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About Jesus Steve Sweetman This Section - Chapter 11 The Two Witnesses (ch. 11:1-14) The
angel in the last section gets us prepared for the sounding of the seventh
trumpet, but before we see that trumpet sound we learn about the two witnesses
here in chapter 11. In
verse 1 John was told to measure the temple. What
temple is he supposed to measure? You
might think that it is a temple in Heaven but in verse 2 we see that the outer
court of this temple was given to the Gentiles and therefore he was not to
measure that part of the temple. Therefore,
this temple is not in heaven but on earth. It's
clearly a temple in Jerusalem. Some
believe that this temple is symbolic of the church because the church is seen as
a temple in the New Testament. John
was told to count the worshippers. Was
the counting of the worshippers the same as measuring the temple?
If you believe that this is the church, you might think so. I
don't view it this way because I do not allegorize, symbolize, or spiritualize,
the book of Revelation. Those
who do allegorize, symbolize, or spiritualize, the book of Revelation view the
outer court as the liberal church. Again,
I don't believe that. When viewing
Revelation, or any part of the Bible, in this way, it is a free for all of
personal view points. At this point,
anyone can make the Bible say anything he wants it to say. Many
Prophetic Futurists believe that this temple is a rebuilt temple in At
present, the Muslim Dome of the Rock, the third holiest Islamic structure, is
situated exactly where the Jewish temple once was.
Some scholars and archeologists of late believe that the original Jewish
temple was actually built slightly north of the Dome of the Rock.
Therefore, many Prophetic Futurists believe that the temple could be
rebuilt beside the Dome of the Rock which would make the Dome in the outer court
of the temple and that would mean the Gentiles would hold claim to the outer
court, just as this passage states. This
rebuilt temple has nothing to do with Christianity because Christians don’t
need a temple, but for the Jews this would be important.
It is the Jews that will rebuild this temple and not God.
By this I mean it is not God's will for this temple to be built.
It is simply the will of man, and in this case, non-Christian Jewish man.
There are Jews today who are in the planning stages of rebuilding the
temple. Some
scoff at the idea of a rebuilt temple, thinking that God would have nothing to
do with it. Let me remind you that
the temple in Jerusalem
when Jesus was on earth was far from a godly temple.
It in fact was built nothing like Solomon's temple by Harod the Great who
was only part Jew. It's often called
Harod's Temple. Even though it was
so named, Jesus called it the house of God which was to be a house of prayer,
not a house of commerce as it had become. I
simply say this to point out that this rebuilt temple during the last seven
years of this age could well be seen as the house of God in a prophetic sense,
just like the temple in first century Jerusalem
was seen by Jesus as the house of God and prayer even though it wasn't. This
temple might well be the temple the Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 where
he says the anti-Christ will sit in the temple
of God. Some interpret the temple
that Paul speaks of here as the church. I
don't see it that way. In context,
it appears to me to be the rebuilt temple during the last seven years of this
age.
In
verse 2 we see that the Gentiles will trample on the holy city for forty two
months, which is three and a half years. I
believe that this is a literal three and a half years.
At the moment, I view this 42 months as the first half of the seven year
tribulation period. In part, I hold to this position because I don't
think that satan has entered the anti-Christ as yet, as seen in chapter 13.
On the other hand, there are many who see this period as the last half of
the seven year tribulation period. It's
either one or the other. Jesus
speaks of the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24.
Many believe that this abomination takes place in the last half of the
tribulation when the anti-Christ sets up his image in this rebuilt temple, which
in Jewish thinking would be a great abomination.
In the NIV we read that John was to count the worshippers. In my opinion this is a misleading translation. The Greek text simply says that John was to measure the holy place, the altar, and the worshippers. There is no corresponding word in the Greek that should be translated as "count", as in, "count the worshippers". E W Bullinger puts it this way. John was to take note of or simply give account of the worshippers he saw. I'm not convinced he was to count them.
Just why John was to
measure the holy place of the temple and take note of the worshippers is unknown
to me at present. It might simply be for us to know that there will be a
temple with worshippers in it at this point of time in history.
We should also note that the Gentiles will trample on
the city of In
verse 3 we see the introduction of the “two witnesses”.
These two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days, which is three and a half
years, or, forty two months. We
should note that forty two months, one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or
three and a half years are all mentioned to denote the same period of time.
I would suggest then that because of these three designations for the
same time period, we should understand this time period to be literal, not
spiritual or symbolic. These
three and a half years may be the same three and a half years just spoken of
when the Gentiles will take over the holy city.
That makes contextual sense to me. So
once again, I believe numbers to be literal, especially in reference to this
three and a half year period of time. It
seems that Jesus goes to great lengths in describing this three and a half year
period. He does it in months.
He does it in days, and he does it in years.
We should thus take these numbers at face value. When
thinking of 1260 days we should understand these days to be in the sense of the
Jewish calendar that had 30 days in each of the twelve months.
Three and a half years is 42 months of a 30 day month.
I therefore suggest that when it comes to dates and times we need to
think of them in Jewish calendar terms, not western calendar terms as many do.
Really, when attempting to understand the book of Revelation one of our
biggest mistakes is to ignore the Jewishness of this book.
This book is totally written in Jewish terms because it is all about the
Jews and the days in which the Old Testament calls the "time of Jacob's
trouble". (Jeremiah 30:7)
Most
Prophetic Futurists believe that the anti-Christ will make a treaty with In
verse 3 we see that the two witnesses are dressed in sackcloth.
This is clearly in reference to the Old Testament Jewish tradition of
wearing sackcloth as a demonstration of repentance.
The prophets often dressed this way when in intercession on behalf In
verse 4 these two prophets are called the olive trees and lampstands that stand
before the Lord. Since they stand
before the Lord, that means they must have come down from heaven to prophesy on
earth. There has been much
speculation over the years to just who these men are.
Some say they are Enoch and Elijah since they never died, but were simply
taken to Heaven. Others would say
Moses and Elijah. Still others would
say that these two men come in the spirit of Moses and Elijah, much like John
the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah. They are not really Moses and Elijah. I've
tended to believe these two men are at least come in the spirit of Moses and
Elijah if they are not Moses in Elijah themselves.
I've said this for one reason because on the Mount of Transfiguration
Jesus met with both of these men. Also,
we know that Elijah never died but was taken up to heaven, and, we know that
Moses, although he did die, God took his body.
It was not buried.
The terms olive trees and lampstands are clearly Old
Testament Jewish style words. Once
again, this shows us the Jewish nature to the book of Revelation. I
suggest that the thing that olive trees and lampstands have in common is oil,
and, oil in the New Testament speaks of the Holy Spirit and His power to the
believer. These two men came in the
power and anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Whoever the two witnesses are, and, I see them as
Moses and Elijah, they presently stand before the throne of God write now
according to verse 4. This gives us
a bit of a clue about those of us who die and are in heaven.
At least these two men, and probably us to when we die, have a particular
role to play in heaven.
These
two men were given much power. The
two specific plagues mentioned that they can perform are stopping the rain and
turning water into blood. For this
reason, some say the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah. Moses
turned water into blood, and Elijah stopped the rain in the Old Testament. These
are not the only two plagues these men can perform.
There are many others. They
are very powerful men. No one can
kill them, although many will try. Fire
will actually proceed from their mouths and destroy their enemy. Many
think this fire is symbolic but once again, anything is possible with God,
especially in this time of the supernatural.
At
this point I'd like to suggest that in dispensational terms, the seven year
tribulation period is a dispensation in itself.
It's just as much different as the age of grace is from the age of works.
The means it is just as much different as the New Testament is from the
Old Testament. In the New Testament
Christians are not to kill in the process of proclaiming God's will.
This is clearly not the case here since these two prophets will kill
people who attempt to kill them. This
is clearly a different and distinct era from the New Testament.
In
verse 7 we see the beast coming out of the great pit, or the Abyss, to kill
these two men. As I stated earlier,
the Abyss seems to be the lowest part of Hades.
This appears to be the understanding of this word in the first century. Many
think that the beast is the anti-Christ. Others
say it is satan himself. We see a
beast described in Revelation 13 which Prophetic Futurist understand to be the
anti-Christ. He is not satan because
the text states that satan gives this beast his power, authority and throne.
So, it is clear to me the beast of Revelation 13 is the anti-Christ, who
I believe is the beast here in this verse. From
this passage and the Revelation 13 passage it seems to me that it is satan
himself, of course with Jesus' permission, who calls the anti-Christ into world
wide prominence. This is interesting
in light of 2 Thessalonians 2:7 where Paul says that someone is restraining the
anti-Christ from coming on the seen and only when this restrainer is taken out
of the way can the anti-Christ appear on the world seen.
Most Prophetic Futurists believe the restrainer to be the church.
They see the rapture of the church in 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
Let me suggest at this point in time, and it's just a thought, that the
restrainer might well be satan himself or a fallen angel designated by satan to
restrain the anti-Christ from appearing on the world scene. Just
for your information, I'm not the only one in history who has thought of this
idea. Verse
7 states that these two witnesses will only be overpowered by the beast when
their witnessing is finished. God
has predetermined just how long these two men will witness for him.
I believe every part and every aspect of these last seven years have all
been planned out in advance by God. Things
will happen just as He planned and when He planned.
As I said earlier, in chapter 13 we see the beast
coming out of the Abyss. He is given
power by the dragon who is satan. Here
in verse 7 it might be debatable if the beast has been empowered by the dragon
as yet. That is to say, if the
anti-Christ has been given power from the devil.
If I believe, which I do at present, that these two witnesses appear in
the first half of the seven year tribulation, then, I suggest that when the
dragon gives the beasts his power, as we see in chapter 13, this is when we see
these two witnesses killed. In
verse 8 wee see these two men will be dead for three and a half days and
everyone in the world will see their dead bodies in the street.
Three and a half days is obviously and important number.
They will not be buried but will actually rise from the dead at the end
of the three and a half days. Everyone
will see their dead bodies lying in the streets, possibly on twenty four hour
news television, computers, hand held devices, or, whatever is available during
the days described here. It’s
clear that their death is God’s will, because up until now they had the power
to resist death. It is clearly God's
will because they will be resurrected, just as Jesus was. In
verses 8 and 9 the two witnesses lie dead in the city that is figuratively
called
Another way to view
At this point I'd like to insert an article I wrote
concerning why
Revelation
11:8 states that the dead bodies of the two witnesses "will lie in the
public square of the great city - which is figuratively called "This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Canaanite tribes who occupied the land
that would become "Then
I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in
your blood I said to you, "Live!" I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and
developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown,
yet you were stark naked." Leave
it to the Lord to take unwanted property, develop it into something beautiful,
and claim it for His own. "Later
I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love,
I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I
gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you … I
bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on
you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather
on you … I adorned you with … gold and silver … your fame spread among the nations on account of
your beauty …" The
Lord not only rescued the land that would become "But
you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You
lavished your favours on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his ... You took the … gold and silver … I gave you … and you
made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them ... You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the
idols ... You slaughtered my children ... At every street corner you built your shrines and degraded
your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who
passed by ... You engaged in prostitution with … neighbours with large
genitals." "You
adulterous wife! You prefer
strangers to your own husband! All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to
come to you from everywhere for your illicit favours." Prostitutes
are normally paid for their services, but not so with This
is just a sample of Ezekiel 16. You
might want to read the whole chapter. Ezekiel
predicted the day when God would punish All
of the Old Testament prophets predicted the day when God's wrath would be poured
out on Judgment
isn't the end of the Ezekiel
echoes all of the prophets when he predicted the restoration of Verse
10 says that all those living on earth will throw a great party because these
two men who have tormented them are now dead.
They exchange gifts as if it were Christmas.
This clearly shows us how ungodly the world will be at this stage in
human history. The mentality that
causes those alive in the world at this time to send gifts to each other because
of the death of two of God's prophets is with us today.
Those who stand for God are being ridiculed more and more as time goes
on, and, when it gets to this point in history, the ridicule will turn violent.
In
verse 11 we see these men don’t stay dead. They
are raised from the dead when the breath of life from God comes back to them.
The words "breath of life from God" reminds me of the creation
account in Genesis 1 and 2. God
breathed the breath of life into Adam and he became a living being.
God breathes the breath of life into these two men and once again, they
become living beings. The very
breath that we breathe comes from God, whether we are Christian or not.
The Apostle Paul states this as well in Acts 17:25.
In verse 12 God calls these two prophets up to heaven
to be with Him once again. Some
suggest that this is a second rapture. They
say that the tribulation saints are raptured at this point, but I don't see it
that way. If I am going to be
consistent and say that only John and not the church was caught up into heaven
in chapter 4 verse 1, then, I've got to say only these two men were caught up to
heaven here.
We note that the world was shocked with terror when these two
witnesses came to life, and now the world sees them raptured to heaven, just as
Jesus and the church was raptured to heaven.
This is going to be just another very dramatic moment during this period
of time. In
verse 13, while the two witnesses were being taken up to Heaven there was
another great earthquake. If you do
a study of earthquakes in the Bible, you will note that they often associated
with God's judgment. Whoever
saw the resurrection of these two men were struck with fear, and why not.
This would put fear into any one, but, it did not put the fear of God in
those who saw this miracle. We see
throughout the book of Revelation that no matter what God does, many still
reject Him, even though they know it's Him behind what is happening on earth. Verse
13 speaks of the earthquake I've just mentioned.
One tenth of the city was affected, that's the city of Jerusalem. Clearly, this judgment is towards
the Jews for rejecting the two prophets of God.
We should realize that these two prophets prophesied in Jerusalem
only. I suggest their ministry was
to the Jews in Jerusalem
and when the Jews rejected them, God took them and caused this great
earthquake. That being said, the
survivors gave glory to God. This is
the beginning of the prophecy that Paul spoke of in Romans 11:26 where he said
all Israel
would be saved. The
earthquake we see here is part of the refining process of Verse
13 tells us that seven thousand people died.
Again, I take this number to be literal and not symbolic.
Is this number a rough estimate because it is a rounded off number?
Maybe it is, but there is no reason why we can't understand this to be a
literal seven thousand people.
In
verse 14 we see that this is the end of the second woe.
So what we’ve just seen is actually part of the sixth trumpet sound
because the sixth trumpet sound is the second woe.
The Seventh Trumpet (ch. 11:15-19) The
scene in this section takes place in Heaven.
This is an interlude between the two halves of the tribulation period.
Some call the first half of the tribulation the tribulation and the
second half as the Great Tribulation because of the severity of what takes place
on earth. Some even say the
tribulation period is strictly the last three and a half years, not all of the
last seven years. I tend to see the
tribulation as lasting seven years, with the last three and a half years being
the worst. In
verse 15 we see the seventh trumpet sound. It
is very similar to the seventh seal being opened.
What you see from here on out is the wrapping up of the tribulation
period that takes place over the last three and a half years. In
verse 15 you see that John hears a loud voice.
As I've said before, it seems that every time John hears something in
heaven it is very loud to his ears. It
might well be that being human, with frail human ears, heavenly sounds are very
loud. Once we get there, these
sounds may not be so loud since we will no longer
be in our earthly frail bodies.
A
loud voice says many things that make us think that this is the end of the age;
the end of the tribulation is right around the corner at this point in the
narrative. The voice says “the
kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord …”
This has to suggest the end. It
tells us that the thousand year rule of Jesus is not far off when the We
should note that verse 15 states that the rule of Jesus will be for ever and
ever. We know that the thousand year
rule on earth will end after one thousand years, but, the rule of Jesus will go
on for ever and ever on the new earth as we see in the last two chapters of
Revelation. Verse
15 states that the kingdoms of men will be replaced by the In
verse 16 we also see the twenty four elders once again worshipping God on their
thrones as we saw them in chapter 5 and after the opening of the seventh seal.
Note how these elders worship. They
fall on their faces. This is an act
of humiliation. No matter whom we
are, whether human or angelic, before the God of all there is there is nothing
we can do but fall in total humility before Him.
In verse 17 we see the elders saying that Jesus has
begun to reign. This too has to be
seen as the end of this age and the beginning of the next age, even though there
is still three and a half years left of the tribulation. The
point to be made here is simple. Even
though the thousand year rule of Christ has not official began, Jesus is ruling
on earth. His judgments as seen in
Revelation prove that to be true. We
also note in verse 17 that the Lord God exists in the past, the present, and the
future and I might add, all at once. Again,
God lives outside of our time zone. Time
as we know it does not exist in heaven. Eternity
is timeless. People
holding to the Historic view suggest that this is actually the ascension of
Jesus and the reign is when He sits on the throne in Heaven in the church age.
I certainly don't believe that. Verse
17 is spoken to the “Lord God Almighty”, who I believe is God the Father. In
verse 18 it says “the nations were angry and your wrath has come”.
I would think the wrath spoken of here is the wrath of the Lamb.
The nations of earth will be angry at Jesus as He shows His wrath to
those who have not submitted to Him and His rule.
This does not make them repent. It
only makes them angrier. Some decide
to hold off giving their lives to Jesus to a future date, but the future might
not be so kind to them, making them angrier at God and less willing to give
their lives to Him. Verse
18 sounds very much like Psalm 2, which is worth reading in light of this
chapter. The nations will rage
against Jesus as Psalm 2 predicts, but also as Psalm 2 predicts, God will sit
back and laugh. He is in total
control We
also see in verse 18 that the twenty four elders acknowledge that it is now time
for judging the dead. At the moment,
I think this is in reference to the Great White Throne judgment found in
Revelation 20. In that judgment, the
wicked are judged for their deeds and thrown into the Verse
18 also tells us that God's prophets will be rewarded.
Since Revelation is all about Verse
18 also states that the saints and those who reverence the name of God will be
rewarded. If we carry on in the vein
that the prophets spoken of here are Old Testament Jewish prophets, I suggest
the saints spoken of here are Old Testament Jewish saints.
The
last phrase in verse 18 says, “and for destroying those who destroy the
earth”. The time has now come to
destroy the ungodly who have destroyed the earth.
A lot of destruction has come to the earth in the last seven years,
during the Great Tribulation. This
destruction came from God but was done because of wicked men.
This verse might also suggest that these wicked men destroyed the earth.
In the In
verse 19 we see that there is a temple in heaven.
This temple is clearly situated in Heaven, not on earth.
For the first time in the vision we see the doors of this temple opened.
Inside the temple can be seen the ark of the covenant and from the ark
comes lightning and thunder. Once again the lightning and thunder show us the
majestic power of God and all that is in Heaven.
You
might recall that the Old Testament tabernacle was to be a mere image of the
temple in Heaven. We see that to be
true in this verse. We now get a
glimpse into what Moses was told about so long ago, when in great detail he was
given instructions to build a temple looking like the one we see here.
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