Revelation (11:8) "The Two Witnesses"...cont.

"And [the two witnesses] dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified."

(Revelation 11:8)

This introduces the aftermath of the witnesses' death. The picture here probably indicates not a literal and complete extermination but that the true church will seem defeated in its role of witness, will appear small and insignificant throughout history may be temporarily silenced (as in parts of the world even today), a universal silence will fall on the church at the very end of history. And just as small groups of believers continued to exist through earlier local and temporary silencings, so a small remnant of witnesses remain in the future scenario of verse 8. 

The great city is compared here to Sodom (because of its wickedness) and to Egypt (because it persecuted the saints). The city is to be understood symbolically, this means that the city is not located in any one geographical place but is to be understood as any ungodly spiritual realm existing on earth. The last clause, where also their Lord was crucified, continues the spiritual description of the city begun by the identification with Sodom and Egypt.

In this light, the world city is also spiritually like Jerusalem, which had become like other ungodly nations, and even worse, by killing Christ. In John's time, the reference to "the great city" would be primarily to Rome and any of its allies, since it was the center of the ungodly empire which persecuted God's people at that time.

(G.K. Beale)

Revelation (11:7) "The Two Witnesses"...cont.

"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,"

(Revelation 11:7)

This gospel age is going to come to an end. [(Matt. 24:14) "This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."] The church, as a mighty missionary organization, shall finish it's testimony. The beast that comes out of the abyss, that is, the anti-Christian world, urged on by hell, shall battle against the church and shall destroy it. The beast will not kill every believer. There are going to be believers on earth when Christ comes again, although they will be few in number [(Luke 18:8) "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"] but the church itself, as a mighty organization for the dissemination of the gospel and regular ministry of the Word, will be destroyed.

By way of illustration, think of conditions in Communist China at the present time(1967); to be sure, there are sincere believers in Communist China, but where is the powerful, official, unhindered and public proclamation and dissemination of the Gospel? And is not this condition spreading to other countries? 

(William Hendriksen)

Understanding Revelation (11:5-6)

"And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire."

(Revelation 11:5-6)

Verses 5-6 emphasize answered prayer and spiritual power in the face of worldly opposition. The identification with Moses and Elijah reinforces that God works on behalf of the church as He did with them. Fire fell from heaven and devoured the company of soldiers that came to arrest Elijah. He prayed and rain did not fall for three-and-one-half years. Moses and Aaron turned the water of the Nile into blood, and struck Egypt with plagues. Christians must recognize that the call to gospel ministry is not a call to walk in our power or ability. It is a life of dependence upon the Lord. Here is the assurance that the Sovereign Lord answers the prayers of His people in the furtherance of the gospel. Again, the language is not to be taken literally, but rather applied to strengthen our faith and resolve to trust the Lord who has commissioned us as ambassadors of His kingdom, preaching the gospel of repentance to a sinful world.

(Phil A. Newton)

Understanding Revelation (11:3-4) pt.2

"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth." 

(Revelation 11:3-4)

PART 2:

These messengers “prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth,” the same timeframe of their opposition by the world. As we see in (Rev. 10:1-7), the ministry of the gospel is not forever; there’s a terminus for that gracious work. “Sackcloth” was the garment of mourning and repentance. It indicates that the prophetic work conveys a message of repentance, as well as a sense of grief at the rebellion of the world against the gracious provision of God through Christ. “These are…the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” indicates the source of the church’s power and strength for ministry. The lampstand in Zechariah’s prophecy indicated the power of the Holy Spirit. “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (4:6). Standing before the Lord of the earth is similar language borrowed again from (Zechariah 4:14) to indicate God’s messengers anointed by the Spirit, living in God’s presence. The significance is that the two witnesses—the church—would take a message of repentance to the world, and would do so by the strong presence of the Lord’s Spirit upon them.

(Phil A. Newton)

Understanding Revelation (11:3-4) Part 1

WEDNESDAY 

"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth."

(Revelation 11:3-4)

PART 1:

The same God that gives authority to the nations—the world in opposition against God and His people—to trample the church, is the same God that gives authority to His two witnesses to carry out gospel ministry.

Who are the two witnesses with this prophetic authority? Some identify them as the reappearance of Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enoch or other figures. But the literal use of “two” doesn’t seem to fit the context. The symbolism in “two” has significance for several reasons. First, Deuteronomy 19:15 required that every word of testimony be established by the mouth of two or more witnesses. So, two witnesses proved the reliability of the word spoken. Second, Jesus sent out His disciples in their gospel ministry two by two. It reflects the pattern of the earliest Christian evangelistic work, giving some indication of the content of the prophetic work by the two witnesses. Third, “the two olive trees” phrase borrows similar images from Zechariah 4. He spoke of Zerubbabel and Joshua as two olive trees serving prophetically as king and priest in the renewed Jerusalem and rebuilt temple after the exile. Similarly, just as John has already told us, Christ has made His redeemed to be priests that reign upon the earth (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10). Rather than seeing “two” as a literal number, it seems more in keeping with the passage to indicate this as another symbol for the church on mission in the world.

(Phil A. Newton)

Understanding Revelation (11:2)

"But do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 

(Revelation 11:2)

If the temple signifies the church dwelling in the midst of Christ's and God's presence, the outer court (which is part of the temple) must therefore represent the church and its exposure and vulnerability to the world system in which it lives. The "holy city", which is to be trodden underfoot, is equated with the outer court. In Revelation, the "holy city" refers either to the future heavenly city or two it's earthly manifestation in the form of the church (Rev. 20:9: "they... surrounded the camp of the Saints and the beloved city"). As Revelation develops, we shall see how the world system is ruled by demonic forces. Yet believers must live within it and remain physically unprotected in the midst of persecution.  They will suffer as they maintain faithful witness to Christ in the midst of a pagan society, but they will be kept spiritually safe. Note that both parts of the temple (inner and outer court) belong to God, and the period of trampling down of the outer court (and the holy city) will cease, at which point all creation will be restored under the rulership of Christ.

What, then, is the significance of the forty-two months? If the picture here of the "temple" and the "altar" is symbolic, then so is that time period. The reference is to the time of tribulation prophesied by Daniel either as a "time, times and half a time" (three and a half years or forty-two months) or as one thousand, three hundred and thirty-five days (the equivalent). For Daniel, this lay far off in the future, but for John it has begun, starting with the resurrection of Christ and continuing until His return.

(G.K. Beale)

Understanding Revelation (11:1)

"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,"

(Revelation 11:1)

The measuring is equivalent to the numbering and sealing of the church. Several indications reinforce this.

 First, John is told, as part of his ministry, to measure three things: “the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.” The measuring rod is similar to the image in Ezekiel 40-48 where the prophet in exile travels with an angel to measure the re-established and re-constituted temple. It will be the source of spiritual life flowing throughout the world, as a mighty river flows from the temple to give life to others. It is a picture of security and triumph in the Lord. John borrows from this prophecy and applies it to the church.

Jerusalem’s temple had already been destroyed by the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D., so there was no temple or altar to measure. The message reinforced throughout the New Testament is that once Christ died and the veil into the Holy of Holies was split from top to bottom, indicating that the way to God was forever opened through Christ, the physical temple had no more usefulness in God’s economy (Hebrews 7-10). Instead, the church had become the temple: “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16) The church is “being fitted together…growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22). Peter uses similar language in (1 Peter 2:4-10). The overcomers in Philadelphia, Jesus said would be “a pillar in the temple of My God” (Rev. 3:12). So, “the temple of God” in this passage alludes to the church. Just as the temple in Jerusalem was God’s dwelling place, now, with the completed redemptive work of Christ, the church is His dwelling place.

Third, “the altar” is a repeated term in Revelation. It is associated with the believers in the presence of the Lord who had been killed for their testimony of the gospel, now crying out for God to avenge their blood (6:9). It’s the place where the prayers of the saints are as incense in God’s presence (8:3-5). It emphasizes being in the presence of God (9:13; 14:18; 16:7). “Measuring the altar’s dimensions,” signifies that the saints have access to God and enjoy his protective care. At the altar they are safe. “Those who worship in it” further indicates, the redemptive people of God being marked out or measured by the Lord. How do you measure worshipers but by numbering them as people of God’s care?

Here’s the point that John makes. God knows His own, marks them out carefully, and secures them with His presence. The church is accounted by Him.

(Dr. Phil A. Newton)