Chapter 11: The Two Witnesses; the Third "Woe" Trumpet

Chapter 11, up to verse 13, is occupied with “the two witnesses” and continues the parenthesis between the sixth and seventh trumpets. Verse 14 to the end concerns the seventh trumpet.
The vision here pertains to “the holy city,” over which Jesus wept when He beheld it. The temple of God is to be measured, and the altar, and those who worship in it. Thus will God take account of His beloved and tried saints of that time of unprecedented trial. They will have been cast out of the temple itself; whose sole use at this time will be the display of the Antichrist, the “second beast” or, “man of sin”—“the son of perdition”—who “sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:3-43Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3‑4)). The first beast, the diabolical head of the revived Roman Empire, will have caused the Jewish sacrifice and oblation to cease (Dan. 9:2727And 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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)) and the “court which is without the temple” will be in the hands of the Gentiles. When we come to Chapter 13 we shall have more complete details regarding these two “beasts.” Meantime, let us read Isaiah 28:1515Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: (Isaiah 28:15)—“we have made a convenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.” This is the covenant referred to in Daniel 9:2727And 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, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27). It is made by the coming Roman head with “many,” that is with the mass of the unbelieving Jews. But from Isaiah 28:1818And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. (Isaiah 28:18) we learn that “your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand.” In our chapter we see the Holy City trodden under foot by the Gentiles forty and two months, or three and one half years—the last half of Daniel’s seventieth week. This is precisely the time during which the first Roman beast of Revelation 13 holds sway (Rev. 13:55And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. (Revelation 13:5)). It is anticipating, but also necessary, to give here one or two of his evil features. “He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,” and he makes “war with the saints” (Rev. 13:5-75And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:5‑7)). He is against the God of heaven, and his ally—Antichrist—in Jerusalem, sets himself forth as the God of the earth, to which, in Chapter 10, we saw Christ laid claim. This reminds us of the Lord’s words—“I am come in My Father’s Name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)).
In times past God left not Himself without witness nor does He now. In Old Testament times the testimony of two persons was required to provide adequate witness (see Deut. 17:66At 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. (Deuteronomy 17:6)). The same applied in New Testament times (see, for example, 1 Tim. 5.19) and Jesus said “It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true” (John 8:1717It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. (John 8:17)). So here we read “I will give power unto My two witnesses.” It has always been a source of wonderment to me that God has given such grace and power to His witnesses in every age as to sustain them in their testimony even to the laying down their lives for His Name’s sake. Here the two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth. Their testimony is rendered in deepest sorrow in that awful time. Their service continues for exactly the time during which the Roman beast is allowed to exercise his sway. They are two lamps shining in the darkness, sustained by the power of the Spirit of God (candlesticks and olive trees). They are specially equipped for their protection, otherwise they would not have been allowed to live to carry on their testimony. This will be backed up by powers equal to those given to Moses and Elijah—namely fire and plagues. In God’s appointed time they finish their testimony. How beautiful! God enables them to carry through to the end and make a good finish. We recall the Lord’s words, “this man began to build and was not able to finish” (Luke 14:3030Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. (Luke 14:30))—also the words of dear Paul, “I have finished my course” (2 Tim. 4:77I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (2 Timothy 4:7)). The revived Roman Empire will be utterly diabolical in character. As shown here, its head ascends out of the abyss, makes war against the witnesses, and is permitted to kill them. This agrees with Revelation 13:77And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:7). Ignominiously, their bodies are left without burial as far as their enemies are concerned, but God has a purpose in it. Worthy of note is the appellation given to Jerusalem, namely, spiritually Sodom and Egypt. Sodom is evil; Egypt oppressed God’s people. Both these features will be in evidence during the days of testimony of the two witnesses. No doubt exists as to the name of the city. It was here their Lord was crucified. Christ, then was their Lord, and their testimony was to Him as the One to whom the earth belonged, the One whom God “hath appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:22Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2)). The rejoicing of their enemies is cut short. The witnesses come alive again and are called up to heaven, whither they ascend in a cloud of glory, in full view of all their foes. What a blessed end to their service of witness, suffering during those three and one half years. The service of the Lord Jesus on earth lasted for the same length of time at the end of which they “killed the Lord Jesus.” There is a beautiful finish to the Gospel of Mark, which gospel portrays Christ as God’s perfect Servant here below. In the last chapter we read “the Lord . . . was taken up in to heaven, and sat at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:1919So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. (Mark 16:19) JND). The intervention of divine power in the resurrection of the two witnesses is marked by an earthquake—an actual one here, I believe, which brings death in its wake. Those who escape are frightened and forced to acknowledge the God of heaven as the cause. But they will not acknowledge Him as the God of the earth, in which capacity He is here acting.
We have seen the blessed end of the three and one half years of testimony by the witnesses. During the same period the Beast from the abyss lives out his evil reign and comes to his end, and “none shall help him.” It will thus be noted that the tenure of the Beast and the time of the two witnesses is the same three and one half years. Their witness is confined to Jerusalem, where the Antichrist holds sway causing men to worship the Beast. During all the period of the Beast’s power and persecution they are divinely shielded so that God has two men to testify against the Beast in the religious capital of the apostate West, and wielding miraculous powers to identify them as the servants of the True God. They are not allowed to be slain until their testimony is finished. But when this occurs the Beast’s time has run out too. The two witnesses go to heaven. As for the Beast we read that he was taken, and cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone (see Rev. 19:2020And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20)). The last mention of him in the Bible is where, together with the devil and the false prophet (Antichrist), “they shall be tormented day and night for the ages of ages” (Rev. 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10) JND). Let the reader note carefully that all this is parenthetical and well in advance of our subject. But that is the way it is presented in the Revelation. As already mentioned the prophetic parts of the Revelation (not those parts concerning the church) are not arranged in chronological order. With this in mind it is now time to consider the third woe trumpet, which commences with the fourteenth verse.
The third woe, referred to in the last verse of the eighth chapter, here comes quickly. The seventh angel sounds his trumpet, announcing that “the kingdom of the world of our Lord and of His Christ is come.” All heaven is attentive. The saints, having the mind of Christ, bow in intelligent worship and suitable thanksgiving, for the moment has at last come when the Lord God Almighty has taken His great power and will “reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously” (Isa. 24:2323Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23)). This is now the kingdom which Peter, James and John were permitted to see in the holy mount from which Jesus descended only to die for our sins. It was the kingdom for which Joseph of Arimathea waited. Now he, and all the saints of old will share the blessing of eating bread in the kingdom of God. This is the kingdom spoken of in the second chapter of Daniel. The God of heaven will set up this kingdom. It will never be destroyed, and our Lord Jesus Christ who will administer it, will have no successor! “The government shall be upon His shoulder” (Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)) and “He shall not fail nor be discouraged” (Isa. 42:44He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:4)).
Christ “is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Phil. 3:2121Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:21)), and His saints will share with Him in this—“he that overcometh . . . to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father” (Rev. 2:26-2726And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. (Revelation 2:26‑27)). Psalm 2 gives us the record of Christ’s receiving this from His Father.
But if heaven and the saints rejoice “the inhabiters of the earth” are angry! The sounding of the seventh trumpet brings woe to them, even God’s wrath. What a solemn word is that “the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who do iniquity” (Matt. 13:4141The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; (Matthew 13:41)).
There are three statements in the eighteenth verse which are connected with Christ’s taking the kingdom which require comment.
The Time of the Dead That They Should be Judged
In 2 Timothy 4:11I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; (2 Timothy 4:1) we read “the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.” The judgment of the living nations will take place at the beginning of His kingdom as our Lord Jesus Christ has Himself foretold in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel—refer to the thirty-first to thirty-fourth and following verses. The judgment of the dead, that is those who died in their sins, will take place at the end of His millennial reign of one thousand years. “For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25-2625For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25‑26)). “Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear” (1 Peter 4:1818And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:18)) when death and hades, which terminated their career on earth, are “cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)), and themselves also?
And That Thou Shouldest Give Reward Unto Thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints
We are told that “to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward” (Prov. 11:1818The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. (Proverbs 11:18)). In the goodness and mercy of our God His servants are to be found among the Gentiles, as in Israel too. Among the Gentiles we think of Job, Rahab, Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, Ruth the Moabitess, Ebed Melech the Ethiopian, and others. The Lord too was not unmindful of His servants the prophets in Israel when He said to His disciples “other men labored and ye are entered into their labors” (John 4:3838I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors. (John 4:38)).
For our instruction in the days of the church on earth, we can turn to Matthew 23:14-3014Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. (Matthew 23:14‑30). God’s sovereignty is emphasized here, as shown in His giving His servants five, or two, or even one talent with which all are responsible to trade in the Master’s absence.
In the parable of Luke 19:12-27,12He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. 15And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 17And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 19And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. 20And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: 21For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. 22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? 24And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. 27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. (Luke 19:12‑27) we see the subject more from the side of our responsibility to trade with what each has been given. In this connection two verses of Scripture speak for themselves:
“He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:66But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. (2 Corinthians 9:6)).
And Shouldest Destroy Them who Destroy the Earth
I have long thought that after the rapture of the church, many nations will make use of armaments which will destroy men and mar the earth. The Lord will put an end to this too with a view to every man sitting under his own vine and fig tree.