AFTER John had eaten the book and been told that he must prophesy again, a reed was given him like unto a rod. And the angel stood, and said, "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." Now the scripture saith that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Rom. 11:29.) His word is full of promises concerning His beloved and privileged earthly people Israel. "Lo-ammi," not my people, is written upon them for the moment, on account of their grievous departure from Him, and their many sins. But He has neither forgotten them, nor His promises to restore and bless them. At the moment indicated in the opening of Rev. 11, the Jews recommence to come into prominence in the governmental ways of God. It is clear from scripture that they, speaking generally (i.e., Judah and Benjamin), will return to the holy land before the ten tribes (often spoken of in prophecy as Ephraim). Many Jews have already returned, but it is estimated that some thirteen millions or so are still scattered among the Gentile nations. Great numbers will return, and be found in the land shortly after the removal of the heavenly saints to glory. (1 Thess. 4:15-18.) They will set up the altar and rebuild the temple, but still in unbelief. (2 Thess. 2:4.) But in chapter 11 we find that God has raised up a witness for Himself in their midst. It is the commencement of the last half-week, the hour of Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12: 1), during which two-thirds are cut off and die, one-third being preserved through it. (Zech. 13:8.) The Lord speaks to His own in view of that day. "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." (Isa. 26:20.)
Turning to the detail of the chapter before us, the prophet is told by the angel to measure first the altar (compare Ezra 3:1-3), because it is only on the ground of sacrifice, which points to the one perfect sacrifice of Christ, that God and His people could meet. Apart from redemption, no one now could have a standing before, or be in relation with God. Secondly, the temple, the recognized visible dwelling-place of God (though, alas, as we shall see, an usurper appears in the midst of the people, and exalts himself as God (2 Thess. 2:4); and before the shekinah glory returns (Ezek. 40-44), the temple will be rebuilt by the Man whose name is called "the Branch" (Zech. 6:12); the one referred to in this chapter xi. being probably, destroyed). Thirdly, "them that worship therein," which skews that there will be a remnant restored to a recognized position before God, on the ground of redemption, and that He Himself takes care to secure all this for Himself and them.
“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 court of the temple is not to be measured. It is to be left, or cast out. (The hour of blessing for the Gentiles as such, subordinate to Israel, of which the prophecy more or less testifies, had not yet arrived.) The Gentiles generally at this time, lapsing more and more from God, and given over to strong delusion and infidelity, will be manifesting their wickedness, and will tread under foot the holy city, Jerusalem. The temple, altar, and the worshippers (the remnant) having been measured, God secures in faithfulness at that day all that is morally of Himself. But the court of the temple is cast out, and given to the Gentiles. It is not to be measured. This treading down of the holy city will last forty-two months, Daniel's last half-week of years. (Chapter 13:5.)
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." (Ver. 3.) God had said, "Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses shall the matter be established." (Deut. 19:15.) Two is sufficient witness; three is full witness. At this dread moment, when the mass of the Jews will be back in their land in unbelief, and under the oppression of the Gentiles, God will raise up sufficient witness in a remnant of His earthly people. And He will give them power to render a testimony, which is very precious to Him. So much so, that its duration is reckoned by days instead of months. Every day of the one thousand two hundred and sixty, the forty-two months of the Gentile oppression and desecration of the holy city, these witnesses, sustained by divine power, render their faithful testimony. They are clothed in sackcloth. The reader who is familiar with Old Testament scripture will knew that this is a sign of repentance, self-judgment and humbling before God. (Jonah 3:5-10.) These witnesses take to heart before Him the sad moral state and suffering of Jehovah's ancient people. Sighing and crying, they look to God for support and final deliverance.
They are spoken of in a fourfold way. First, as witnesses, then as olive trees, next as candlesticks (ver. 4), and finally as prophets. (Ver. 10.) We think there is clear evidence to show that we must not limit this testimony to two individuals. We have no doubt that, as the twenty-four elders represent the sum of the heavenly saints, so here the two witnesses represent a company among the Jews. In verse 7 the beast, then at the zenith of his power, makes war with them at the close of their testimony, and overcomes and kills them. Such language could scarcely be employed if only two individuals were in question. There is a remarkable allusion to these witnesses as olive trees on either side of a candlestick all of gold in Zech. 4:3-14. They are said to be "the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.",(Ver. 14.) And in Rev. 11:4 these two olive trees stand before the God of the earth. Oil is produced by olive trees, and is often used in scripture as a figure of the Holy Ghost. Candlesticks, or lamp stands, are for the support of the light. We gather from this that this witnessing remnant of Jews testifies in the power of the Holy Ghost to the rights of Christ (the angel of the covenant of chapter 10.) as the God of the earth, maintaining a light for Him amid the surrounding and increasing 'darkness till the seventh trumpet is sounded, and the kingdoms of the world become His. In the scripture already referred to, the prophet asks the angel who showed him the olive trees what they are. And he explains that it 'is the word of the Lord, saying, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." (Zech. 4:1-6.) So, also, in the future hour of trouble, this Jewish remnant will testify to the word of the Lord, not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit. The olive trees in Zechariah are further said to empty the golden oil out of themselves through the two golden pipes, a figure, we apprehend, of the word of God in righteousness flowing out from the remnant in the midst of the prevailing corruption. It should be clear to all our readers that this testimony is of a very different character from that which Christians are called to bear in the power of the Holy Ghost. We should testify to the glory of Christ at God's right hand, and to the grace of God which saves and associates believers with Him in heavenly blessings. But this Jewish testimony is in relation to the God of all the earth. His rights were refused in Christ at His first appearing. But Christ will surely reappear, and take possession of it, as well as of the heavens, and these witnesses assert His rights against the usurper that Satan will set up (of which we shall shortly hear more), and the Gentile oppressors.
“And 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." (Ver. 5.) We get here a further contrast to Christian testimony. The Christian is taught to love and pray for his enemies, returning good for evil. But if any man wills to hurt these Jews (and the original is as strong as that), the word of God goes forth from their lips as devouring fire. If any man wills to hurt them, in this manner, he must be killed.
“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." (Ver. 6.) Power is given to them to execute judgments similar to those which the Lord executed through the instrumentality of Elijah and Moses of old. As in the days of the apostasy of Israel under Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah having prayed earnestly, God closed the heavens, and rain ceased for three years and a half, so in the coming apostasy, these witnesses of God will have power to shut heaven, so that it rain not for that same period, during which their prophecy will be maintained. And, as Moses was used of God in Egypt to turn the waters into blood, and to smite the Egyptians and their land with ten plagues when Pharaoh refused the emigration of Israel, so also these witnesses will have power to execute similar judgment—all plagues—as often as they will.
"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." So long as their testimony, lasts their enemies are powerless against them and fall before them when they injure them. But at the close they suffer for their testimony unto death. The means of their overthrow is the beast. This is the first mention of this awful being. Much is said of him in subsequent chapters. It will suffice to say that he will be head of the revived Roman Empire, the chief power of the western Gentile world in this coming crisis. He is viewed here as deriving his power and having his origin from the abyss of evil. He will wield great military power, and will turn it against God's witnesses, seeking to blot out all testimony and light for Him upon the earth. He makes war against them, and conquers them. Their faithful testimony during the one thousand two hundred and sixty days being over, God allows them to suffer martyrdom for His glory. Judgment, swift and sure, comes upon those who kill them later on. (Rev. 19:20; 11:13.)
“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." (Ver. 8.) So deadly is the enmity against these faithful witnesses, that instead of receiving an ordered burial, their bodies are left where they fall in the street of the great city. This is clearly Jerusalem. Three things are said of it. First it is called spiritually by the name of Sodom, secondly by the name of Egypt, and thirdly it is designated as the place where our Lord was crucified. Even in Isaiah's day, so gross was the corruption of the city, that the daughter of Zion is addressed as Sodom (Isa. 1:1-15), and now, many hundreds of years later, her character had not changed. Egypt would denote that Jerusalem, where God's people should have walked in holiness and liberty, had sunk down to the worldliness and bondage of the country out of which He had so graciously delivered them. “Where also our [or their] Lord was crucified brings before us the terrible guilt that had come upon them through the shedding of His blood. In short three things characterized the people, corruption, worldliness, and enmity. And they treat the witnesses as they treated their Lord. Israel and the world would not submit to the Lordship of Christ in the past, and the mass of the Jews and the Gentiles will refuse it again in the future. Hence the richly merited judgments of God.
“And they [men—J. N. D.' s Trans.] of the people [or peoples] and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. 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." (Verses 9, 10.) Not content with destroying the witnesses, they leave their bodies to corrupt in the street (a terrible witness to their wickedness), and refuse them, as said, an ordered burial. This lasts for three days and a half; or a day for every year of three hundred and sixty-five days of their living testimony. Their corpses openly witness against their enemies. The earth dwellers, the class so often, referred to, whose minds are wholly centered upon the earth, glad to be rid of men whose presence and testimony torment them, rejoice at their downfall (are full of delight), and bestow mutual gifts.
“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. 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." (Verses 11, 12.) The power of their foes is limited. Divine power intervenes at the close of the three days and a half. To the great amazement and fear of the onlookers, the Spirit of life from God suddenly enters into them, and they, stand upon their feet. Where was the delight and merriment of their enemies then? This is followed by the two witnesses hearing a great voice from heaven inviting them to that glorious sphere. "Come up hither." Their eternal portion is a heavenly one. Like their blessed Master whom they had so faithfully served, loving not their lives unto death, they ascend to heaven in a cloud. All takes place in the sight of their astonished enemies. They had seen them when testifying, when killed, when lying upon the streets of the city, when standing, after death, with the Spirit of life in them; and now they see them ascending to heaven, the sphere to which God had called them. How great and conclusive is their guilt!
“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." (Ver. 13.) The same hour that these witnesses stand upon their feet in the Spirit of life out of death and ascend to heaven, the death knell, so to speak, sounds for many in the guilty city, where they had been slain. It is signalized by a great earthquake. It is a manifest interference of divine power. The tenth part of the city comes down with a terrible crash. Seven thousand names of men are slain. God knows every name. He is wise and discriminating in judgment as in all else. And the remainder are affrighted. They feared, as they beheld God's judgment fall on others, lest a like fate should befall themselves. But, alas, it is not that fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom. (Prov. 9:10.) There is no fear unto repentance. The testimony already borne before them was in relation to God's rights in the earth. They had heard it, and had refused it. God publicly vindicates His witnesses in a most marvelous way by the fearful visitation of an earthquake upon their enemies. But the only effect upon these hardened men is that they give glory to the God of heaven. Their hearts would still keep Him at a distance. They refuse any approach to them or any thought of His rights over them. They will not have Him as the God of the earth.
The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."(Ver. 14.) That which we have been considering is included under the sixth trumpet. It is part of the second of the three woes, bringing us historically to the end of the last half of Daniel's seventieth week, the close of the present age." Behold, the third woe [the seventh trumpet] cometh quickly." It succeeds immediately the second, and introduces the age or world to come.
“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 forever and ever." This third woe, the last of the seven trumpets, ushers in the day of the Lord, so widely treated of in the pages of the Old Testament. It is the moment when Christ shall appear, assert His rights and take possession of the kingdom. Deep interest is called forth in heaven. Great voices are heard there. They are occupied with what is happening in relation to this world. John hears them, saying, "The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come." This is the more correct rendering. The goal to which all prophetic testimony points is here reached at last. God who hitherto has ruled in secret is about to rule openly. The whole world is about to come under the sway of Christ, before whom every other king shall fall down. He will come and sit upon the throne of His glory, wear the crown and, wield the scepter forever and ever, (or, unto the ages of ages).
“And the four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats [or thrones], 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 hast reigned." (Ver. 16, 17.) The heavenly saints are deeply interested in this wonderful event and its attendant circumstances, when the world's great day of sorrow shall be over and Christ shall judge and' reign. They enter into the mind of heaven and gladly recognize God's glory and His righteous ways. Prostrating themselves before Him, they worship Him, the source and author of all this wondrous blessing. Addressing Him who is Jehovah Elohim Shaddai, they render thanks to Him who is the ever existing One, and who ever was, without beginning. The words "art to 'come" are not in the original. The ground of their thanksgiving is, that He hath taken His great power and hall reigned. It is a subject of great joy to those who owe everything to Him, that His rights are no longer refused, but all brought to bow before His great power and righteous rule.
“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, 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." (Ver. 18.)
All judgment is committed unto the Son. (John 5:22.) This remarkable and comprehensive verse embraces the whole scope of judgment and reward at His hand, and carries us down to the end of an things. To understand it we must bear in mind that Christ's reign will last a thousand years and that it is ushered in and closed by judgment. Hence, though the different acts of judgment and reward are all grouped together here, it does not follow that they are executed at one and the same time. Different classes become the subject of His dealings at different times and in different circumstances. First, we read, the nations are angry. Having thrown off the yoke of the Lord's authority, destroyed all true religion, and lapsed into apostasy (of which we shall see more further on), the self-will of the nations is paramount, and they are angry against the Lord and each other, and resent any interference. But it adds, "thy wrath is come." The Lord Himself will be angry, and execute His sure and righteous judgment on the quick. (2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5.) It passes on next "to the time of the dead, that they should be judged." This is the judgment of the great white throne, that which will take place at the close of the kingdom. (Rev. 20:11, 12.) It embraces all who have died in unbelief from the fall onwards right through all the cycles of time. All will be raised to judgment and judged according to their works. (Rev. 20:12, 13.) Three classes are next mentioned: His servants, the prophets, the saints, and them that fear His name, small and great, as receiving reward from Him according to their goodness and faithfulness, fruit of faith. And the passage concludes with the threat of destruction against those who destroy the earth. The Judge, the judgment, and the Day of Judgment are all appointed. (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; Heb. 9:27.) He is strong, who executeth His word.
The closing verse of chapter 11 Commences a fresh line of things. As so often in the Revelation, we must turn back from that which we have been tracing in the previous verses of the chapter. From here on we get further details, and from another point of view, of things which will transpire during the last half week.
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." (Chapter 11:19.) In chapter 4 a door was opened in heaven. Here the temple of God is opened in the same sphere. And being opened, the ark of the testament (or, rather, covenant) is seen. Now the ark of the covenant of old was the Lord's, and His ways with, His people Israel were bound up with it, the temple on earth, the altar, and the worshippers, as we have seen, having been measured and set apart for God. (Chapter 11:1) The Ark of the Covenant is seen in heaven, as God is about to unroll many of His future ways with them before the eyes of the prophet. And again we get the solemn tokens of God's judgment in view of that which is about to be accomplished for the vindication of His glory. Great hail, figurative of a tremendous downpour of God's wrath, is added to those already mentioned in chapter 8:5 and chapter 4:5.