This is one of those biblical passages that gives the reader
whiplash. One the one hand, our Lord says that some Christians will be put to
death. On the other hand, not a hair of their head will perish.” The two
statements seem to contradict until we grasp that the word translated “perish”
(apollumi) speaks of
judgment (cf. Ps. 1:6; John 3:16). Jesus is saying that even if believers’
physical bodies are killed, they will not be destroyed in the ultimate sense.
Not even in the slightest way will they fall short of salvation and face God’s judgment.
That two-sided message is the same as what we find in Revelation
11:1-13. In Revelation 10:1-11 (the first half of the 10:1-11:13 interlude
between the sixth and seventh trumpets) we discover that the church is called
to proclaim the full gospel, including the reality that we are sinners and in
need of salvation. Because the world does not like this message, it persecutes
the Church. In light of this, the second half of the interlude gives an
assurance similar to what Jesus did in Luke 21:18, that though persecution will
happen, the Church will be protected and saved in the ultimate way.[1]
The message begins with an acted-out parable.
An Acted-Out
Parable (11:1-2)
John writes: “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I
was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who
worship there, 2 but do not measure the
court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations,
and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.”
We need to remember that this is a continuation of a vision
(10:1f.) and so what John writes here is what he envisions.
The “measuring” of “the temple of God, and the altar and those who
worship there,” is intended to be seen in light of the Ezekiel 40-48 prophecy.
In those chapters we see the establishment of the end-times temple (which both
the New Testament in general and Revelation in particular see as the New
Testament church united to Jesus Christ)[2] and also its protection
symbolized by an angel measuring various features of the temple complex. We
also see the same kind of “measuring” in Revelation 21:15-17 (most likely
dependent on the Ezekiel texts also), where an angel uses a measuring rod to
measure the city, its gates and its wall. In that passage the measuring of the
city and its parts portrays the security of its inhabitants against the harm
and contamination of unclean and deceptive people (see 21:27). Jewish and
Gentile Christians will compose this temple community (as is evident from 3:12;
21:12-14 [the apostles representing the church from every nation]; 21:24-26;
22:2). In Revelation 21 the absolute
security of believers in heaven is depicted by the measuring. Here, the focus
appears to be on security from ultimate destruction while, at the same time on
the earth, they are persecuted by unbelievers.
According to what has been the most common interpretation of this
chapter over the past century or so, this part of the vision deals with only
the future, in a time of Great Tribulation, when the main focus is on Israel
who has rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem. According to this interpretation, the
measured believers are Jewish believers who are being persecuted by unbelieving
Jews. There are a number of reasons, however, to prefer the understanding I am
offering, that states the protected believers are Jewish and Gentile followers
of Christ in this present age who are being protected in the ultimate sense
from Jewish and Gentile unbelieving persecutors.
·
There is a problem with
those views that see the measuring of temple/worshipers referring to believing
ethnic Jews and so those outside would be unbelieving ethnic Jews. Nowhere else
in this book is that distinction made. There is distinction between those who
think they are Jews and call themselves as such, but are not, and those who are
true Jews/believers (the Church): cf. 2:9; 3:9; 7:4-17. In these texts it
appears that the elect vs. nations language of the Old Testament now applies to
the Church (Jew and Gentile) elect and that unbelieving Jews can be part of the
unbelieving nations. There has been, in part, a role reversal!
·
There is a problem with
those views that see the temple as a literal future temple and so it speaks of
a rebuilt temple in the future where believing ethnic Jews offer sacrifices to
God and that God would promise his protection to this and see these offerings
as good in light of the salvation-historical shift and the fact that the temple
and sacrifices pointed to and were fulfilled in Christ.[3] See Col.
2:16-17; Heb. 8-10 (esp. 10:1-22!). In other words, it is highly doubtful God
would see such a rebuilding as positive, when it is a denial that Christ is the
only Redeemer and the fulfillment of all to which the temple pointed.
·
There is a problem with
those who see this as all in the future, based upon the context of the book of
Revelation and all that we have seen to this point that points to its content
referring to the entire inter-advent era of the Church. In the immediate
context, 10:6, John’s rewording of a Danielic text suggests that the 3.5 years or
forty-two months (as we see in 11:2) speaks of the inter-advent church age and
not simply of a future short period at the end of history.[4] What is more,
the origin of this 3.5 years is most likely the persecution under Antiochus
Epiphanes that lasted about this time. Such a reference, then, would be seen
against that backdrop.
·
As we discovered above,
both the New Testament emphasis in general and the Revelation emphasis in
particular are on the New Testament Church, united to Christ, as the end-times
temple of God. This, coupled with the fact that in 11:1 John is told not just
to measure temple and altar, but also “those who worship there,” suggests an
emphasis upon people and not a building/place. This fits with the subsequent
emphasis upon prophets or heralds of a message in ch. 11.[5]
·
The “holy city,” which
is to be trodden underfoot (v. 2),[6] is equated with the outer
court. In Revelation, the “holy city is a reference either to the future
heavenly city (3:12; 21:2, 10) or to its earthly manifestation in the church
(20:9….).” Here is also another shift in salvation history (how God is working
in history to save and preserve his people). Once Jesus Christ won through his
death and resurrection the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit for his
people and poured out the Spirit upon the church, the holy city has been the
church, not an actual city (Heb. 10:22-23; Rev. 3:12; 20:9; 21:2, 10; 22:19).
·
Finally, if we were
right in ch. 7 that the interlude there speaks of the inter-advent age and
security of the Church, so we are on good footing to see the same here. It is
true that Rev. 11:14f. takes us to the end and final judgment. However, to the
degree that these interludes, in part, show God answering the saints’ prayers
for vindication—and so judgment on persecutors—as well as protection (cf. 6:11;
8:3-5), we also are moved in the direction that this addresses this entire
inter-advent era and not merely a time in the future.
Since behind this Revelation 11 vision is the vision in Ezekiel
40-48 (and in that passage there are genuine believers and priests serving in
the outer court), it seems best to understand this vision as teaching through
the measuring of the temple, altar,[7] and those who worship
there that God’s people are secure when it comes to God’s presence and their
salvation. However, in the lack of measuring in the court outside of the
temple, what the vision is teaching is that believers are not protected from
that point where they interact with the unbelieving world. In other words,
during the period of tribulation that we now know to be this current age
between the first and second comings of Christ (the forty-two months of v. 2),
the church will be persecuted. As Luke’s version of the Olivet Discourse taught
(Luke 21:16-17): “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and
relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be
hated by all for my name's sake.” However, the measuring of the temple reminds
us, as Luke 21:18 affirms, “But not a hair of your head will perish.”
In verses 3-6 we discover a key purpose of the protective
measuring of verses 1-2.
A Key Purpose Of
The Protective Measuring (11:3-6)
In verse 3 we read, “And I will give to my two witnesses,[8] and they will prophesy for
1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (my own translation).[9] At first, this appears to
be a different subject than verses 1-2 and inserted abruptly. However, that is
not the case. The two witnesses are equated with “the two olive trees and the
two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” (v. 4). This reference
takes us back to Rev. 1:12, 20; 2:5, where the lampstands speak of the church
and her Spirit-empowered witness to the world. Standing behind this lampstand
reference is Zechariah 4, where a lampstand is envisioned with seven lamps on
it that are connected into two olive trees that provide a perpetual supply of
olive oil, so they can burn. The point of that vision was that the Spirit of
God would continually empower the post-exilic community to complete the task of
rebuilding the temple, restoring right worship of God, and fulfilling their
mission to the world (see esp. Zech. 4:6).[10]
When we grasp the background, we understand that the two witnesses
are symbolic for the church living on mission (the subject so far of
10:1-11:2). In other words, the two witnesses signify the church that has eaten
the small scroll in chapter 10 and are proclaiming the whole gospel, and are
promised protection from ultimate destruction in the midst of this hostile
world for this entire age (the forty-two months or 1,260 days). This is also
supported by verse 7, where it states the beast will make war on the two
witnesses. This alludes to Dan. 7:21, where not an individual but the covenant
community is attacked.[11] We dare not miss, then,
that the intrinsic nature of the New Testament Church is to be a people living
on mission, giving testimony to the gospel of God’s grace, making disciples.
There are two main reasons why two witnesses are envisioned. To
begin, under Old Testament Law (Dt. 17:6; 19:15), a crime could not be
established, and a person found guilty on the basis of the word of only one
witness. Instead, there are to be at least two, three was better (and most
likely the intent is that more is even better). This vision, then, is conforming to that Old
Testament pattern to show that the church provides a credible and true witness
to the gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, the reality of his saving work, the
capstone of which was the resurrection, is confirmed by many witnesses (1 Cor.
15:1-8) and many signs (Heb. 2:4).
The other reason two witnesses are envisioned is that they are
patterned after Moses and Elijah, as seen in verses 5-6: “And if anyone would
harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would
harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut
the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they
have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with
every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
The points of these verses seem to be as follows:
·
In verse 5 protection
from the ultimate destruction is promised to the church and judgment upon
persecutors. The fire may even call to mind Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1
Kings 18:20-40).
·
They are given the same
kind of power that was given to the prophet Elijah (6a [see 1 Kings 17:1; 18:1,
42]) and to Moses (6b [Exodus 7:1-12:32, esp. 7:14-28]).
·
The main point, then,
seems to be that the church, like authoritative Old Testament prophets, is to
proclaim the authoritative Word of God, the core of which is the gospel—and to
do this with power.[12]
The fact that these two witnesses are seen as “clothed in
sackcloth” (v. 3), is this was an Old Testament sign of mourning (e.g. Gen.
37:34; Neh. 9:1; Esther 4:2-4). As they proclaim the gospel in the world, they
also mourn over the sin of the world and perhaps those who reject Jesus Christ.
The persecuted Christian
today may ask, “But where is God’s justice spoken of here in regard to those
persecuting me?” The answer is in this: Either that persecutor will be dealt
with justly by God in that his wrath was poured out on the Son for the sins of
this person (if they receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation) or that
person, who has rejected the eternal, loving, and holy God, and who will for
all eternity, continue to rebel against God, will face the eternal judgment and
wrath of God. So, in using the Old Testament pictures and wording that both
show God’s judgment and that God’s judgment fits the crime, we see that in fact
justice will prevail in judgment! It should also be noted that most of the time
in persecution the persecutors are also prosecutors who pronounce their
judgment upon the Christian. It is just then that the judgment pronounced in
faithful gospel preaching not only be pronounced, but also take place.
Speaking of the struggle
the persecuted Christian has in the midst of their suffering, the vision given
to John goes on to address this.
The Suffering Of The Church On Mission And Its Apparent Defeat. 7-10
Here we read:
And
when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the
bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and
their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is
called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half
days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at
their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who
dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents,
because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
There are several helpful
points we can make about these four verses:
(1) To begin, the church will complete its
mission of giving testimony to Jesus Christ throughout this age and world, with
the result that all whom God has redeemed from every “tribe, language, people,
and nation” (5:9) will come to Christ. Most likely, this also suggests the
completion of the number of martyrs God has ordained will be completed (6:11).
11:7
(2) Though the world system that serves
Satan, made up of government and religious entities, will be operative
throughout this age (see Rev. 13:1ff.), toward the end of this age the
persecution will intensify, especially once the gospel has gone throughout the
world and to all ethnic groups (Mt. 24:14). This will happen to the extent that
it will appear that the beast will have defeated the church. 11:7
(3) Throughout this age the God-opposing,
Christ-hating, gospel-rejecting world system will rejoice in the persecution
and death of Christians, yet toward the end of this age this world system
(symbolized by two places that were known for their opposition to God [Sodom
and Egypt] and also by Jerusalem [that place that claimed fidelity to God, yet
largely rejected Christ])[13] will grow in their
revilement toward, their joy over, and their disrespect toward the death of
God’s people. 11:8-10
(4) Part of the rationale for the way the
world reacts toward the church throughout this age and especially at the end of
the age is that they view the church as tormenting them with their message.
11:10
(5) It may be that the reference to “three
and a half days” is used, not only to connect the time of post-suffering death
of the faithful witnesses to the three days of Jesus, but also to echo the
three and a half years of tribulation the Church experiences throughout this
age. In other words, this will be the culmination of the church’s suffering at
the end of this age (a much shorter time), following the path of their Savior,
and yet, like with Jesus, resurrection follows (11-12). 11:9
This leads us to the final
section of this entire passage.
God Restores The Church To Himself. 11:11-13
Though it appears to the
world that the church has been soundly defeated, this is reversed at the coming
of Jesus Christ when the church is resurrected to their eternal reward.
Following the message we saw at the beginning of the book (1:7: “Behold, he is
coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him,
and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”), when
Christ returns, the coming will be visible and fear-inspiring to the world who
faces judgment, and it will be with or in the clouds. So, clearly verses 11-12
are looking to that coming and thus to the resurrection of believers at that
time (cf. 20:11-13) to be with their God (John 14:1-3; Rev. 21-22): “But after
the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they
stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they
heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here!’ And they went up
to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.”
In verse 13, at the end of
this interlude and just prior to the blowing of the seventh trumpet (which
unveils the final judgment), we read of the beginning of the final judgment: “And
at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven
thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and
gave glory to the God of heaven”
There is an escalation of
God’s judgment upon that part of mankind that opposes him, just before the
judgment will reach to all the universe and every person who has opposed him. As
a result of this escalated judgment, these continually rebellious and unbelieving
people will give glory to God, not in that they will repent and believe in
Christ, but that they will be judged and show that God does not in any way
overlook sin. For believers, their sin is judged by the pouring out of God’s
wrath upon the Son. For unrepentant unbelievers, their sin is judged by the
pouring out of God’s wrath upon them. In both cases God is glorified!
Conclusion
And so, in this interlude
between trumpets six and seven, we discover that even though the church faces
great push-back, trials and tribulations, suffering, and persecution throughout
this age and that will escalate at the end of this age, God has promised to
preserve and protect his people from the ultimate destruction, and destruction
that would come about by not coming to genuine salvation in Christ and not
persevering therein.
The promise of this
protection is intended to spur the church on to faithful witness, to proclaim
the whole gospel continually to the world, no matter what the response is.
May we then, be steadfast,
immovable, always abounding in this gospel work of the Lord, since we are
assured of his protection, the future reward of resurrection, and thus our
labor is not in vain in Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:58).
Joyfully Persevering On
Mission With You As We Keep The Hairs On Our Head Eternally,
Tom
[1]
This interlude, just like the one we saw in Revelation 7, deals with sealing or
protection of believers.
[2]
There is much support in the NT in general and in Revelation in particular for
seeing the eschatological temple of God as Christ (cf. John 1:14; 2:19; Rev.
21:22) and so all who are united to him also comprise the temple of God (cf.
Acts 2:1-13; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10). For this
emphasis of the church as temple in Revelation see 1:4, 12; 4:4; 21:3, 16, 22.
[3]
The typical Dispensational Futurist understanding of this text is this (Dennis
Johnson, ESVSB, 2478): “Many
dispensationalists understand this to imply that during the great tribulation
the Jewish temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and Jewish worship will be
reinstituted there, and that it is here that, in the middle of the tribulation,
the Antichrist will take “his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to
be God” (2 Thess. 2:4). They understand the reference to the holy city to mean
literal, earthly Jerusalem.” As Beale, Campbell, 216, highlight, many such
Dispensationalists argue that such future sacrifices are not in any way
atoning, but they are “mere memorials of Christ’s sacrifice.” However, as Beale
and Campbell comment there, such an approach is unconvincing. It is hard to
believe that God would in any way put His stamp of approval upon a future
restoration of sacrifice in any way, especially given the struggles the Jewish
branch of New Testament Church had in its early days of moving away fully from
the Law system. This is not a peripheral issue!
[4]
In Rev. 10:6 the Angel of the Lord pronounces in an oath “that there is no more
delay.” The point is that there is no more delay for the events of this
inter-advent age that involve judgment of God’s enemies and salvation for his
people. This clause is parallel to the clause, “it would be for a time, times,
and half a time,” in its O.T. background, Dan. 12:7. This suggests strongly
that this concept of “a time, times, and half a time” (3.5 years) is referring
to the current age and not to a future short time at the very end, either just
before or just after the return of Christ.
See also the Olivet Discourse and its connection to
Daniel.
[5]
It also must not be missed that in ch. 10 John is the prophet eating the words
of God that he might proclaim them and other figures are used in ch. 11. Though
not conclusive in and of itself, it makes us lean in the direction that the
time referent in ch. 11 is the same as in ch. 10 and as it has been throughout
Revelation (the inter-advent age).
[6]
This is the time when Daniel predicted that “the holy place…and the host were
to be trampled underfoot (the same Greek verb is used in one Greek version of
Dan. 8:13). One Greek version of Zechariah 12:3, possibly paralleling the idea
of “trampling” in Dan. 8:13, may also be behind this text. It is clear that
this idea has ample Old Testament background to it.
[7]
The “altar” is most likely referring to the altar of incense inside the temple
and not the altar of burnt offering/sacrifice outside the temple in the
courtyard, since the former is measured in the vision and latter is not. It
takes the reader back to the scene in Rev. 6:9-10, where believers are seen
under the altar and praying for justice—their prayers being the incense offered
on that altar (Rev. 8:3-4). The altar and incense imagery in these chapters
reminds the reader that saints suffer in this age, but God will, in response to
their prayers, bring justice, make things right, and judge persecutors.
[8]
Beale, Campbell, 220: “The future tenses (‘I will grant authority,’ ‘they will
prophesy’) probably highlight divine determination instead of future time,
context being the ultimate determiner of the meaning.”
[9]
On “and they will prophesy,” Wayne Grudem, The
Gift Of Prophecy In New Testament And For Today, ch. 2, argues that
we should not follow Revelation as an example of the typical way the
prophet/prophesy word group is used in the New Testament, since this was a work
of an apostle. In chapter 1 of this book Grudem demonstrates that Old Testament
prophets spoke the very words of God with divine authority. However, by the
time of the New Testament, he argues in ch. 2, to display the newness, i.e. the
New Covenant nature, of the Church, a different term is used for those who
speak the very words of the Lord, i.e. those who are eyewitnesses to the risen
Lord Jesus and the inauguration of his kingdom: apostles. Typically, in the New
Testament, prophecy speaks merely human words to report something God brings to
mind (Ch’s. 3-4 of Grudem’s book). Yet, I would argue, it appears here in
Revelation that “prophesy” is used closer to the Old Testament meaning, i.e.
speaking the very words of God. Yet, in light of the context of the New Testament
in general and this interlude in particular, the prophetic action appears to be
the proclamation of the gospel by the church—i.e. giving witness to Jesus
Christ. Most likely “prophesy” is used to make the connection between the NT
Church and the OT background examples of Moses and Elijah. Yet, in light of the
Joel 2 prophecy alluded to in Acts 2 and the fulfillment in the NT Church
(throughout the Church and the Church age), this verb could retain some of its
typical NT usage to aid in the proclamation of the gospel witness to Christ.
[10]
This background is also supported by the actual wording of verse 3. Though the
ESV supplies the word “authority” in the clause, “I will give” (or “I will
grant”), it is not present in the Greek text. It is more likely that what is
being asserted here is that God is promising to give power and ability to his
church for the mission. If this is the case, it also fits with the Revelation 1
and Zechariah 4 background.
[11]
We can offer at least two other reasons for taking the two witnesses as
referring to the church throughout this age. (1) In vv. 9-13, we read that the
whole world will see the apparent defeat of these witnesses—a statement only
understandable if they are understood as the corporate worldwide church (It is
unlikely that the technologies of worldwide communication, by which two
individual people could be seen by all throughout the world, were in mind). (2)
The witnesses prophesy for three and a half years (v. 3), the same amount of
time that the holy city (the church) is trampled underfoot (v. 2) and the woman
of 12:6 (also representing the church) and those dwelling in heaven (13:6) are
oppressed.
[12]
To understand properly the message of v. 6 we must grasp the highly figurative
nature of the book in general and this passage in particular. This text is not
saying that two literal prophets in the future will do these things. Nor is it
promising that the NT Church will often or always (or even necessarily ever)
have the power to do these things literally. What it is saying is that the
fulfillment of the expectation among Israel that Moses and Elijah would return
in the end-times is not only found in their presence on the mountain of
transfiguration (cf. Mt. 17; Mk. 9), but it is found in the NT Church, which is
the end-times restoration of the true Israel of God. In other words, the NT
Church, united to Christ, is the fulfillment of the Law (Moses) and prophets
(Elijah)!
[13]
“Great city” elsewhere in Revelation speaks of Babylon. That is the direct
symbolic reference here. However, the point being made is that those who
thought they were serving God and part of his Jerusalem were actually part of
the enemy of God, Babylon, in their opposition to the Christ.
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