The Two Witnesses
11 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[See Zech. 4:3,11,14.] 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have the power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying, and they have the power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath [Or Spirit (see Ezek. 37:5,14) ] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck 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, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
NOTES:
11:1 The temple and altar symbolize the new Israel; see note
on Rev 7:4–9. The worshipers represent Christians. The measuring of the temple
(cf. Ez 40:3–42:20; 47:1–12; Zec 2:5–6) suggests that God will preserve the
faithful remnant (cf. Is 4:2–3) who remain true to Christ (Rev 14:1–5).
11:2 The outer court: the Court of the Gentiles.
Trample…forty-two months: the duration of the vicious persecution of the Jews
by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Dn 7:25; 12:7); this persecution of three and a half
years (half of seven, counted as 1260 days in Rev 11:3; 12:6) became the
prototype of periods of trial for God’s people; cf. Lk 4:25; Jas 5:17. The
reference here is to the persecution by the Romans; cf. Introduction.
11:3 The two witnesses, wearing sackcloth symbolizing
lamentation and repentance, cannot readily be identified. Do they represent
Moses and Elijah, or the Law and the Prophets, or Peter and Paul? Most probably
they refer to the universal church, especially the Christian martyrs,
fulfilling the office of witness (two because of Dt 19:15; cf. Mk 6:7; Jn
8:17).
11:4 The two olive trees and the two lampstands: the martyrs
who stand in the presence of the Lord; the imagery is taken from Zec 4:8–14,
where the olive trees refer to Zerubbabel and Joshua.
11:5–6 These details are derived from stories of Moses, who
turned water into blood (Ex 7:17–20), and of Elijah, who called down fire from
heaven (1 Kgs 18:36–40; 2 Kgs 1:10) and closed up the sky for three years (1
Kgs 17:1; cf. 18:1).
11:7 The beast…from the abyss: the Roman emperor Nero, who
symbolizes the forces of evil, or the antichrist (Rev 13:1, 8; 17:8); cf. Dn
7:2–8, 11–12, 19–22 and Introduction.
11:8 The great city: this expression is used constantly in
Revelation for Babylon, i.e., Rome; cf. Rev 14:8; 16:19; 17:18; 18:2, 10, 21.
“Sodom” and “Egypt”: symbols of immorality (cf. Is 1:10) and oppression of
God’s people (cf. Ex 1:11–14). Where indeed their Lord was crucified: not the
geographical but the symbolic Jerusalem that rejects God and his witnesses,
i.e., Rome, called Babylon in Rev 16–18; see note on Rev 17:9 and Introduction.
11:9–12 Over the martyrdom (Rev 11:7) of the two witnesses,
now called prophets, the ungodly rejoice for three and a half days, a symbolic
period of time; see note on Rev 11:2. Afterwards they go in triumph to heaven,
as did Elijah (2 Kgs 2:11).
11:13 Seven thousand people: a symbolic sum to represent all
social classes (seven) and large numbers (thousands); cf. Introduction.
11:15–19 The seventh trumpet proclaims the coming of God’s
reign after the victory over diabolical powers; see note on Rev 10:7.
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