Revelation 11:1-14--The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-14
English Standard Version
​
The Two Witnesses
11 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, 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. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

---

John is given a measuring rod like a staff to measure the Temple of God, that I will call the Tribulation Temple from this point forward.  This is the Temple that Antichrist will desecrate at the time that he is revealed. (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:4).   I'm not sure whether the Temple gets rebuilt before the Tribulation or during the first half of the Tribulation, but Solomon's Temple and Zerubbabel's (later Herod's) Temple both were multi-year projects and I don't see why this would be any different.  Solomon's Temple took 7 years to build and Zerubbabel’s Temple (the one built after the people returned from Exile) took 20 years to finish--though that projects had a 17-year pause in the middle of it.  Herod spent about 46 years refurbishing and expanding the Temple from about 20 BC to about 25 AD.  This is the Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.  There has not been a Temple in Jerusalem since then, and there is currently a mosque on the Temple Mount that would have to be removed if the Tribulation Temple is to be built there or the Tribulation Temple would have to be built in a different location, which would be surprising given the significance of this place.

While John is told to take measurements of the sanctuary (the Holy and Most Holy Place), we do not see those measurements given here.  It's not really important about the size of this Temple, but many people believe it will be the same or similar size and scale as the Millennial Temple that is described in Ezekiel 40-48.  There are detailed measurements there for anyone interested in what the size and scale of this Temple might be, but that is not important for this text.  John is told not to measure the Court of the Gentiles (the Outer Courtyard) for reasons that are about to be explained to him.

The Gentiles will be allowed to trample the Holy City of Jerusalem for 42 months (3.5 years, that is, half of the 7-year Tribulation period), and the Lord will grant power to His two witnesses that they will prophesy for 1260 days--the same 42-month period, but measured in days instead of months as long as we remember that 30 days=1 month in prophecy (we don't need to worry about whether the months being discussed here have 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.  They are all 30-day months.)  These Two Witnesses are symbolized by two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord on the earth.  For the meaning of that imagery, you'll have to go back to Zechariah and his visions that the LORD gave him--specifically the vision in Zechariah 4.  In context of the book of Zechariah, it would seem that the "anointed ones" that the LORD is talking about would be the governor (Zerubbabel) and the High Priest (Joshua) of Israel at that time.  That does not automatically mean that these two witnesses are the High Priest and governor of Israel at this time (though that may be).  Many try to point to Moses and Elijah appearing on the Mount of Transfiguration and claim that means they must be these two witnesses (representing the Law and the Prophets)--some of the signs also point to this being a possibility if we think that the same people must perform the same kinds of signs, but the signs are done by the power of the Spirit, not the man.  The same Spirit can perform similar or the very same signs through vastly different people (Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha with the Jordan River for example).  Others point to the fact the Enoch also never died and think that means that he will return with Elijah.  I really don't know and the identities of these witnesses (martyrs) are not as important to me as what God is doing through them at this time--the end of days.

God is using these witnesses to share the gospel with the whole world in a very powerful was so that all men will be without excuse.  They will be given supernatural protection until their task is finished.  Those who come towards them to attack them will be consumed by fire that will come from their mouths.  They will be given the power to shut the sky and cause it to not rain on the Earth (this makes people think of Elijah in the days of King Ahab) and to turn the waters of the Earth into blood (this makes people think of Moses and the first of the Ten Plagues) and to call all other kinds of plagues on the world as often as they desire.

When the days of their testimony are completed, the beast from the Bottomless Pit (the Abyss) that is Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek), the leader of the demon horde of the Fifth Trumpet, will be allowed to kill them.  They will die in the city of Jerusalem, though it symbolically will be called Sodom and Egypt comparing it with the wickedness of that city and nation that were doomed for destruction.  It is identified for certain because we are told that it is the same city where the Lord was crucified.  They will lay there dead in the street for three and a half days as people will pass by and mock them and people from all the world will be allowed to see them (there will certainly be wall-to-wall coverage on whatever TV and streaming news services people will be watching at that point).  There will be celebration and a time of exchanging gifts in celebration of their deaths (this is how wicked the people of the earth will be at this time).  After these three-and-a-half days, the breath (Spirit) of God enters these men and resurrects them and then they are called up to heaven (possibly with the rest of the Church, as I think I told you that I believe that the Rapture happens around the time of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets) "And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them."  That sounds a lot like the prophecy of what the Rapture is supposed to be like to me (I think this corresponds with Revelation 14:14-16).  This too would explain the fear within the hearts of the people who are left behind if it is not just the two witnesses that were raptured, but all the Church and that there is no more reason for God to withhold His wrath.

At that time, there is a great earthquake and one-tenth of the city of Jerusalem is destroyed and 7,000 people are killed.  Do not mistake the fact that the rest of the people giving glory to God in heaven meaning that they were all saved.  They can give glory to God simply by fearing the judgment that He is going to pour out on the earth.  This was only the second of the three terrible Woes that were promised (the end of the Sixth trumpet).  There is still the Third Woe--the Seventh Trumpet--which is to come that will start the plagues of the Seven Bowls/Vials of the Wrath of God.