And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
12. they heard ] Probably not the two prophets only, but “they that beheld them.”
in a cloud ] Should be “in the cloud” the same, perhaps, that received their Lord out of His Disciples’ sight. Any way, “the cloud” is regarded as a permanently recurring phenomenon, like “the rainbow” in Rev 10:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they heard a great voice from heaven – Some manuscripts read, I heard – ekousa – but the more approved reading is that of the common text. John says that a voice was addressed to them calling them to ascend to heaven.
Come up hither – To heaven.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud – So the Saviour ascended, Act 1:9; and so probably Elijah, 2Ki 2:11.
And their enemies beheld them – That is, it was done openly, so that their enemies, who had put them to death, saw that they were approved of God, as if they had been publicly taken up to heaven. It is not necessary to suppose that this would literally occur. All this is, manifestly, mere symbol. The meaning is, that they would triumph as if they should ascend to heaven, and he received into the presence of God. The sense of the whole is, that these witnesses, after bearing a faithful testimony against prevailing errors and sins, would be persecuted and silenced; that for a considerable period their voice of faithful testimony would be hushed as if they were dead; that during that period they would be treated with contempt and scorn, as if their unburied bodies should be exposed to the public gaze; that there would be general exultation and joy that they were thus silenced; that they would again revive, as if the dead were restored to life, and bear a faithful testimony to the truth again; and that they would have the divine attestation in their favor, its if they were raised up visibly and publicly to heaven.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 11:12
A great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.
The voice from heaven
I. We shall regard it, first, As a summons sent at the appointed hour to every saint. When the time shall come, fixed by irreversible decree, there shall be heard a great voice from heaven to every believer in Christ, saying, Come up hither.
1. This should be to us–each one of us, if we be in Christ–the subject of very joyful anticipation. To some Christians it will be not only joyful in anticipation, but it will be intensely delightful when it arrives.
2. To change the note a moment; while this should be the subject of joyous anticipation, it should also be the object of patient waiting. God knows best when it is time for us to be bidden to Come up hither. We must not wish to antedate the period of our departure. I would not wish to die while there is more work to do or more souls to win.
3. As this Come up hither should excite joyous anticipation, tempered by patient waiting, so it should always be to us a matter of absolute certainty as to its ultimate reception. I can understand a man being in doubt about his interest in Christ, but I cannot understand a mans resting content to be in these doubts.
4. I think very often, besides joyfully anticipating, patiently waiting, and being confidently assured of it, the Christian should delightfully contemplate it.
II. We will take the text this time, not as a summons to depart, but as whisper from the skies to the believers heart, The Father seems to say this to every adopted child. Nor will your Father and my Father ever be content till every one of His children shall be in the many mansions above. And Jesus whispers this in your ear. I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I elm, that they may behold My glory. Jesus beckons thee to the skies, believer. Lay not fast hold upon the things of earth.
III. These words may be used as a loving invitation to unconverted persons. There are many spirit voices which cry to them, Come up hither; come up to heaven.
1. God our Father calls thee. Sinner, thou hast many troubles of late; business goes amiss. Dost thou not know, sinner, this is thy Father saying, Come up hither? Thy portion is not here; seek thou another and a better land.
2. But more, the Lord Jesus Christ has also beckoned to you to come. Thou hast heard that He made a way to heaven. Is not a road an invitation to a traveller to walk therein?
3. The Spirit of God strives with thee and cries, Come up hither. The Spirit of God wrote this book; and wherefore was this book written? Hear the words of Scripture, These are written that ye might believe, etc.
4. Moreover, does not thy conscience say the same?
5. And, last of all, the spirit of your friends departed cry from heaven to you to-night–that voice which I would you could hear, Come up hither. I adjure you, ye sons of saints in glory; I adjure you, daughter of immortal mothers; despise not now the voice of those who speak from heaven to you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Voices from heaven
And we, too, hear voices from heaven, saying unto us, Come up hither. Did we not, how grovelling our desires, our pursuits, our very natures would be!
1. There is, first, a voice even from the lower and material heaven, calling on our souls, and urging them to ascend. The stars of the firmament, and the sun, and the moon, speak as well as shine. They utter forth a glorious voice; a voice which not only declares the glory of God, but exhorts the spirit of man. Come up hither! Come up into the vast domains of space, and count our numbers, and compute our size, and bathe in our brightness, and learn what we can tell you of height and of depth, of splendour and of power. Stay not always below. Breathe not always in mist and vapours. Regard not earth so exclusively and so long, as to rest in the conclusion that earth is all.
2. We do not stop, however, but only begin with these works, all bright and eloquent as they are. They introduce us to Him who made them; to Him from whose fountain they draw their light, and of whose voice their own is but an echo. God delegates not to His creatures, but reserves as His own right, the highest converse with His likeness, the human soul. He is the Father of spirits, and He will speak Himself to His children. And from the heaven where He dwelleth He says to them, Come up hither. Come up into the spiritual dwelling-place of your Creator, and birthplace of your own souls. Remain not so constantly in your temporal residence, as to forget the way to that abode where My children are to live for ever. Come up hither by faith now, that hereafter you may come in by sight. Come up by hope, that when hope shall disappear, it may be Swallowed up in fruition. Come up by charity and good works done in the body, that when your bodies are resolved into dust, your souls may be prepared for that happy and holy kingdom into which sin and impurity cannot enter. Come up hither by the exercises of piety and the strength of Divine love. Come, and see My face, and be to Me as sons.
3. But there is another to whom we are dear, even His own Son, who dwells with His Father; and He also calls us from the same heaven, saying unto us, Come up hither l Here are the mansions which I have been preparing for My disciples. Cause not My labour for you to be vain. I earned My reward, that ye might share it with Me. I would not lose one soul that I once bled to redeem. Come up hither. There is room for you, and for all.
4. And now we hear other great voices from heaven, saying unto us, Come up hither! They are the voices of the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs, the innumerable multitude of saints and sealed servants of God, which no man can number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues. Come up hither I they cry, and witness our joys, and be encouraged by our success.
5. There are few to whom I am speaking who do not hear other voices yet, which, though not more animating than the last, are, by the provision of God, nearer to the listening ear, and dearer to the soul. There are few who do not number in their families those whose places are vacant at the table and the hearth, but who are not reckoned as lost but only gone before. And when the business of daily life is for a while suspended, and its cares are put to rest–nay, often in the midst of the worlds unheeded tumult–their voices float down clearly and distinctly from heaven, and say to their own, Come up hither! Our infirmities are relieved; our strength is renewed; our fears and doubts are flown away; our sins are forgiven. Hearken to us, and be comforted! Come to us, when your journey is done! (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
The great voice from heaven
No argument is needed to show that the word up is used in a figurative and not in a literal sense, What heaven is we do not know. The truth is that between physical and moral relations there is often a close analogy. The physical world in which we live is the type of the world to which we are going; the conditions of being, the relations of matter in which we are practised here–motion, rest, distance, nearness, weight, buoyancy, power, resistance, birth, life, growth, death–all these are physical ideas; yet we cannot talk about spiritual or heavenly things without employing these terms; and they were meant to be used by us in this way. Of course the essential excellence of heaven consists in the moral purity and perfection of which it is the home. And between moral purity and perfection and physical elevation there seems to be a constant and, perhaps, a necessary relation. Perhaps the human mind is so constituted that it will associate these ideas. The fact is worth noting, because we are not always aware that when we seem to be speaking in the soberest prose we are often using words poetically. We talk of the higher life, meaning, of course, the purer and better life; we describe one whom we know as possessing a lofty spirit, as governed by an elevated purpose, as having a high standard of conduct. The analogy between physical height and moral excellence is most clear and vivid. We go down into cellars and dungeons, into caverns and morasses, into sloughs and pitfalls, into floods and depths of ocean. A great part of our physical discomforts and dangers are encountered in going down. We go up to solid footing, to pure air, to wide prospects; many of our more pleasurable sensations are the result of ascending. The voice from heaven which says, Come up hither, means to us a great deal. It means, Come up out of the fens and quagmires, out of the cellars and the dungeons, out of the miasma and the darkness–up to the heights where the sun always shines, where the air is always pure and sweet, where the eye sweeps a wide horizon that girdles fertile plains and shining lakes and winding rivers and glorious summits. It is only a figure, then, somebody may say. That is as if one should stoop to pick up a pebble and should exclaim, as he held it in his hand, Only a diamond! How much more rich and precious is the figure than any mere literalism could be! We conceive of heaven rightly both as a state of being and as a place of residence. Holding, then, both these conceptions of heaven in our thought, let us listen to the great voice out of heaven saying unto us, Come up hither! Heaven as a state is not beyond the reach of those who dwell upon the earth. Heaven came down to earth when Christ came. It had always been coming, indeed; but there was more of it here when He came than ever before. The announcement of the Saviours coming by the Forerunner–what was it? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is a life that springs from the earth and that clings to the earth; a life whose central motive is appetite or passion, or some form of selfishness a little more refined; a life that is ruled by material ideas and forces; a life whose maxims and methods are all earthly and sordid. There is another life that has its inspiration in heaven, and that lifts us up toward heaven; a life whose central motive is love; whose source is the indwelling of Gods spirit in the soul; a life that enthrones the nobler faculties and makes the grosset nature serve the higher; that holds the appetites in check, and subordinates material things to spiritual; a life whose joy is found in giving rather than in getting. These two realms of experience–the upper and the lower–lie close together, and both of them invite us by motives of their own. There is that in us which responds to the solicitations of the realm of sense, and there is that in us which answers to the call from the spiritual realm. Unhappily many of us, I fear, spend most of our days down below. Our affections are set on things on the earth, rather than on the things above. Now and then we make an excursion into the heavenly realm, but we do not stay there long. (W. Gladden, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. They ascended up to heaven] Enjoyed a state of great peace and happiness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they, that is, the two witnesses, so often before spoken of,
heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither; heard God by a singular providence calling them again to their former work and station in his church; or (as some) to a higher and more famous place in his church than they formerly enjoyed; for by heaven the most and best interpreters understand the church, as it often signifies in this book.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them; and this was done in the face of their enemies. In this sense of this verse I find the generality of judicious interpreters agreed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. theyso A, C, and Vulgate.But B, Coptic, Syriac, and ANDREASread, “I heard.”
a cloudGreek,“the cloud”; which may be merely the generic expression forwhat we are familiar with, as we say “the clouds.”But I prefer taking the article as definitely alluding to THEcloud which received Jesus at His ascension, Ac1:9 (where there is no article, as there is no allusion to aprevious cloud, such as there is here). As they resembled Him intheir three and a half years’ witnessing, their three and a half dayslying in death (though not for exactly the same time, nor put in atomb as He was), so also in their ascension is the translation andtransfiguration of the sealed of Israel (Re7:1-8), and the elect of all nations, caught up out of the reachof the Antichristian foe. In Re14:14-16, He is represented as sitting on a white cloud.
their enemies beheld themandwere thus openly convicted by God for their unbelief and persecutionof His servants; unlike Elijah’s ascension formerly, in the sight offriends only. The Church caught up to meet the Lord in the air, andtransfigured in body, is justified by her Lord before the world, evenas the man-child (Jesus) was “caught up unto God and His throne”from before the dragon standing ready to devour the woman’s childas soon as born.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they heard a great voice from heaven,…. The Complutensian edition reads, “I heard”, i.e. “John”; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; but the copies in general read “they”; not the enemies, but the witnesses: and this seems not to come from any Christian civil magistrate in the church, but from Christ himself; not but that Christ may make use of, such for the bringing of his people into a more glorious and comfortable state in this world:
saying unto them, come up hither; as the angel said to John, Re 4:1, and Christ will say to his people, though on another account, Mt 25:34.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; which is to be understood not literally, for no man hath ascended to heaven, nor will any, until the thousand years are ended, when the saints will, in a body, ascend thither; but mystically, of a more glorious state of the church; so to ascend to heaven signifies a more exalted state in a prince, or a kingdom, Isa 14:13; and here intends a state of comfortable communion of the saints one with another, of great purity and holiness, of large enjoyments of blessings and privileges, and of great security from enemies, and of great glory, and honour, and power, that shall be bestowed upon them; they now dwelling on high, and their place of defence being the munition of rocks. This will be the beginning of the spiritual reign of Christ; and this ascension of the witnesses will be in a cloud, in allusion to our Lord’s ascension to heaven, and as expressive of that glory and majesty which will be put upon these risen witnesses, and in which they shall enter into this happy state of things; or it may be, that this may denote that the first appearance of these happy times, and of Christ’s spiritual reign in his church, and their more comfortable enjoyment, will be at first but dim and obscure, and yet such as, in comparison of their former state, will be visible to, and be taken notice of, even by their very enemies:
and their enemies beheld them; going up to heaven, or entering into a purer, and more glorious, and spiritual state; for the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established upon the top of the mountains, and Jerusalem shall be made the praise of the whole earth, an eternal excellency, and the joy of many generations; and this shall be seen and known of all, though to their grief and sorrow.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Saying (). Present active predicate participle of , feminine genitive agreeing with , though some MSS. have the accusative , either construction being proper after (they heard). There is a little evidence for like 12:10 (24 times in the book). Cf. Joh 5:28.
Come up hither ( ). Second aorist active imperative of . The ascension of these two witnesses is in full view of their enemies, not just in the presence of a few friends as with Christ (Ac 1:9).
They went up (). Second aorist active indicative of .
In the cloud ( ). As Jesus did (Ac 1:9) and like Elijah (2Ki 2:11). Their triumph is openly celebrated before their enemies and is like the rapture described by Paul in 1Th 4:17.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And they heard a great voice,” (kai ekousan phones megales) “And they heard a megaphone-like voice.” The “they” refers to the two witnesses or two witnessing bodies (assemblies), the church and the true body of worshipping Israel, who had reinstituted the morning and evening oblations, Dan 9:26-27; 2Co 11:2; Rev 19:5-9.
2) “From heaven saying unto them,” (ek tou ouranou legouses autois) “out of heaven saying to them,” to the lifeless forms of the two witnesses. This appears to be the calling of the remnant of the saved and of the church who were beheaded, who took not the mark of the beast, and the redeemed of Israel (144,000) who were barren, non fruit bearing during the latter 31/2 days or 42 months, Rev 13:15-18; Rev 20:4; Rev 14:1-5.
3) “Come up hither.” (anabate hode) “You all come up here.” This appears to be the final call to the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment of rewards, at the marriage reception in the air, in heaven, Rev 19:7; 2Co 5:10; Rev 20:4-6.
4) “And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud,” (kai anebesan eis ton ouranon en te nephele) “and they went up into heaven in the cloud,” the two witnesses were carried up bodily in a cloud, though it appears that the larger body of the church went up some 3 years before that of Israel, 1Th 4:16-17; 2Th 2:3-12.
5) “And their enemies beheld them,” (kai etheoresan autous hoi echthroi auton) “and their enemies gazed upon them,” Rev 1:7; Rev 2:25-28; Deu 30:3.
Both the church and Israel shall eventually triumph over all suffering and all their enemies, to their enemies’ consternation, and all the redeemed of all ages, neither in Israel or the church’s program of worship shall be justly rewarded, individually; Rev 22:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(12) And they heard . . .Translate, And they heard (or, I heard; the MS. authority is divided, though the balance inclines to the first) a great voice out of the heaven saying to them. Come up hither. And they went up into the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. The resurrection of the witnesses is followed by their ascension. It is the token that in this too they shall have a portion with their Lord; rejected and slain, there is welcome and honour for them; they take their place with those who through faith and patience inherit the promises; they rest from their labours. But this is not all. Like Elijah (2Ki. 2:11), they are taken up gloriously, but not, like Elijah, in comparative secret; their enemies see their exaltation. As for the witnesses themselves there is the welcome rest of heaven, so there is the visible recognition of their work and power on earth; the cause which seemed dead revives, and with its revival comes the recognition of those who laboured for it; the martyred are seen transfigured, they become glorious in the eyes of men:
Persecution dragged them into fame,
And chased them up to heaven.
They went up in the cloud: There is here, perhaps, a touch of recollection. St. John remembers the cloud which received his Lord out of sight. Since then the cloud mingles with his every thought of ascension or descending from heaven. (Comp. Rev. 1:7; Act. 1:9.) The witnesses, like their Master, disappeared in the cloud.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Great voice from heaven Life from God gave them their resurrection; a voice from God their ascension.
Hither Into the presence of God, the highest firmament, the most excellent glory. Note, Rev 4:11.
In a cloud Rather in the cloud, the airy region of vapour and dimness.
Enemies beheld them As crowned with divine approbation and rising in triumph to the blessed abodes.
Alford remarks that “no attempt has been made to explain this ascension by those who interpret the witness figuratively of the Old and New Testament,” as Wordsworth, or as “calling up to political ascendency and power.” We think the figurative “explanation” not only easy and natural in the “attempt,” but in the accomplishment. The imagery, like that in Rev 11:5, is borrowed from the history of Elijah; whose ascension, like that of these witnesses, was a divine token of endorsement and triumph. It thence stands in perfect analogy with the ascension of the man-child, who mounts to the throne to rule in ever-completing triumph and power over his adversaries, ultimately to put them all under his feet. Note Rev 12:5. It is, then, correspondent to the triumphant reign of souls in Rev 20:4, the millennium which takes place in consequence of the victory of the warrior-king Messiah over antichrist, in Rev 19:11-21. It is true, that the reign of these two martyrs is in glorified bodies rather than in disembodied souls; but that arises from the parallelism with Enoch and Elijah, and is not to be held literally. Their ascension is simply the figure of the triumph and overruling power of the cause for which they suffered. And this correspondence with the reign of martyred “souls,” be it specially noted, is part of the outlined identity of this chapter with the entire predictive history of all that follows in the book.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Ver. 12. To heaven in a cloud ] As Christ did. See Trapp on “ Rev 11:7 “
And their enemies beheld ] Not without rage and regret to see how they were crossed, and the truth more and more propagated. Trucidabantur et multiplicabantur, saith one. The Church as the lily is increased by its own juice; Totum mundum sanguine et oratione convertit, saith Luther; She converts all the world by her sufferings and supplications.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 11:12 . After being resuscitated, they ascend in a cloud (like Enoch and Jesus) before the eyes of their enemies (unlike Jesus).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
to heaven = into (Greek. eis) the heaven (See Rev 3:12).
a = the cloud. See Act 1:9.
beheld. Same as “saw”, Rev 11:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Come: Rev 4:1, Psa 15:1, Psa 24:3, Isa 40:31
And they: Rev 3:21, Rev 12:5, 2Ki 2:11, Isa 14:13, Act 1:9, Rom 8:34-37, Eph 2:5, Eph 2:6
in: Isa 60:8, Act 1:9, 1Th 4:17
and their: Exo 14:25, 2Ki 2:1, 2Ki 2:5, 2Ki 2:7, Psa 86:17, Psa 112:10, Mal 3:18, Luk 16:23
Reciprocal: 2Ki 2:12 – he saw him Psa 68:33 – his voice Rev 13:6 – and them Rev 14:2 – a voice Rev 15:2 – that had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 11:12. This is another symbolical passage for in fact the Bible was already in heaven. “For ever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psa 119:89). The passage gives a symbolical performance that was to notify the enemies of the word of God that the forces of Heaven were recognizing it and were ready to welcome its renewed power on the earth. We know that such is the purpose of the verse for the closing statement is and their enemies beheld them.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 12.
Having been revived the two witnesses heard a voice saying: Come up hither (Rev 11:12), and they ascended in a cloud. The triumph of the cause of the apostles and prophets over all foes was thus signified, and they were glorified for their testimony. It is on this principle that the souls of the slain lived and reigned with Christ in Rev 20:4; and that true Christians now reign with Him, as affirmed by the apostle in Rom 8:17, 1Co 4:8 and 2Ti 2:11. In the vision their enemies beheld them ascend up to heaven. The witnesses heard the voice, and the enemies beheld them ascend–it is the scene of victory; it is the apocalyptic picture of the triumph of the cause of the apostles and prophets–the two-fold source of inspired testimony.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 11:12. Nor that alone. They hear a voice summoning them to ascend into heaven in the presence of the same beholders, and they obey. They went up into heaven in the cloud, not in the clouds, or simply in a cloud; but in a distinct and definite cloud, that of the angel of chap. Rev 10:1, or of Christ in chap. Rev 14:14-16; and their triumph was witnessed by those who killed them.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
God’s calling of the faithful into heaven will happen at Christ’s second coming and immediately before the end of the world. ( 1Th 4:13-18 ; 1Co 15:23-24 ) The faithless persecutors will view the victorious faithful ascending into heaven.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, {22} Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; {23} and their enemies beheld them.
(22) They were called by God into heaven, and taken out of this wicked world, into the heavenly Church, which also lies hidden here in the earth, to exercise their calling secretly: of whom this wretched world was unworthy; Heb 11:38 . For the church of the wicked is by comparison called the earth, or the world: and the Church of the godly, heaven. As it was in ancient times among the godly Israelites: so among the Jews in the days of Manasseh and other kings, when the earth refused the heirs of heaven, we read that they lay hidden as heaven in the earth.
(23) Yet they could not hinder the secret ones of the Lord (as the Psalmist called them) Psa 83:3 but they prospered in his work.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The witnesses, and probably those beholding them before they ascend, will hear the "voice from heaven." It probably belongs to Jesus Christ (cf. Rev 4:1). "The cloud" evidently refers to the shekinah in which Jesus Christ ascended (Act 1:9). Their ascension is also similar to that of Elijah (2Ki 2:11) and to Christians at the Rapture (1Th 4:17). In the case of the two witnesses, their enemies will watch them ascend.
Two writers who believed the witnesses stand for all Christians wrote as follows.
"In the fullest sense this is to be fulfilled in the rapture Paul describes (1 Thes. iv. 17)." [Note: Morris, p. 151.]
"But meanwhile it has been partly anticipated in the sight of the world by the tribute paid to the victims of a persecution, sometimes within a few years after their dishonour and death." [Note: Swete, p. 140.]