Message

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Chapter 10 of Revelation, which we studied last week, was a very interesting chapter with the unusual appearance of a mighty angel, his unusual act and his unusual declaration. His unusual appearance is that he was robed in a cloud with a rainbow above his head, had a sun-like face, and fiery pillar-like legs. His unusual act is that he was holding a little scroll in his hand planted his feet on the sea and on the land and gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion, bringing the voices of the seven thunders. His unusual declaration is that the mystery of God will be accomplished with no more delay. As for John, he was commanded not to write what the seven thunders spoke, but to take the scroll from the angel’s hand and eat it and prophesy again. The taste of the scroll was sweet as honey in his mouth, but sour/bitter in his stomach. This uniquely well shows the nature of God’s word. The sweet word of God should be digested through sourness/bitterness of repentance and so the word can be internalized and rooted in our hearts and lives. Then we can truly preach and prophecy the word of God with the heart and Spirit of God. For example, many people like the words of Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” What a wonderful promise! However, it requires repentance of seeking our own kingdom and self-righteousness at each moment and at the critical time in life so as to truly seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness and experience all the provisions of God. Digesting even one word of God is great. Today’s passage, 11:1-13 is an interlude along with chapter 10 between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet sounding. In chapter 10, John was involved in the vision and finally was told to prophesy again, which could be his renewed mission of writing the book of Revelation. Having that mission anew John was again involved in the vision according to God’s command to measure the temple of God. This passage is about John’s measuring the temple of God and God’s two powerful witnesses. It shows God’s faithfulness for his chosen people and his consistent broken heart to save eternally perishing souls before the end of their lives and the world. First, measuring the temple of God (1-2). Verse 1 says, “I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God…’” The reed is like a bamboo stalk. Here we see that there will be a temple in the time of tribulation. John was told to go and measure the temple of God. This act of measuring indicates that it belongs to God and he has a plan for it, which is related to the redemption of Israel. John was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.” Here the temple refers to naos, the Greek word, to the inner temple, the Holy of Holies (the Most Holy Place) and the Holy Place. And then the altar was added. This probably refers to the brazen altar, not the golden altar where incense was offered in the book of Revelation. It was around this brazen altar that the worshipers collected. They could not go into the Holy Place, for only the priests could go in there. They had to stay on the outside. And John was told to count the worshipers there. Again, the temple is God’s possession and so definitely these worshipers are his possession. Then verse 2 says, “But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles.” We need to understand this verse correctly. We know that God is the God of the Jews and also of the Gentiles (Ro. 3:29). Isaiah 54:5 says, “…the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” And God does not show favoritism (2:11). Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3:6, “This mystery if that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Yet, as we have studied in Revelation, as the end time nears, God’s purpose for his chosen people is to be fulfilled. Apostle Paul understood this and wrote in Romans 11:25, 26, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery…Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” Obviously, God redeems people out of every tongue and tribe and nation; but nowhere does it say all the Gentiles will be converted. But all the Jews after the rebels are purged will be saved. And Paul continued, “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” God is faithful to keep all his promises and so his call is irrevocable. And John was told continually in verse 2, “They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” Jesus said in Luke 21:24, “…Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” What a consistency regarding the promise of God! Certainly, Bible teachings are consistent. Yet, here in Revelation the time is specified, 42 months, three and half years, most likely the second half of the seven years of the tribulation. The Gentiles’ trampling on the holy city is a part of God’s salvation plan for the Israelites refining their faith under God’s complete protection. Second, two witnesses (3-13). Verse 3 says, “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 1,260 days are equivalent to 42 months according to the Jewish calendar – that is, three and half years. The conjunction “and” shows that while the Gentiles trample on the holy city, the two witnesses of God will prophecy. Prophesying is definitely related to preaching and giving testimony. Interestingly, we see that two witnesses suddenly appear with no mention of where they come from. God just said, “I will give power to my two witnesses.” It seems that God will raise these two servants urgently as the end nears. In chapter 10, God said to John, “You must prophesy again.” Then these two witnesses of God will prophesy. They will proclaim salvation, calling men to repentance and give warning about judgment. During these times of fierce judgment, the Lord keeps preaching the gospel right up until the very end. They will be clothed in sackcloth. It will be the expression of great sorrow and mourning they feel over the wicked, wretched world as the judgment of God falls constantly around them. More specifically, their mourning will be over the desecration of the temple, over the ascendancy of Antichrist, and over the devastation of Jerusalem and the world. Thus, they will participate in God’s heart for the people of the world. Through these two sudden prophets we continually see God’s broken heart for the world that comes to an end. Let’s see more about these two witnesses. Verse 4 says, “These are the two olives trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” This verse has a background on the book of Zechariah. In chapter 4, Zechariah saw in his vision a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. Also, there were two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left (4:2-3). Through this vision of Zechariah, God gave a clear message to the returnees from Babylon that Zerubbabel, the leader of the nation, would complete building the temple with the power of the Spirit, with no human power involved. Then Zechariah asked the angel who talked to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” Again, Zechariah asked, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?” The answer was, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (4:11-14). Those two olive trees were going to be the divine instruments by which God keeps Israel alighted. Those two olive trees represented Joshua and Zerubbabel, two men whom God would use to restore Israel. Joshua would be the instrument of the spiritual revival, Zerubbabel would be the instrument of the rebuilding the temple. In this vision, what Zechariah saw was a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment of the restoration of Israel. This prophecy not only focused on that time, but they looked forward to the full restoration of the kingdom in the end time. We know that the nation of Israel again had been destroyed and gone. In the light of the whole of Zechariah, the far fulfillment of this vision is the restoration of the kingdom of Israel in Christ at the end time, where the LORD will be king over the whole earth written in 14:9. So these two witnesses of God will do their mission just before Christ’s kingdom comes. They carry out the mission with God’s power and Spirit for that kingdom, standing before the Lord of the earth. Now let’s see verses 5 and 6: “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. These men have power to shut up the sky 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.” Here we see the descriptions of fire, drought (no rain), water turning to blood, and striking the earth with every plague. These are very similar to judgments inflicted in the Old Testament by Moses and Elijah. During his life, Elijah brought down fire from heaven and it consumed the enemies of God written in 2 Kings 1:10,12. He also shut off rain from heaven in 1 Kings 17. James 5:17 says “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” And Moses turned water into blood, and smote the people of Egypt with all kinds of plagues, according to Exodus 7 through 10. Malachi 4:5 says, “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.” And Deuteronomy 18:15 says, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.” Both of these traditional and typical Jewish expectations seem to be combined in John 1:21, where the Jews asked John the Baptist, “Are you Elijah…Are you the Prophet?” So, there has always been the belief among the Jews that Moses and Elijah would come back. In Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, when the disciples were taken up in the mountain, Jesus was transfigured before them, and they saw him in a preview of His second coming glory. And there Moses and Elijah appeared. Also, when we think about Elijah and Moses further, both left this life in unusual ways. Elijah went up to heaven in a chariot of fire without experiencing death (2 Kings 2). And Moses’ body was never found, and it was disputed over by Michael. So, these two witnesses are most likely Elijah and Moses. Yet, because the Bible does not clearly mention their names, we can just understand them as two witness of prophets of God. God will protect them completely and give them power to do God’s mission. God protects his gospel servants absolutely while they carry out his mission. How desperately we need God’s protection, particularly at a time like this. After his resurrection Jesus said in Mark 16:18, “they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all.” Jesus also said in Luke 24:48, 49, “You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Then he said in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts. 1:8). We ask God continually that we may be truly empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit to be his powerful, faithful, and dedicated witnesses of Christ Jesus. Then what is going on with the two witnesses? Nothing is written about the result of their powerful work. It seemed that no one remembered their life of mission along with their names What is written is this: In verses 7-8, “Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Within the book of Revelation, here is the first mention of the beast. There will be thirty-five more mentions. The beast coming up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overpower and kill them. They will be killed in the great city, that is Jerusalem, where their Lord was crucified. Yet, it has become better titled Sodom and Egypt, the two most wicked places—Sodom, a city; Egypt, a nation, synonymous with wickedness, immorality, oppression, violence, and godlessness. God’s holy city has become corrupted to such a degree. And their bodies will lie in the street for three and half days, their burial being denied. When pagan people wanted to dishonor their enemies, they would leave their corpses lying in the street. That was the ultimate dishonoring, the ultimate denigration of someone. According to the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 21:22), the dead body of a criminal should be buried on that dame day, not going through the whole night. Then how tragic the death of the two witnesses is, with their bodies lying in the street of the great city, yet so wicked in God’s sight. Yet, something striking is written here in verses 9 and 10. “For three and half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 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.” It really draws our attention that men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies. It means that their death will be broadcasted to the whole world. It is because of their powerful life of mission to the point of tormenting those who live on the earth. Probably when John wrote this book of Revelation, he would have wondered how it could be possible. Now we fully understand this, for we are living in the internet generation. When Jesus died outside of the city of Jerusalem, only a few people watched his death. But there the death of the two witnesses will be shown and known to the whole world at that very time. It seems to be a great shame to the eyes of the people of the world. The whole world will rejoice over them and celebrate by sending gifts to each other most probably through www.amazon.com . What a vivid and realistic expression of the seemingly shameful and tragic end of their life in this world! But what comes next is really striking. Verse 11 says, “But after the three and half days, a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.” What an amazing scene! It is not a scene in a movie, but in the vision of this book of the prophecy, which will take place. What an amazing effect of the life of mission of the two witnesses! It is very interesting that regarding death the tense is the future tense, but regarding their resurrection the tense is the past tense, probably stressing the certainly of their becoming alive from such a death. Anyhow, all those who had seen their dead bodies lying on the street watched their resurrected bodies and terror struck them. It had worldwide effect beyond the understanding of the two prophets and anyone else’s, though the concrete impact was not written in this book. The phrase “three and half days” is repeated. It could have been written three or four days. Yet, this expression, “three and half days” seems to remind us of their three and half years of their live of mission. It was likely that when they completed their lives of mission, God blessed them in such a way. 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 (12). This could be the expression of their victory in life and God’s honour. Here we see a picture of a Christian life or one’s life of mission. It is from seeming shame or failure to true victory because of the living God. We have enough reason to live a life of faith and bear God’s mission before him. God remembers all our acts of faith and mission and make it known at his time and in his way for his honour and glory. One’s true life of faith and mission is really beautiful in God’s sight and God blesses it abundantly, small or great. Now verse 13 says, “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.” This could be the description of a part of the fruit of their life of mission. Surely their lives of mission glorified God. The end of Revelation 11:13 is the final expression of the faith of the nation of Israel. They are regathered, restored, converted. Final judgment comes in rapid succession; and the King arrives, destroys the nations of the world and all the ungodly, and sets up His kingdom just as the prophets said. In this passage, we learn that God is a faithful God who keeps his promise and his witnesses are so precious to him. He empowers his witnesses and richly blesses their lives of mission, accepting all their acts of faith. May we really become the witnesses of our God and Christ Jesus, living a life of faith in any circumstance.

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