Revelation 11: Measuring, Two Witnesses and the third Woe

• v.1,2 Measuring Instructions
• v.3-6 The Two Witnesses
• v.7-10 The Death of the Two Witnesses
• v.11-14 The Resurrection & Ascension of the Two Witnesses
• v.15-19 The Seventh Trumpet: The Third Woe

v.1,2 Measuring Instructions

v.1 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.

v.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.

[Note: He is now instructed to measure the temple but not include the outer court which the gentile unbelievers inhabit for three and a half years.]

[Additional Note: the period of three and a half years appears in various forms. Now seven in scripture is taken as number of ‘perfection or completeness’. Three and a half seem to signify a set period designated by God which is only part of the total time for God’s plans to be fulfilled.]

v.3-6 The Two Witnesses

v.3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

v.4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”

v.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.

v.6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

[Note: Two witnesses for God whose ministry lasts three and a half years [see above] appear – (?the church and Israel? or simply anointed men of God. [See Zech. 4:3,11,14.]  Their words have destructive effect and like Elijah their prophetic words have power to bring drought, and like Moses they have the power to bring plagues.]

v.7-10 The Death of the Two Witnesses

v.7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.

v.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.

v.9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.

v.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.

[Note: Eventually the enemy will arise and kill them. Note the first mention of ‘the Beast’. They lie in Jerusalem for three and a half days [see comments on 3 ½ above] they are visible to the world [?by TV?]. There will be rejoicing that they are gone.]

v.11-14 The Resurrection & Ascension of the Two Witnesses

v.11 But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.

v.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.

v.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.

v.14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.

[Note: Yet shortly they are raised from the dead and they ascend to heaven. An earthquake hits Jerusalem and many are killed. This was all part of the second woe the 2^nd trumpet announced.]

v.15-19 The Seventh Trumpet: The Third Woe (see 8:13)

v.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.”

v.16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,

v.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.

v.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.”

v.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.

[Note: Heaven announces a new phase of the kingdom and the elders give thanks. This seems a new fuller phase of the reign of God [see below]. The time for the Final Judgment has come and heaven is opened – ?in readiness.]

[Additional Note: The Seventh Trumpet

The heralding of the seventh trumpet (7 = complete or perfect?) appears to herald a significant change:

• v.15 the ‘kingdom of the world’ has changed,
• v.17 ‘you have taken your great power and have begun to reign’,
• v.18 ‘the time has come for judging’ etc.

Reference to God’s reign (v.17 above) is described (v.18) as:

• judging the dead
• rewarding your servants the prophets
• rewarding believers
• destroying those who destroy the earth (implied – in their unbelief)

All of these things seem to suggest the end of the phase of life on the old earth, and getting ready to bring an end, usher in the Final Judgment and the new heaven and new earth, all of which appear later in the book. It is suggested that the big overview feeling of chapter 12 makes a division in the book so that what follows is a recap of what has been covered within the judgments of chapters 6 to 11 but seen from a different angle. We’ll see if this works out.]

Summary of Chapters 6 to 11:

• ch.6 – first 6 seals opened
• ch.7 – Interlude: martyrs & survivors
• ch.8 – Seventh seal & first 4 trumpets – judgments on the earth
• ch.9 – 5^th & 6^th trumpets – torture & death of 1/3
• ch.10 – Interlude Pt.1 – the little scroll
• ch.11 – Interlude Pt 2 – the two witnesses, & the Seventh Trumpet heralding the end

Differences between seals & trumpets:

• Seals 1-4 – general descriptions of a conqueror, violence, famine & death with various causes
• Seal 5 – martyrs calling for justice
• Seal 6 – cataclysmic earth upset
• Seal 7 – silence for half an hour.
• Trumpets 1-4 – third of earth, waters & sky burned up
• Trumpet 5 & 6 – torture then death of third of world’s population.
• Trumpet 7 – heralds the end

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: