A Commentary in Simple English on Revelation

CHAPTER 11

No part of Revelation is easy. This is one of the most difficult chapters. One reason for this is that John seems to go so quickly from one Old Testament picture to another. But we should remember that in Chapter 10 we have just read about God, Who gives His word to His people. It has been suggested that this chapter tells us what the little scroll or book had written in it.

Verses 3 - 12 are about God's people who have to pass God's word on to other people around them. So verses 1 and 2 speak about the church. It is God's church first of all! Verse 13 seems to stand on its own. Then we have the Seventh Trumpet (verses 15-18) and verse 19 may also stand alone.

Verses 1 and 2 Measuring the Temple

John does not tell us whether we should forget the great angel about whom we read in Chapter 10. It is God who speaks to him now. For the first time in the Book, God tells John to do something. Someone gives him a stick with which to measure. Think of this as being like the stick or 'staff' a man would walk with. It might be only half a metre in length. It may have been as much as three metres long. It is of course another picture of God's word. We 'measure' the church and our teaching by God's word. John has to measure the temple of God.

Now John's readers would know that the temple in Jerusalem had been burnt and knocked down by the Romans about 25 years before John wrote this book. So they would not think of that temple. But the New Testament calls the church 'the temple of God'. (See 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:5; and Ephesians 2:21). So John's readers would see that here John speaks about the church.

The Jerusalem temple was a building with open spaces or 'courts' round it. John here means the building and the court nearest to it. There were two altars in the Jerusalem temple. One was the golden incense altar, which stood inside the building. The 'brass' or 'bronze' altar was where the priest offered animals in worship to God. This stood in front of the temple building. It was in the inside Court which was all around the temple building. The angel tells John to measure this inside Court. But he is to 'throw out' the other courts. (verse 2).

So the people who worship in the Temple are the Christians. The outside court means those of the Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus. In the Jerusalem temple, only Jews could go into the inside court, and other people could only go into the outside court. Now John says, it is the other way round.

Next, John says something that is very sad but still true. He says that the nations will walk in a rough way ('trample') on 'the Holy City' in Jerusalem, but it also means the people of God. For nearly two thousand years since the time of Jesus the Jews have suffered. Millions of them have died. The other nations drove them from place to place. They have sometimes been made to wear shameful clothes. They have had to live in 'ghettos', which were bad crowded parts of cities. They have been hated. Yet often they worked hard. They were clever and grew rich. But the Nazis killed about 6 million Jews between 1939 and 1945.

Only in 1945 did the Jews decide that they would fight back. People would no longer just kill them when they wanted to. So the State of Israel began. And in 1967 in a war with the Arabs, the Jews took over the control of the whole of Jerusalem. This had not happened since AD.70. The 'time of the Nations' had come to an end. (See Luke 21:24.)

If you look at Ezekiel 40:3 and Zechariah 2:1 you will see that those prophets also used a stick to measure with. Moses too used his walking stick (Exodus 7:17); we shall remember that when we come to verse 6.

We have not yet asked why John was told to measure the temple (that is, the church). The best answer seems to be this. We measure a building if we want to repair it; we would also measure it if we wanted to make it bigger. [11.1]. So God wants to make His church bigger and better. This He has done through the long years. He does this by His word. John does not tell us that he does measure the temple.

Now we must think about the '42 months', which is, of course the same length of time as three and a half years. It is also roughly the same as 1260 days (verse 3). It is half of seven years too. (See Daniel 9:27; and 12: 11 and 12.)

If you look at Luke 4:25 or at James 5:17 you will see that this time of three and a half years goes right back to the days of Elijah. (See 1 Kings 17:1.) That verse in Kings is the first time we hear of Elijah. Israel had a bad king at that time. His name was Ahab. And his people sinned. They worshipped false 'gods'. Quite probably they thought that it was those false 'gods' who gave them rain. So God gave Elijah a message. There would be no rain for three years or more. So there would be no food. [11.2]. This should teach the people that the living God, not false 'gods', gave rain to them. Chapter 18 tells us how God sent fire down from heaven (verse 38) before He gave rain from heaven (verse 45). So 'three and a half years' is a time when everyone suffers. Most of all, God's people suffer. But after the 'three and a half years' came a good time. It was a time when there was plenty of rain. Some people think of a great time of trouble just before Jesus comes again. But both the Jews and real Christians have had many times of great trouble since Jesus was in this world. At least the 'three and a half years' shows us that such times of trouble will not go on for ever. God will bring them to an end. (Matthew 24: 21,22).

Verses 3-6 The Two Witnesses

In verse 3, God promises to give two witnesses. (John did not say anything about 'power' here. This is only a guess at what he means.) [11.3] God gave John something - the stick - to measure with in verse 1. That was God's word to the church, His own people. Now He sends His word to the world. There are two witnesses. This is because under the Old Testament law two people had to agree with each other before a law case was proved. (Deuteronomy 19:15. See also verses like Matthew 18:16.) The witnesses have this work to do although the nations 'trample on the holy city'.

The word 'prophesy' is the same as the word that John used in 10:11. The two ‘witnesses’ now do the work that God then told him to do. Their work goes on, day by day, for the 'three and a half years'. It is sad work. They dress like people who sorrow because someone they love had died. We feel no pleasure when we tell people that God hates their sins. We feel no pleasure when we tell them that God will judge them. It is not easy to warn people to repent, or to warn them about hell. So the two 'witnesses' dress in this sad way.

Verse 4 begins to tell us who the two 'witnesses' are. John here thinks about Zechariah 4:1-6. In those days, people made oil from olives and used it in lamps. The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. So we learn this. We preach the Good News. We do this in order to bring light into the dark world. But we cannot be lights in the world unless God's Spirit flows into us all the time. The oil must flow into the lamp. If it does not, the flame will soon go out.

God is here called 'the Lord of all the earth'. The lamp stand with seven branches stood in the Holy Place in the old temple in Jerusalem. But look at verse 9. We can see that John thinks in these verses of the Good News, which is preached all over the world.

In verse 5, we have another picture of the word of God. John takes this from Jeremiah 5:14.

Then in verse 6, we see that these two 'witnesses' are like Moses (Exodus 7:17) and Elijah (1 Kings 17:1). Malachi speaks of Moses and Elijah together (Malachi 4:4 and 5). They also talked to Jesus when three disciples saw His glory (Matthew 17:4). John was one of those three disciples, and later he wrote this book.

But we should remember that Moses was the great enemy of 'Balaam' (2:14). Elijah was the great enemy of ‘Jezebel’ 2:20. There does not seem to have been anyone in the churches in Pergamum or Thyatira to fight the people that John calls 'Balaam' and 'Jezebel'. (Those were not their real names of course. John thought that they were like those people from the Old Testament.) But now we find that God does have people like Moses and Elijah who will speak His word. [11.4].

Verses 7-12 The Witnesses and the Beast

God keeps His 'two witnesses' safe until the work that he wants them to do is complete (verse 7). God does this for all His people. We often feel that Christian men and women could have done more in God's service if they had not died. But we may be sure that all God's people live until they have finished the work that God wants them to do. [11.5].

It was in 9:1 and 2 that John spoke before about the hole or 'pit' which was so deep that it had no bottom. He spoke of the king or 'angel' of the 'pit' in 9:11. Now John speaks for the first time of a 'wild animal‘, which comes up out of this 'pit' to the earth. It is the opposite of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came down from heaven to earth.

We can control some animals so that we can use them. This 'animal' is one that no man can control. It is the Devil. God can control him. He could not hurt the 'two witnesses' as long as God had work for them to do. But now, the Devil kills them.

In verses 8-12 we can see that John compares what happened when Jesus died with what happens to them.

a) Jesus died a death full of shame. But this shame did not continue when his friends buried him. The witnesses 'body' - John does not say 'bodies' - are shamed. Their enemies leave them in the street. Jesus had honour when He was buried.

b) Jesus died at Jerusalem. The 'two witnesses' die in 'the great city'. All that was wrong in Jerusalem is wrong also in 'the great city'. But the sin of the old city of Sodom is there too. (See Genesis 18:20.) And the sin of Egypt is there too.

c) In verse 9, the two witnesses lay dead in the street for three and a half days. Jesus body was in the tomb for three days and three nights. Then a 'breath of life from God' comes to them. (See Ezekiel 37:5.) In verse 12, God calls them from this world to himself in heaven. They hear him. Their enemies do not hear God’s voice

d) Like Jesus (in Acts 1:9), God takes them up to heaven in a cloud. But it was the friends of Jesus who watched Him. It is the enemies who watch the 'two witnesses' in verse 12. They can do nothing to stop the two.

Verse 13 The City falls.

This verse may describe the great earthquake in AD. 17 at the city of Sardis. Then a great part of the rock that the upper city stood on fell down. It fell on the lower city. It buried many houses and people. The people who were still alive could not hope to dig them out. [11.6]. Seven thousand 'names of men' died. This means men whose name appeared on the citizen list of Sardis. Their families and slaves died with them. So the loss of life was far greater than seven thousand.

The 'seven thousand' is not easy to explain. You will see from 1 Kings 19:18 and from Romans 11:4 that this number goes back to the story of Elijah. The verse may mean this. The men who preached God's word have gone from the city. So the city is badly shaken. The truth is not there any more. And people did not leave their sins and turn to God. They were frightened. But being frightened will not save anyone.

Verse 14: The third woe?

The first 'woe' was the fifth trumpet in 9:1-11. Verse 12 there says that there are two more 'woes' to come. In verses 13 - 21 we have the second 'woe', when the sixth trumpet sounds. The first and second 'woes' were ugly and horrible. Now John says: 'The second 'woe' is all over. It has gone away. But look! The third 'woe' will soon be here. It will come quickly!' John wants us to expect something much worse than the first and second 'woes'. And we expect that when the seventh trumpet sounds, we shall read that Jesus comes again.

It does not happen. What John did to us in 8:1 he has done to us again. We do not read about a horrible last 'woe'. We do not read about Jesus' second coming. By the time we have read about the song of joy in heaven, John is ready to tell us about seven more 'visions'. These are things that John saw. And by the time we come to the end of them, (15:2-4) John has already prepared us (15: 1) for the seven bowls in 15: 5 - 16: 21 [11.7].

Verses 15-18: The Seventh Trumpet

So these verses do not tell us what happens on earth. They tell us about songs of praise to God in heaven. And really, what happens in heaven where God is, matters much more than what happens on earth.

In verse 15, the seventh trumpet sounds. We do not know who speaks now. The voices are in heaven and are powerful (loud). They speak of the rule of one king. He has the kingdom over the whole world. The right and power to rule the world has passed from earth to heaven. The right to rule the whole world now belongs to God the Father and to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are One. So the voices in heaven say: 'He' not 'they' will rule as King. This rule will not just go on for a little while (Luke 1:33). This 'kingdom' will never come to an end.

Now in verse 16 John tells us that it is the twenty-four elders (4: 4) who join in the second of these two songs of praise. In verse 17 they give thanks to God the Ruler of all things. He is the God 'Who is and who was'. He is no longer 'to come'. He has come! We shall be glad too when God reigns. There will be no more sorrow or pain. There will be no more sin or wrong. The first part of verse 18 is like Psalm 2 or Psalm 46:6. Look at Psalm 115:3 too. God will give a reward to all His people. He will reward those who are only small. He will reward all those who honour and fear His name. They may not be prophets. They may not think they are 'saints'. But God will reward them.

There is, of course, the other side of this verse. God will punish His enemies. They may be angry with God. They can have no good reason for this. Death will not save them from God's judgment. At the very beginning, God put man in the world to care for it (Genesis 2:8). If men destroy the good world that God has given them, then God is right to destroy them. (Genesis 6:11-13). When God rules, there will be joy in the world.

Verse 19: A bridge?

We cannot be quite sure how this verse fits in with what John has to say to us.

a) It may be the end of the seven trumpets. If that is so, then the second part of the verse may be the 'third woe'. But it does not seem bad enough!

b) It may be a ‘bridge’, which takes us on from the seven trumpets to the seven 'visions'. The 'visions' begin in Chapter 12.

c) Or it may be a new start. It may not have anything to do with what has gone before up to verse 18. It may be just a verse to start the seven visions.

Notice that the verse speaks of heaven opened. In 4:1, John saw a door open in heaven. (See also 15:5.) That verse marked a new start: so perhaps this one does. If so, the meaning of the verse is clear.

Until Jesus died, our sins closed heaven against us. When Jesus died, He took away our sins. God's temple on earth is only a picture of heaven. Jesus has opened heaven to all who have faith in Him. Inside the temple in heaven, there is the 'ark of the covenant' (or testament). That is a picture of God's grace, that is, His love for sinners like us. Before Jesus died, God hid the 'Ark' in a place too holy for sinners to see. Now, we can see it.

This, then, is all a picture of how good God is to us now. And this is because we believe the Good News about His Son, Jesus.

But the second part of the verse is quite different. An earthquake may be a 'great shaking'. There are noises or voices. And there are storms of thunder, lightning and hail.

What John says to us is this. We have the good things that are ours because of the Good News. But there are still storms and trouble in the world. Now the ‘visions’ that follow are mixed. Some are bad. One is very good. So the message to us is this. Until Jesus comes gain, life in this world will be a mix of good and bad. The Christian knows that God loves him and He takes care of him. Yet a Christian may have to suffer and even die because he believes in Jesus.