct, we have reached a very remarkable stage in these apocalyptic visions. For the first time, except in the letters to the churches,1 we have a clear line of distinction drawn between the professing and the true portions of the Church of Christ, or, as it may be otherwise expressed, between the “called” and the “chosen.”2 How far the same distinction will meet us in later visions of this book we have yet to see. For the present it may be enough to say that the drawing of such a distinction corresponds exactly with what we might have been prepared to expect. Nothing can be more certain than that in the things actually around him St. John beheld the mould and type of the things that were to come. Now Jerusalem, the Church of God in Israel, contained two classes within its walls: those who were accomplishing their high destiny and those by whom that destiny was misunderstood, despised, and cast away. Has it not always been the same in the Christian Church? If the world entered into the one, has it not entered as disastrously into the other? That field which is “the kingdom of heaven” upon earth has never wanted tares as well as wheat. They grow together, and no man may separate them. When the appropriate moment comes, God Himself will give the word; angels will carry off the tares, and the great Husbandman will gather the wheat into His garner. (1 Rev 2:24; Rev 3:1; Rev 3:4; 2 Comp. Mat 22:14)
4. One question still remains: What is the meaning of the forty and two months during which the holy city is to be trodden under foot of the nations? The same expression meets us in Rev 13:5, where it is said that “there was given to the beast authority to continue forty and two months.” But forty and two months is also three and a half years, the Jewish year having consisted of twelve months, except when an intercalary month was inserted among the twelve in order to preserve harmony between the seasons and the rotation of time. The same period is therefore again alluded to in Rev 12:14, when it is said of the woman who fled into the wilderness that she is there nourished for “a time, and times, and half a time.” Once more, we read in Rev 11:3 and in Rev 12:6 of a period denoted by “a thousand two hundred and threescore days;” and a comparison of this last passage with Rev 11:14 of the same chapter distinctly shows that it is equivalent to the three and a half times or years. Three and a half multiplied by three hundred and sixty, the number of days in the Jewish year, gives us exactly the twelve hundred and sixty days. These three periods, therefore, are the same. Why the different designations should be adopted is another question, to which, so far as we are aware, no satisfactory reply has yet been given, although it may be that, for some occult reason, the Seer beholds in “months” a suitable expression for the dominion of evil, in “days” one appropriate to the sufferings of the good.
The ground of this method of looking at the Churchs history is found in the book of Daniel, where we read of the fourth beast, or the fourth kingdom, “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given Into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”1 The same book helps us also to answer the question as to the particular period of the Churchs history denoted by the days, or months, or years referred to, for in another passage the prophet says, “And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.”2 The three and a half years therefore, or the half of seven years, denote the whole period extending from the cessation of the sacrifice and oblation. In other words, they denote the Christian era from its beginning to its close, and that more especially on the side of its disturbed and broken character, of the power exercised in it by what is evil, of the troubles and sufferings of the good. During it the disciples of the Saviour do not reach the completeness of their rest; their victory is not won. Ideally it is so; it always has been so since Jesus overcame: but it is not yet won in the actual realities of the case; and, though in one sense every heavenly privilege is theirs, their difficulties are so great, and their opponents so numerous and powerful, that the true expression for their state is a broken seven years, or three years and a half. During this time, accordingly, the holy city is represented as trodden under foot by the nations. They who are at ease in Zion may not feel it; but to the true disciples of Jesus their Masters prophecy is fulfilled, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”* (1 Dan 7:25; 2 Dan 9:27; 3 Joh 16:33)
The vision now proceeds:
“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 Lord of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And their dead body lies in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead body three days and an half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry: and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and an half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which beheld them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven (Rev 11:3-13).”
The figures of this part of the vision, like those of the first part, are drawn from the Old Testament. That the language is not to be literally understood hardly admits of dispute, for, whatever might have been thought of the ” two witnesses ” had we read only of them, the description given of their persons, or of their person (for in Rev 11:8, where mention is made of their dead body – not “bodies” – they are treated as one), of their work, of their death, and of their resurrection and ascension, is so obviously figurative as to render it necessary to view the whole passage in that light. The main elements of the figure are supplied by the prophet Zechariah. “And the angel that talked with me,” says the prophet, “came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of sleep, and said unto me; What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? . . . Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. … Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil put of themselves? And he answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”1 In these words indeed we read only of one golden candlestick, while now we read of two. But we have already found that the Seer of the Apocalypse, in using the figures to which he had been accustomed, does not bind himself to all their details; and the only inference to be drawn from this difference, as well as from the circumstance already noted in Rev 11:8, is that the number “two” is to be regarded less in itself than as a strengthening of the idea of the number one. This circumstance further shows that the two witnesses cannot be divided between the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, as if the one witness were the former and the other the latter. Both taken together express the idea of witnessing, and to the full elucidation of that idea belong also the olive tree and the candlestick. The witnessing is fed by perpetual streams of that heavenly oil, of that unction of the Spirit, which is represented by the olive tree; and it sheds light around like the candlestick. The two witnesses, therefore, are not two individuals to be raised up during the course of the Churchs history, that they may bear testimony to the facts and principles of the Christian faith. The Seer indeed may have remembered that it had been Gods plan in the past to commission His servants, not singly, but in pairs. He may have called to mind Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, or he may have thought of the fact that our Lord sent forth His disciples two by two. The probability, however, is that, as he speaks of “witnessing,” he thought mainly of that precept of the law which required the testimony of two witnesses to confirm a statement. Yet he does not confine himself to the thought of two individual witnesses, however eminent, who shall in faithful work fill up their own short span of human life and die. The witness he has in view is that to be borne by all Christs people, everywhere, and throughout the whole Christian age. From the first to the last moment of the Churchs history in this world there shall be those raised up who shall never fail to prophesy, or, in other words, to testify to the truth of God as it is in Jesus. The task will be hard, but they will not shrink from it. They shall be clothed in sackcloth, but they shall count their robes of shame to be robes of honor. They shall occupy the position of Him who, in the days of His humiliation, was the “faithful and true Witness.” Nourished by the Spirit that was in Him, they shall, like Him, be the light of the world,2 so that God shall never be left without some at least to witness for Him. (1Zech. 4; 2 Joh 8:12. Comp. Mat 5:14)
Having spoken of the persons of the two witnesses, St. John next proceeds to describe the power with which, amidst their seeming weakness, their testimony is borne; and once more he finds in the most striking histories of the Old Testament the materials with which his glowing imagination builds.
In the first place, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies, so that these enemies are killed by the manifest judgment of God, and even, in His righteous retribution, by the very instrument of destruction they would have themselves employed. Elijah and the three companions of Daniel are before us, when at the word of Elijah fire descended out of heaven, and consumed the two captains and their fifties,1 and when the companions of Daniel were not only left unharmed amidst the flames, but when the fire leaped out upon and slew the men by whom they had been cast into the furnace.2 This fire proceeding out of the mouth of the two witnesses is like the sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of the mouth of the Son of man in the first vision of the book.3 In the second place, the witnesses have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy. Elijah is again before us when he exclaimed in the presence of 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,” and when “it rained not on the earth for three years and six months.”4 Finally, when we are told that the witnesses have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire, we are reminded of Moses and of the plagues inflicted through him upon the oppressors of Israel in Egypt. (1 2Ki 1:10; 2Ki 1:12; 2 Dan 3:22; 3 Rev 1:16; 4 1Ki 17:1; Jam 5:17)
The three figures teach the same lesson. No deliverance has been effected by the Almighty for His people in the past which He is not ready to repeat. The God of Moses, and Elijah, and Daniel is the unchangeable Jehovah. He has made with His Church an everlasting covenant; and the most striking manifestations of His power in bygone times “happened by way of example, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.”* (* 1Co 10:11)
Hence, accordingly, the Church finishes her testimony.1 So was it with our Lord in His high-priestly prayer and on the Cross: “I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do;” “It is finished.”2 But this “finishing” of their testimony on the part of the two witnesses points to more than the end of the three and a half years viewed simply as a period of time. Not the thought of time alone, but of the completion of testimony, is present to the Seers mind. At every moment in the history of Christs true disciples that completion is reached by some or others of their number. Through all the three and a half years their testimony is borne with power, and is finished with triumph, so that the world is always without excuse. (1 Rev 11:7; 2 Joh 17:4; Joh 19:30)
Having spoken of the power of the witnesses, St. John next turns to the thought of their evil fate. The beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. This “beast” has not yet been described; but it is a characteristic of the Apostle, both in the fourth Gospel and in the Apocalypse, to anticipate at times what is to come, and to introduce persons to our notice whom we shall only learn to know fully at a later point in his narrative. That is the case here. This beast will again meet us in chap. 13 and chap. 17, where we shall see that it is the concentrated power of a world material and visible in its opposition to a world spiritual and invisible. It may be well to remark, too, that the representation given of the beast presents us with one of the most striking contrasts of St. John, and one that must be carefully remembered if we would understand his visions. Why speak of its “coming up out of the abyss”? Because the beast is the contrast of the risen Saviour. Only after His resurrection did our Lord enter upon His dominion as King, Head, and Guardian of His people. In like manner only after a resurrection mockingly attributed to it does this beast attain its full range of influence. Then, in the height of its rage and at the summit of its power, it sets itself in opposition to Christs witnesses. It cannot indeed prevent them from accomplishing their work; they shall finish their testimony in spite of it: but, when that is done, it shall gain an apparent triumph. As the Son of God was nailed to the Cross, and in that hour of His weakness seemed to be conquered by the world, so shall it be with them. They shall be overcome and killed.
Nor is that all, for their dead body (not dead bodies1) is treated with the utmost contumely. It lies in the broad open street of the great city, which the words where also their Lord was crucified show plainly to be Jerusalem. But Jerusalem! In what aspect is she here beheld? Not as “the holy city,” “the beloved city,” the Zion which God had desired for His habitation, and of which He had said, “This is My rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it,”2 but degenerate Jerusalem, Jerusalem become as Sodom for its wickedness, and as Egypt for its oppression of the Israel of God. The language is strong, so strong that many interpreters have deemed it impossible to apply it to Jerusalem in any sense, and have imagined that they had no alternative but to think of Rome. Yet it is not stronger than the language used many a time by the prophets of old: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. How is the faithful city become an harlot! . . . righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.”3 (1See Margin of R.V; 2 Psa 132:13-14; 3 Isa 1:10; Isa 1:21)
If, however, this city be Jerusalem, what does it represent? Surely, for reasons already stated, neither the true disciples of Jesus, nor the heathen nations of the world. We have the degenerate Church before us, the Church that has conformed to the world. That Church beholds the faithful witnesses for Christ the Crucified lie in the open way. Their wounds make no impression upon her heart, and draw no tear from her eyes. She even invites the world to the spectacle; and the world, always eager to hear the voice of a degenerate Church, responds to the invitation. It “looks,” and obviously without commiseration, upon the prostrate, mangled form that has fallen in the strife. This it does for three days and a half, the half of seven, a broken period of trouble; and it will not suffer the dead body to be laid in a tomb. Nay, the world is not content even with its victory. After victory it must have its triumph; and that triumph is presented to us in one of the most wonderful pictures of the Apocalypse, when they that dwell on the earth – that is, the men of the world – from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations, having listened to the degenerate Churchs call, make high holiday at the thought of what they have done. They rejoice over the dead bodies, and make merry: and they send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. We are reminded of Herod and Pilate, who, when the Jewish governor sent Jesus to his heathen brother, “became friends that very day.”1 But we are reminded of more. In the book of Nehemiah we find mention of that great feast of Tabernacles which was observed by the people when they heard again, after long silence, the book of the law, and when “there was very great gladness.” In immediate connection with this feast, Nehemiah said to the people, “Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength”2; while it constituted a part also of the joyful ceremonial of the feast of the dedication of the Temple that the Jews made the days of the feast “days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.”3 Taking these passages into account, and remembering the general style and manner of St. John, we can have no hesitation in recognizing in the festival of these verses the worlds Feast of Tabernacles, the contrast and the counterpart of the Churchs feast already spoken of in the second consolatory vision of chap. 7. (1 Luk 23:12; 2 Neh 8:10; 3 Est 9:22)
If so, what a picture does it present! – the degenerate Church inviting the world to celebrate a feast over the dead bodies of the witnesses for Christ, and the world accepting the invitation; the former accommodating herself to the ways of the latter, and the latter welcoming the accommodation; the one proclaiming no unpleasant doctrines and demanding no painful sacrifices, the other hailing with satisfaction the prospect of an easy yoke and of a cheap purchase of eternity as well as time. The picture may seem too terrible to be true. But let us first remember that, like all the pictures of the Apocalypse, it is ideal, showing us the operation of principles in their last, not their first, effect; and then let us ask whether we have never read of, or ourselves seen, such a state of things actually realized. Has the Church never become the world, on the plea that she would gain the world? Has she never uttered smooth things or prophesied deceits in order that she might attract those who will not endure the thought of hardness in religious service, and would rather embrace what in their inward hearts they know to be a lie than bitter truth? Such a spectacle has been often witnessed, and is yet witnessed every day, when those who ought to be witnesses for a living and present Lord gloze over the peculiar doctrines of the Christian faith, draw as close as possible the bonds of their fellowship with unchristian men, and treat with scorn the thought of a heavenly life to be led even amidst the things of time. One can understand the worlds own ways, and, even when lamenting that its motives are not higher, can love its citizens and respect their virtues. But a far lower step in declension is reached when the Churchs silver becomes dross, when her wine is mixed with water, and when her voice no longer convicts, no longer ” torments them that dwell on the earth.”
In the midst of all their tribulation, however, the faithful portion of the Church have a glorious reward. They have suffered with Christ, but they shall also reign with Him. After all their trials in life, after their death, and after the limited time during which even when dead they have been dishonored, they live again. The breath of life from God entered into them. Following Him who is the first-fruits of them that sleep, they stood upon their feet.1 They heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. They went up into heaven in the cloud; and there they sit down with the conquering Redeemer in His throne, even as He overcame and sat down with His Father in His throne.2 All this, too, takes place in the very presence of their enemies, upon whom great fear fell. Even nature sympathizes with them. Having waited for the revealing of the sons of God, and in hope that she also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God,3 she hails their final triumph. There was a great earth quake, the tenth part of the city (that is, of Jerusalem) fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons. It is unnecessary to say that the words are figurative and symbolical, denoting in all probability simply judgment, but judgment restrained. (1Comp. Rev 5:6; 2 Rev 3:21; 3 Rom 8:19; Rom 8:21)
The last words of the vision alone demand more particular attention: The rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The thought is the same as that which met us when we were told at the close of the sixth Trumpet that “the rest of mankind which were not killed with these plagues repented not.”* There is no repentance, no conversion. There is terror; there is alarm; there is a tribute of awe to the God of heaven who has so signally vindicated His own cause; but there is nothing more. Nor are we told what may or may not follow in some future scene. For the Seer the final triumph of good and the final overthrow of evil are enough. He can be patient, and, so far as persons are concerned, can leave the issue in the hands of God. (* Rev 9:20)
The two consolatory visions interposed between the sixth and seventh Trumpets are now over, and we cannot fail to see how great an advance they are upon die two visions of a similar kind interposed between the sixth and seventh Seals. The whole action has made progress. At the earlier stage the Church may be said to have been hidden in the hollow of the Almighty s hand. In the thought of the “great tribulation” awaiting her she has been sealed, while the peace and joy of her new condition have been set before us, as she neither hungers nor thirsts, but is guided by her Divine Shepherd to green pastures and to fountains of the waters of life. At this later stage she is in the midst of her conflict and her sufferings. She is in the heat of her warfare, in the extremity of her persecuted state. From the height on which we stand we do not look over a quiet and peaceful plain, with flocks of sheep resting in its meadows; we look over a field where armed men have met in the shock of battle. There is the stir, the excitement, the tumult of deadly strife for higher than earthly freedom, for dearer than earthly homes. There may be temporary repulse and momentary yielding even on the side of the good, but they still press on. The Captain of their salvation is at their head; and foot by foot fresh ground is won, until at last the victory is sounded, and we are ready for the seventh Trumpet.
Before it sounds there is a warning similar to that which preceded the sounding of the fifth and sixth*: (* Rev 8:13; Rev 9:12) –
“The second Woe is past; behold, the third Woe cometh quickly (Rev 11:14).”
These words are to be connected with the close of chap, 9, all that is contained in chaps. 10 and 11:1-13 being, as we have seen, episodical.
The seventh Trumpet is now sounded: –
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever, And the four-and-twenty elders, which sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord, God, the Almighty, which art and which wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, both the saints and them that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant: and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail (Rev 11:15-19).”
1. By the kingdom of the world here spoken of is meant, that dominion over the world as a whole has become the possession of our Lord and of His Christ; and it is to be His forever and ever. There is no contradiction between this statement of St. John and that of St. Paul when, speaking of the Son, the latter Apostle says, “And when all things have been subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subjected to Him that did subject all things unto Him, that God may be all in all.”1 The “kingdom” thus spoken of by St. Paul is that exercised by our Lord in subduing His enemies, and it must necessarily come to an end when there are no more enemies to subdue. The kingdom here referred to is Christs dominion as Head and King of His Church, and of that dominion there is no end. Of more consequence perhaps is it to observe that when it is said in the words before us, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, there is nothing to lead to the supposition that this “kingdom” becomes Christ s by the conversion of the world. The meaning simply is that evil has been finally and for ever put down, that good is finally and forever triumphant. No inference can be drawn as to the fate of wicked persons further than this: that they shall not be found in “the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.”2 Were additional proof needed upon this point, it would be supplied by the fact that in almost the next following words we read of the nations being roused to wrath. These are the wicked upon whom judgment falls; and, instead of being converted, they are roused to the last and highest outburst of the wickedness which springs from despair. (1 1Co 15:28; 2 2Pe 3:13)
2. The song of the four-and-twenty elders. We have already had occasion to notice that song of the representatives of redeemed creation in which the four living creatures celebrated “the Lord, God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come.”* The song now before us, sung by the representatives of the glorified Church, is cast in precisely the same mould of three ascriptions of praise to the Lord. But in the third member there is an important difference, the words “and which is to come” being omitted. The explanation is that the Lord is come. The present dispensation is at its close. (* Rev 4:8)
3. The events of the close are next described. It is the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give reward to Gods faithful servants, to whatever part of mankind they have belonged, and whatever the position they have filled in life. The whole family of man is divided into two great classes, and for the one there is judgment, for the other reward.
4. Before passing on it may be well to call attention to one or two particulars in these verses which, though not specially connected with that general meaning of the passage which it is the main object of this commentary to elicit, may help to throw light upon the style of the Apostle and the structure of his work.
(l) Thus it is important to observe his use of the word prophets. The persons spoken of are obviously in contrast with “the nations” and “the dead to be judged,” and they must include all who are faithful unto death. Already we have seen that every true follower of Christ is in St. Johns eyes a martyr, and that when he thinks of the martyrs of the Church he has a far wider circle in view than that of those who meet death by the sword or at the stake. To his ideal conceptions of things the martyr spirit makes the martyr, and the martyr spirit must rule in every disciple of the Crucified. In like manner the prophetic spirit makes the prophet, and of that spirit no true follower of Him in whom prophecy culminated can be devoid. In this very chapter we have read of ” prophesying ” as the work of the two witnesses who are a symbol of the whole Christian Church, and who prophesy through the thousand two hundred and threescore days of her pilgrimage. We are not therefore to suppose that those here called “prophets” are either prophets in the stricter sense of the word, or commissioned ministers of Christ. All Christs people are His “servants the prophets,” and the idealism of St. John distinctly appears in the designation given them.
(2) The next following clause, which we have translated in a manner slightly different from that of both the Authorized and the Revised Versions, is not less important: both the saints and them that fear Thy name, instead of “and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name.” It is the manner of St. John to dwell in the first instance upon one characteristic of the object of which he speaks, and then to add other characteristics belonging to it, equally important, it may be, in themselves, but not occupying so prominent a place in the line of thought which he happens to be pursuing at the moment. An illustration of this is afforded in Joh 14:6, where the words of Jesus are given in the form, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” The context shows that the emphasis rests wholly on Jesus as “the Way,” and that the addition of the words “the Truth, and the Life,” is only made to enhance and complete the thought. Here in like manner the contents of what is involved in the term “the prophets” are completed by a further statement of what the prophets are. They are “the saints and they that fear Gods name.” The twofold structure of this statement, however, again illustrates the manner of St. John. “The saints” is, properly speaking, a Jewish epithet, while every reader of the Acts of the Apostles is familiar with the fact that “they that fear God” was a term applied to Gentile proselytes to Judaism. We have thus an instance of St. Johns method of regarding the topic with which he deals from a double point of view, the first Jewish, the second Gentile. He is not thinking of two divisions of the Church, The Church is one; all her members constitute one Body in Christ. But looked at from the Jewish standpoint, they are “the saints;” from the Gentile, they are those that “fear Thy name.”
(3) The verses under consideration afford a marked illustration of St. Johns love of presenting judgment under the form of the lex talionis. The nations were “roused to wrath,” and upon them Gods “wrath came.” They had “destroyed the earth,” and God would “destroy” them. In studying the Apocalypse, all peculiarities of style or structure ought to be present to the mind. They are not unfrequently valuable guides to interpretation.
The seventh Trumpet has sounded, and the end has come. A glorious moment has been reached in the development of the Almightys plan; and the mind of the Seer is exalted and ravished by the prospect. Yet he beholds no passing away of the present earth and heavens, no translation of the reign of good to an unseen spiritual and hitherto unvisited region of the universe. It would be out of keeping with the usual phraseology of his book to understand by heaven, in which he sees the ark of God s covenant, a locality, a place “beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb.” His employment of the contrasted words “earth” and “heaven” throughout his whole series of visions rather leads to the supposition that by the latter we are to understand that region, wherever it may be, in which spiritual principles alone bear sway. It may be here; it may be elsewhere; it seems hardly possible to say: but the more the reader enters into the spirit of this book, the more difficult will he find it to resist the impression that St. John thinks of this present world as not only the scene of the great struggle between good and evil, but also, when it has been cleansed and purified, as the seat of everlasting righteousness. These in the present instance are striking words: “to destroy them that destroy the earth.” Why not destroy the earth itself if it is only to be burned up? Why speak of it in such terms as lead almost directly to the supposition that it shall be preserved though its destroyers perish? While, on the other hand, if God at first pronounced it to be “very good;” if it may be a home of truth, and purity, and holiness; and if it shall be the scene of Christs future and glorious reign, then may we justly say, Woe to them that destroy the habitation, the palace, now preparing for the Prince of peace.
However this may be, it was a fitting close to the judgments of the seven Trumpets that the “temple” of God that – is, the innermost shrine or sanctuary of His temple – should be opened. There was no need now that God should be “a God that hideth Himself.”1 When earth had in it none but the pure in heart, why should they not see Him?2 He would dwell in them and walk in them.3 The Tabernacle of the Lord would be again with men.4 (1 Isa 45:15; 2 Mat 5:8; 3 2Co 6:16; 4 Rev 21:3)
When too the shrine was opened, what more appropriate spectacle could be seen than “the ark of His covenant,” the symbol of His faithfulness, the pledge of that love of His which remains unchanged when the mountains depart and the hills are removed? The covenant-keeping God! No promise of the past had failed, and the past was the earnest of the future.
Nor need we wonder at the lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and the earthquake, and the great hail that followed. For God had “promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.”* (* Heb 12:26-27)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary