Revelation 11 depicts the history of the Church during the Church Age as 2 witnesses, the temple of God, two lampstands, and two olive trees. Each symbol sheds new light on the nature and work of the church.  The Church is invincible until its work on earth is completed!

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The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-6

Does the book of Revelation tell us anything about the church?  I know that many believe the church is never found in this book after chapter 3, because it has been raptured and will not be on the earth during chapters 6-19.  However, I disagree.  I believe we are going to see the history of the church over the entire church age today, as we study Revelation 11.

You will recall that chapter 10 serves as an introduction to the following three chapters. I believe that Revelation chapters 11-13 are the “little book” that John was given and commanded to eat. This “little book” is a new prophecy that John must give. This new prophecy is to be given to many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. This is in contrast to the main body of Revelation as a prophecy of judgment upon Jerusalem and Israel.  It is international in scope. And its message has to do with a time period known in these three chapters as 42 months, 1,260 days, and time, times, and half a time.  We will discuss those time descriptions in just a moment.

As we make our way slowly through this chapter we are going to see the Church depicted in 4 different scenes:

1. The Measuring of the Temple: (11:1-2)  The Preservation of the Church
2. The Proclamation of the Witnesses (11:3-6)  The Ministry of the Church
3. The Conquest of the Beast (11:7-10)  The Persecution of the Church
4. The Resurrection of the Witnesses (11:11-13)  The Vindication of the Church

We will take the first two scenes today, and the final two next week.

1. The Measuring of the Temple 11:1-2

Measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it.  Remember that this is a vision that God gave John. The vision is full of symbols that present God’s truth.

The temple of God.  When the New Testament authors write of the temple, what are they speaking of?

1 Cor. 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

Eph. 2:19-22 ^19 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

1 Peter 2:4-5 “And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being bult up as a spiritual house…”

So, when we are introduced to the temple of God (holy of holies), I believe we are to understand this as one of the various metaphors for the church. We will see several more in this chapter before we are through.

And the altar and those who worship in it.  The altar refers to the golden altar of incense. We have already seen that the golden altar of incense was connected with the idea of prayer. In Revelation 5:8 we are told that the incense is the prayer of the saints. So what do these terms tell us?  That the true church is made up of those who pray to God and worship God. If we do not pray and worship, we are not part of the true Church of Christ.

Measure.  Why was John told to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers?  Because he was to identify who the true church was.  But for what purpose?  Well, we discover in verse 2 that the court outside the temple was not to be measured, because it had been given over to the nations.   That must tell us that those things were measured would not be given to the nations. In other words, this vision gives us a picture of God identifying and preserving His true church on the earth.

Holy City.  Does the fact that God has identified and will preserve His true church mean she is immune from persecution?  Hardly! Notice that the holy city will be trodden under foot for 42 months.  What is meant by “holy city?”  Well, this could be a reference to the city of Jerusalem.  However, this can also be another reference to the church. In fact, we will see that in this vision John sees many different symbols for the church.

In the New Testament, the temple is used as a metaphor for the church of Jesus Christ.  Interestingly, the word “temple” is naos, and is used of the holy of holies. In Revelation 21:2 John “saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”  Just what is this New Jerusalem that John saw?  He says it was made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. He explains what the New Jerusalem is in 21:9 “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…”  Here we are told that the New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And who is that?  It is the church! The church is the New Jerusalem. It is a new city, a holy city, a community of believers.  And in Revelation 21:16 we are told that this city is a perfect cube – 1,500 miles in length, width and height. What is the only other cube mentioned in Scripture?  The holy of holies.  The New Jerusalem is the true holy of holies – the immediate presence of God.

One of the points of this chapter, is that the church must endure heavy persecution, even unto death. But she will be preserved from eternal doom. She is eternally safe because of the work of Christ. Later we are going to see the church under the symbol of two witnesses. The Beast makes war with the two witnesses and kills them. Will the church be preserved from persecution? No! Will the church be preserved from defeat and eternal doom? Yes, a thousand times Yes!

Romans 8:35-37 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”  Paul goes on to say that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The church will be preserved by God. The gates of Hades will not prevail against her.

Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations.  If to be measured signifies that the church will be identified and preserved by God, then not to be measured must signify that someone other than the church, although closely associated with the Church, will not be identified as the true church and will not be preserved. What might the court symbolize?  I submit to you that the court represents nominal Christians. They are Christians in name only, not in reality. They profess faith in Christ, but there are no works to validate their faith. Their faith is dead. They have never been converted. They have never been born again. They may be baptized, raised in a Christian family, and attend church today, but are only associated with the Church. They lack the presence of the indwelling Spirit and the saving grace of God. They have never become new creatures in Christ. Sadly, these do not have the promise that they are identified as part of God’s true church and will be preserved by Him.

Application:  My friend, beware of nominal Christianity!  Beware of being the seed that falls on rocky or thorny ground that bears no fruit. Hebrews 2:3 “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”  Beware of one who professes Christ but does not possess Christ! You say, “Brian, how will I know if I am a nominal Christian or a true Christian?”  There are a great many things I could say about this, but I will just limit it to two questions that will help you discover this for yourself.

1) Has Christ become your supreme Treasure?  Col. 3:4 “When Christ, who is ouir life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Is Christ the treasure in the field that you found and have become willing to give up all you have in order to have (Mt. 13:44)? Do you count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus (Phil.3:8)?

2)  Are you being transformed by the Spirit into the image of Christ?  Rom. 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…”  2Pet.1:4 “By His precious and magnificent promises you have become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”  Rom.6:22 “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.”

Forty-two months.  What an interesting time designation. In the next verse we read of 1,260 days that the two witnesses prophesy.  Now, those are exactly the same period of time. The Jewish calendar had 30 days. 42 months of 30 days exactly equals 1,260 days. Is this a literal time period or is it symbolic?

In Revelation 11:2 we are told “the nations will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”  Well, let’s ask another question. How long will the world persecute the church? Friends, the world animated by Satan has been persecuting the church since Jesus ascended to heaven, and it won’t stop until Jesus returns. That tells me that the 42 months, or 1,260 days are symbolic descriptions of the Church Age – the time from Christ’s first coming to His second coming. Some Futurists believe this is a literal 42 months at the very end of this history of the world. They call this The Tribulation. However, John said that he was living in the tribulation. Revelation 1:9, “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”  Satan has been waging war with the church ever since the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.  If we are right about this, then the forty-two months is a symbolic term, just as the 1,260 days would be a symbolic term, and just as “time, times, and half a time” would also be a symbolic term to describe the Church Age.

The point of Revelation 11:1-2 seems to be this – in spite of the fact that the nations of the world will persecute (trample down) the true Church of Jesus Christ, it will be divinely preserved by God.

But why 3 ½ years?  Why was this time designation chosen to represent the history of the church?  I’m not sure. Several answers have been proposed.

• Antiochus Epiphanes’ persecution of the Jews lasted 3 ½ years.
• Nero’s persecution of the Christians lasted 3 ½ years. Perhaps this term was chosen to let us know that the entire age of the church would see persecution.
• Another view is that it harkens back to Jesus’ ministry, which was 3 ½ years. The witness of the church is just the continuation of Jesus’ ministry.  It is the 2^nd half of Jesus’ ministry.  The Book of Luke is all that Jesus began to do and teach. The book of Acts is all that Jesus continued to do and teach through His church.

2. The Proclamation of the 2 Witnesses 11:3-6

From verse 3 through verse 13, this entire section describes the activities of these two witnesses.

WHO ARE THEY?  Futurists usually identify them as two individuals – either Elijah and Moses, or Elijah and Enoch.  Neither Elijah or Enoch died, so it would seem reasonable that they would come back to finish out their ministry and die like the rest of humanity. Elijah is a good guess, because there is a prophecy in Malachi 4:5 that God would send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.”  However, Jesus said in Mt. 11:14 that John the Baptist was Elijah who was to come.  The things these two witnesses do resemble the ministries of Elijah and Moses.  Elijah called fire from heaven and shut up the sky so that it would not rain. Moses turned water to blood and struck the earth with every plague. So, those two individuals would seem to be a reasonable guess.

However, if the 1,260 days are symbolic for the entire age of the church, then these can’t be two individuals – unless you have some people that are 2,000 years old! Well, if they are not two individuals, who are they?  The Church of Jesus Christ.

11:4 “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.”  Here is a direct reference to Zech. 4. In that chapter there is a vision of a lampstand, with an olive tree on the right and on the left. There was a golden pipe proceeding from each olive tree, delivering olive oil right into the lampstands that they might give forth their light.

Why would these 2 Witnesses be said to be 2 Olive Trees?  In Zechariah’s day the two olive trees represented Joshua the high priest, and Zerubbabel the king.  In Revelation we read over and over that the church is made up of kings and priests.  In Zech. 4:14 we are told “These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.”  The word Christ means anointed one. And all those who are in Christ are also anointed ones. Oil in Scripture is emblematic for the Holy Spirit. Christians are those who have been anointed with the Holy Spirit.

Why would these 2 Witnesses be said to be the two lampstands?  Remember 1:20 “The seven lampstands are the seven churches.”  But why are there two lampstands instead of seven lampstands.  Another question:  why are there two witnesses?  Isn’t there only one body of Christ? If so, then why do we have a vision of two witnesses?  In both Dt. 19:15 and Mt. 18:16 we read “by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.”  These are witnesses in a court bringing forth evidence, and at least two are necessary to establish the reliability of that evidence.  The 7 Lampstands in Revelation point to the Church in its completeness. The 2 Lampstands in Revelation point to the Church in its Witness.

WHAT DO THEY DO?  11:3 says that they “prophesy.”  The word “prophesy” is an elastic term that can have various shades of meaning. The basic meaning of prophesy is “speak for God.”  11:7 says they give testimony, another courtroom term. These are witnesses that give testimony, and speak for God.

Revelation 1:9 “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 6:9  When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even [fn]when faced with death.

What does that depict saints? What are they speaking?  What is the testimony of Jesus? I submit to you that this is the witnessing about Christ, the preaching of the gospel. I believe we are seeing in symbolic vision, the evangelism and missions of the church throughout church history.  Didn’t Jesus tell His disciples in Acts 1:8 “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses to the remotest part of the earth.”

Clothed in sackcloth.  Sackcloth was worn when one was repenting before God. Remember when Jonah went to Nineveh and preached, “40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown!”  All the people from the king to all his subjects including the animals were dressed in sackcloth as an emblem of their deep repentance.  This tells us that repentance was a principal element in their preaching, just as it was in John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter and Paul.

They work miracles so that their witness will not be stopped. Verse 5 tells us that if anyone wants to harm them and stop their witnessing, fire flows from their mouth to kill them, or they shut up the sky, or they turn wats to blood, or strike the earth with every plague.  What is the general impression that this vision gives us?  It is that these 2 witnesses are unstoppable! They are invincible. They are immortal until their work is completed. This points to the great missionary advance of the gospel over these 2,000 years when it has been taken to almost every part of the globe. Think about it. There was a time when only a handful of men knew Jesus Christ. Knowledge of Christ was available only in a very restricted geographic location. But now, 2,000 years later, the knowledge of Christ has covered the globe and gone to every continent, and most of the people groups of the world. There is much work yet to be done, to be sure, but a great amount of work has been done. The mustard seed has been sown, and has sprung up to become a tree in which the birds of the air build their nests. The leaven inserted into the flour has pervaded the entire lump of dough. God has given victory to missionaries around the world as they have witnessed for Christ and preached the gospel.

Conclusion

1. The marching orders of the church are clear – the evangelization of the world. When God wants to symbolically describe His church, He describes it as a witnessing community. Does that describe you? When is the last time you bore witness to someone else of the truth of Jesus Christ? Are you zealous about spreading the truth of Christ and His gospel? We are lampstands. We are called to be the light of the world! Light overcomes darkness. Light makes things visible. Is your life bringing the light of the gospel to people in darkness?  In this passage we are being called back to the Great Commission.  There is a world of people all around us that are perishing. What are we doing to give them the light of the gospel?  That is something all of us need to think and pray about. Perhaps we can discuss this more over our fellowship meal later today.

2. Our power to fulfil our mission is the Holy Spirit. He is the oil from the olive trees that flows into the lampstand and enables them to burn and give forth their light. If you feel cowardly about witnessing for Christ, you need to remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in you. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses…”  If you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit. You have all the power you will ever need to shine for Christ in this dark world. If you find it difficult to give testimony to Jesus, you need to depend upon the indwelling Spirit. Jesus is the true Anointed One (Christ), and if you are in Christ, you are also an anointed one. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon you. Don’t ever think I just need more power, more of the Holy Spirit before I can ever witness to someone. No! You already have all the power of the Holy Spirit you will ever need!

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