Revelation 10:8 -11:22 What Is In The Little Book? Greg L Bahnsen {Part38 of 63}

Father, we thank you for the beauty of this morning that you've given to us to enjoy, to remind us of the warmth of your blessings, the abundance of your blessings to us in our lives. And we would give you thanks. For we know that every good gift comes from above, that you've supplied every need of our lives, that you've made provision for us that we might live, that we might know you. We might know you and your son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for our Savior, who has given his life for us. We thank you for the life that he has given us in his spirit. And we pray that you would enable us by that spirit to live lives pleasing before you, lives which give true worship to you. And we would give that worship to you this day. As we worship your Word and as we look into it and understand what it has to say to us, we ask also, Father, that your spirit would enable our obedience to the Word, that you'd give us confidence by it, that you'd enable us to witness for you with greater boldness, and that you'd give us a sense of security and ultimate triumph as you give these things to us according to the word of truth. We ask, Lord, that you would sanctify us by that word. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. By way of review and preparation for the finishing of our lesson on Revelation chapter 10, let's read the entire chapter Revelation 10 and then the first few verses. Let me see, we'll just have the first two verses of Revelation 11 included in our reading this morning. In Revelation 10, John says, I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud. And the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book opened. And he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth. And he cried with a great voice as a lion roareth. And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices. I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his right hand to heaven and and swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth, and the things that are therein, and the sea, and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants, the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me and saying, go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith to me, take it and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter. And they say unto me, thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations, and tongues and kings. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod. And one said, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple, leave without and measure it not, for it hath been given unto the nations and the holy city shall they tread under foot. 40 and two months. Well, last time I was with you, we dealt with Revelation chapter 10 up through verse 7, and it might be well to review that very briefly. In Revelation chapter 10, John is experiencing, of course, another vision. He has a series of visions throughout the book of Revelation, and this time he sees an angel coming down out of heaven. But this is something of a startling angel in appearance. It's an angel which is unlike anything we've encountered, anything we've encountered thus far in the Book of Revelation. This angel is a colossal angel in size. It is such that the angel can put its one foot upon the sea and other upon the earth. The angel has legs that are like fiery post, reminiscent of the fiery pillars during the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel in the Old Testament. The angel has a face shining bright as the sun. We think, of course, of the face of Jesus Christ, his transfigured glory on the mount of Transfiguration. The. The angel's shining face reflects a rainbow around his head, and he is coming with the clouds. Of course, the idea of coming with clouds is an Old Testament as well as a New Testament image for the coming of Jesus Christ. And when I say coming, I don't mean necessarily final coming or last coming. But Jesus Christ comes in many ways in the New Testament. And one of the ways he comes is in this vision. So we have this magnificent divine picture of the angel of God. I think it is to be taken as Jesus Christ his son, symbolically. And when he comes, he has a scroll in his hand. And that scroll is opened up. And the Greek word for being opened there is in the perfect tense, meaning that it will remain open. It has an enduring effect in that way, very much in contrast to the scroll we have read about the previously. Now, what scroll am I thinking of there? In the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelation, a scroll is introduced that's in the hand of God on the throne. And that scroll is closed, tightly closed, sealed seven times. You see, that sets up the first major portion of the Book of Revelation, the drama. It's just because that scroll is sealed, closed in that way that you have this drama developing. Who is worthy to open the scroll of God's judgment in history? Well, only the lion of the tribe of Judah is found worthy to do that. But before we can see the contents of that scroll, the seals must be broken. You must have seven seals broken open so that finally the scroll can be laid out. And as Jesus breaks each one of those seals, we have something of a. A preview of the contents of the scroll. And so we have the breaking of the seven seals section of the Book of Revelation. But prior to the final breaking of the seals, that is, prior to the breaking of the seventh seal, the people of God have to be sealed by God now, sealed in another sense here, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise so that their salvation is secure. They have a right standing with God, and whatever should happen to them by way of persecution will not affect their spiritual standing. And so they are sealed, they are marked with God's mark. And then finally, the seventh seal is broken. With the breaking of the seventh seal, finally the wrath of God will break out in history upon the persecutors of his people. And so we have the seven trumpets of judgment begin to sound. And John now hears seven angels sounding. We've had the seven seals, we have the seven angels sounding. And we're in the midst of these trumpets that are sounding these trumpets of judgment. And up to this point, chapter 10, we have seen that the trumpets of Judgment predominantly depict the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation coming under God's awful historical judgment, which we know to be fulfilled in AD 70, God's awful historical judgment comes upon Jerusalem as Jerusalem is rejected from being his people. As Jesus had said during his own lifetime, the kingdom of God is taken from the Jews and given to a nation producing the fruits Thereof Jerusalem that has persecuted the prophets and finally has crucified the very Son of God. Jerusalem will now undergo the almighty wrath of God. Well, in chapter 10, in between the sixth and the seventh trumpets of judgment, John sees an angel coming down out of heaven with this colossal divine appearance of this angel. And the angel has another scroll in his hand. We've seen what the one scroll has to do with the angel now has this smaller scroll that is permanently opened. And this will be a preview of the second section of the Book of Revelation. The drama of the Book of Revelation is for the most part summarized in the letters to the seven churches, the first scroll and the second scroll. The same literary device organizes most of the Book of Revelation, Johnson's letters to the seven churches. John receives or sees the opening of a major scroll of judgment. And now John is seeing the second portion of the Book of Revelation depicted in this small scroll in the angel's hand. Remember also this interesting allusion to the seven thunders, a definite group of thunders which aren't simply thunders as we understand them, because John says they uttered their voices. And I was about to write John takes this as having some discernible meaning, and he was going to record it. But a divine voice, at least the heavenly voice, instructs John that he is to seal up the voice of the thunders. We are not to be told what they have said. And then at verse 5, we see this colossal angel raising his hand to heaven and taking an oath. And if I am right in identifying the angel as Jesus Christ, the angel of the Lord, it's, of course very significant that God himself would take an oath. We find that not very often in the Bible. This is one of the few places where God swears by himself. And here the angel is swearing that something will take place. He swears by the God who is eternal, the God who has created all things, the God who cannot fail in his decree and his counsel, swears that the delay is over. The church can have full assurance that God means business when he promises that the persecutors of the church will be judged, that the blood of the martyrs will be vindicated. And God swears. Now the delay is over. And then I think one of the most important. But it's short. But one of the most important indicators of the meaning of the Book of Revelation, especially this first half, is given when we read at verse seven. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when it is about to sound, then is finished. The mystery of God according to the good Tidings which he declared to his servants, the prophets, then will be accomplished the mystery of God according to the Gospel. And as we did some background into that phraseology, it becomes clear that John is referring here to that mystery that Paul refers to so clearly in Ephesians 3 when he says it's a great mystery in the economy of redemption that God will bring the Gentiles into his kingdom on an equal footing with the Jews, that they will both be fellow heirs of the promises of Abraham, that they will be on an equal footing. They'll be co sharers. You see, in the kingdom of God it would be rather hard for any Jew to swallow the Jew who prided himself in his place before God and in his superior revelations, in his historical gifts from God. How God has through history done mighty works for his people, the Jews, that would be hard for a Jew to accept. It was a mystery of God, that the kingdom should be international in scope and there should be no hierarchy on the basis of race in it. But when the seventh angel sounds, it will be very clear to everybody that the mystery of God has been fulfilled. Well, how so? Well, if I've been right in my interpretation up to this point, the sounding of the seventh angel means the completion of the scroll of judgment against Jerusalem. And when Jerusalem is judged, when the city of Jerusalem is leveled by the Gentiles, then it will be clear to everybody that the Jews have no special place in the sight of God. That the Jews who are going to be part of the kingdom of God must come into the kingdom in the same way that the Gentiles do. They are no better or no worse, as Paul says in Romans 3, that God shall conclude that the whole world is under his judgment, for all have violated his law. Late in the book of Revelation, excuse me, Romans, Paul will have to argue as well that if the Jews are to have any place in the kingdom, they will have to come in just like the artificial branches. Just as the grafted in branches into the olive tree, so the natural branches will have to be grafted back into the tree of promise as they are originally were to be found there. And so the Jews are under judgment just like the Gentiles. And in the book of Romans later Paul makes it clear that his tribesmen, the Jews, will have to come into the kingdom in the same way as the Gentiles. Revelation 10 is indicating the same thing when it says the mystery of God will be accomplished when the seventh angel sounds. Alright, well that brings us up to date. And then beginning at verse eight with Today's exposition. The voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me, saying, go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. You'll notice again that the angel's position is mentioned. That's the third time that John is reminded. The angel that has one foot upon the sea and one upon the earth must be a very important image, one that we're to pay attention to, because God keeps repeating it rhetorically. Throughout this chapter, an authoritative voice from heaven is directing John to do something. He is to go to the angel and to take that scroll out of his hand. That again shows something of a contrast with what we read in chapter five. Because there we have a scroll in the hand of God, and nobody is worthy to pick up the scroll and to open it but the lion of the tribe of Judah. Verse 9. And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, take it and eat it up. Now, a number of commentators make something of the fact that John is told to take the book, but he goes to the angel and he requests that the angel give him the book. And the angel says, no, you are to take the book. And I guess that's just a little too subtle for me. I can't quite see that there's all that much significance in this. More recent commentators have indicated that the symbolism or the type of interpretation drawn from that alleged contrast is not really true to the Greek text. It is quite appropriate for the type of commandment given John that he would go and request the scroll and the angel should renew the fact that John should take it. Well, anyway, the angel says, take it, but now adds, and eat it up. Devour it, actually, in the Greek, and it shall make your belly bitter, but in your mouth it shall be sweet as honey. John says, I took the little book out of the angel's hand, the small scroll. I ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter. And at this point, the commentators take off in all directions. You know, there's three questions that you have to answer now. One, what is the little scroll? I mean, what's it about? What's the content of the scroll? Secondly, why is the little scroll to be eaten? Thirdly, why is the little scroll, which is originally sweet, to become bitter? And the permutations of possibilities are incredible. You know, if you start with one content, but have a different idea of why it had to be devoured, and then a third idea as to why it became bitter in the stomach of John. Then, of course, you go one direction. Then there's all sorts of other possibilities as well. It's helpful to remember the similar experiences of the Old Testament prophets. I think you might look at Jeremiah 15:16. Jeremiah 15:16. The prophet says, thy words were found, and I did eat them. And thy words were unto me a joy in the rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts. And then in Ezekiel 2:8, the calling of Ezekiel, the prophet is associated with his eating the word of God. Beginning at verse eight, we'll read through chapter three, verse three. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee. Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house. Open thy mouth and eat that which I give thee. And when I looked, behold, a hand was put forth unto me. And lo, a roll of a book was therein, a scroll was therein, and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without and there were written therein lamentations and mourning and woe. And he said unto me, son of man, eat that which thou findest. Eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat the roll. And. And he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll which I give thee. Then did I eat, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. God's word, according to the psalmist, is to be sweet to the believer. Psalm 19:9, 10. Familiar passage of Scripture. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The ordinances of Jehovah are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honeycomb. To the believer, the word of God is sweet as sweet as honey. Psalm 119, 103 repeats the same kind of idea. How sweet are thy words unto my taste? Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding. Therefore I hate every false way. Why does the scroll that John eats turn bitter in his stomach? However, the scroll is God's word in some sense. And as God's word is always sweet to the taste of the believer, so it's sweet in the mouth of John, as sweet as honey. But in his stomach it turns to bitterness into gall. Well, let me give you a few possibilities here. Lee and Morris says that the Firm believer, that is, the mature believer, grieves over the sufferings of non repentant sinners. And so while it's sweet originally to the taste of John, he nevertheless grieves over the sufferings that he's about to portray. William Hendrickson tells us that the believer himself is to undergo persecution, and that's why the word turns bitter in the stomach of John. He sees originally that the judgment is going to fall on the persecutors of the church and, and that's sweet to his taste. But then he realizes that Christians too will undergo persecution and that becomes very bitter to him. Another commentator, Kepler, tells us that the message foretells persecution, but the sweetness of New Jerusalem will follow. For the martyrs, persecution is an indication of bitterness, but then following that bitterness will come the sweetness of the New Jerusalem. And then others say that the message that there shall be no delay is sweet to John, but the prelude of persecution that he'll read of in chapter 11 is bitter. Others say that the original sweetness is that way in John's mouth because the prophecies were agreeable to John. He was not appalled at the coming doom. And so, as Wrist and Caird say, John was willing to accept that even as the prophets of the Old Testament were. Well, there are some problems, I think, with all these suggestions. First of all, when Hendriksen says that the believer will undergo persecution and that's why the sweet word of God turns bitter in his stomach, I think he's really confusing his symbols here because it's an internal, not an external bitterness that's being referred to. What was sweet originally in an internal sense is also bitter in an internal sense as it's digested. It's not a question of internal joy, but external persecution as he makes it out to be. And when Kepler says that the message is originally bitter because of the persecution, but then we know the sweetness later of the New Jerusalem, of course he's got the thing turned right around. It's originally sweet, but then turns bitter and it makes all the difference in the world. I think we come closer to understanding the meaning here if we realize that the word of God, for all of the joy that it may give to us, must also be proclaimed in its bitterness. That is, there is a message of gall and wormwood. There is a message of grief and judgment and wrath. There is the message of God's curse as well as God's blessing. And this is just simply a way of saying that John is to proclaim the whole word of God. He's to proclaim you see, the dark portions and the light portions. He's to portray the things which sweet to mankind and those things which appear bitter as well. That's simply to say the message is a mixed message. It's not as though it's going to be one thing and then turn into another that what originally looks like relief for the people of God turns into a judgment for the people of God. It's simply that the message has two types of contents. But what is the scroll that John is to eat? It's not mentioned again in the book of Revelation and so that makes it all the easier for people to speculate. The scroll is said by Hendrickson to be the word of the Gospel in which the mystery of salvation is set forth. John is to eat the gospel where the mystery of salvation is set forth. But I don't see that that is all that helpful in this context. Quite obviously the gospel could be applied in any number of places. It's something particular about the gospel that John is told here. Morris says it's the word of God, more general than the gospel even. It's the word of God and he says we shouldn't improve on that imprecision. All we know is that it's a message from God. Well, I agree with him that we don't have to improve on the imprecision that is, we don't need to add details where God hasn't given them. But I frankly think God has given more detail than simply this scroll being a word from him. It's a word with specific content. Verse 11 says prophesy again now over many peoples nations, tongues and kings. I'll take that as the key to the contents of the scroll. Ray Summers says that this scroll is just a general message of woe. It's a woe for everybody. It's a woe for believers, it's woe for unbelievers. It's woe for the church, it's woe for Rome. It's just a message of woe. Difficulty is that doesn't really explain why it's sweet and bitter. It seems like it would be completely bitter. Then a fascinating interpretation is given by by Ms. Ford who says that this is really playing upon Numbers, the fifth chapter, where in Numbers five we read of a suspected adulteress having to drink the water wherein has been soaked a parchment with curses written upon it. The priest's curse has been written on the parchment and the suspected adulteress is to drink the water where the parchment is soaked. And then we're going to find out whether she really is an adulteress or not on the basis of whether her bowels swell and she's in terrible misery and all that. Well, you know that I'm very sympathetic to finding Old Testament allusions in the Book of Revelation. I think the Old Testament helps us to understand the Book of Revelation. But I think that's one of the most fantastic speculative allusions that I think I've read in any commentator anywhere. Why there should be the ordeal for the suspected adulteress at this place in the Book of Revelation. It's not explained by Ford at all. Then FF Bruce suggests that the contents of the scroll really are chapter, well, verses 1 to 13 of chapter 11. That what we have here is one of the earlier apocalypses in the church, one of the first apocalypses to be written, chapter 11, verses 1 to 13. And that that's what John was shown on the small scroll. And he supported that. And supported in that opinion by a number of commentators, the most recent of which is Robert Mount, who was written in the New International Critical Series. Well, that's all very well and good, and now you know what the options are, but I think the answer is given by the word of God itself. When in verse 11, John has now digested the word. The word that has both blessings and cursings through it. He has digested the word and verse 11 says, they say unto me, which is probably a Greek idiom for it was said to me. And it was said to me, thou must prophesy again over many peoples, nations, tongues and kings. John has now been prepared to give the second half of the Book of Revelation. He has seen the first scroll of the Book of Revelation and now the second scroll has been digested and he is ready to prophesy. And when he does, this time it will no longer be simply over the Jewish nation and over Jerusalem. It's going to be over many peoples, tribes, tongues and kings. It's going to be over an international group. It's going to be over the Roman Empire. So who is the first enemy of the people of God historically and in terms of appearance in the book of Revelation? The Jews. The Jews who persecuted the Christians in the early days of the church, Jerusalem that sent delegates of people out to haul Christians before the magistrate to have their lives taken away or to have them imprisoned. Remember, Paul was just one such deputy of the Sanhedrin Jerusalem that had persecuted the people of God and had originally crucified the very Son of God. Jerusalem was the first enemy. And John has portrayed to us its fall and its destruction. And then God tells John, you're going to prophesy again now, but over the second enemy of the people of God, over the Roman Empire itself. And so what I'm suggesting is that this second book, this smaller scroll, heralds the second part of Revelation, that its contents are bittersweet in that they are partly pleasant and partly unpleasant, and they symbolize an additional and distinct prophecy from the one that has gone before. After the seventh trumpet, John will now prophesy again, and his reference will be the Mediterranean world as a whole, and not simply Israel as a nation. Well, have you any Questions about Chapter 10 up to this point? I'm going to continue in chapter 11, verses 1 and 2, for the remainder of this morning, and then make a conclusion on the basis of this whole pericope. I wonder, are you going to explain why you witnessed this? Oh, I think it's simply a question of literary device. The same sort of thing happens earlier when. Well, I think we have it in all the major sections of Revelation. There's something of a foreshadowing of what is to come. That is, the next literary device will be given. The breaking of the seals is a foreshadowing, of course, of the trumpets. And so also we're told here that when John finishes the trumpets, there's now going to be something further, the scroll. And we're going to find also, as we read on, that chapter 19 will give a preview of what's going to take place after the conclusion of the Judgment. And that will be chapter 20. That is the subduing of all the nations by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And even that when it's described as reminiscent of the new Jerusalem which is to come. So I think there's this pattern of overlap, Jim, so that every section of Revelation leads you on to the next section. Why it is done? Well, of course, the divisions of chapters are arbitrary, but why it has done a number of paragraphs in advance, I couldn't tell you. But it does appear to have that literary function. Other questions on chapter 10. Chapter 11 begins, there was given unto me a reed. And John's told to do something with the reed. John has become, for the first time in the book of Revelation, a participant in the contents of the book, a participant in the drama. John has been a spectator up to the end of chapter 10, and at the end of chapter 10, he's told to go and get involved in the drama that he's witnessing. He is to now go take the scroll out of the hand of the Angel. He's to eat the scroll. He's to become an actor in the play. And John continues in chapter 11 to be such an actor. And he is given a reed. And he reminds us, it's a reed like unto a rod. It's not like the reeds that sway with the breeze in Palestine. But this is like a bamboo shoot. It's like a rod. It's a measuring reed. A measuring rod. He's given such a reed. And one says to him, rise and measure the temple of God, technically the Naos, the holy of holies of God, the sanctuary of God. Measure the sanctuary and the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court which is without, measure it not, for it hath been given unto the nations to the Gentiles. And the holy city shall they tread under foot 40 and two months. I think we're going to find here a definite confirmation of what we've been intimating throughout, that it is Jerusalem that is the object of God's judgment here in the first half of the book. But let me rehearse for you just some of the views of chapter 11 that have been given later. Well, in verse 3 and following chapter 11, we read of the story of the two witnesses sent by God to this city. The two witnesses prophesy for a period of time. And then they are martyred in the city. And their dead bodies lie in the city for a period of time, an equal period of time. And then they are raised from the dead and they ascend to heaven. And then the great city falls. And at verse 14, we read the second woe is past. Behold, the third woe cometh quickly. That is the sixth trumpet or the second woe. Remember, the eagle flying in midheaven says there are three woes left. The last three trumpets will be called woes. The second woe is past. The third cometh, and it comes very quickly. Verses 15 through 19 of chapter 11 will be the seventh woe trumpet. And it's here that we have that beautiful portion. The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. There you have the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy that the fifth major kingdom that God will send into world history will destroy the previous four. It will be a kingdom like a stone cut without hands. And that kingdom shall be established forever. And it shall grow to fill the earth. And when Jerusalem falls, then we see that God has sent his kingdom into this world. He has established his Son to be Lord over all. And he shall Reign forever and ever. Well, anyway, backing up to the beginning of chapter 11, a lot of different views have been taken of this chapter. Wahlberg tells us that the Temple is to literally be rebuilt according to chapter 11 of Revelation. Why must it be rebuilt? Obviously her Exactly. If you put the Book of revelation into the 90s of the first century A.D. 96 or 97, as is commonly done, then we know that the Jerusalem Temple, the literal historical temple in Jerusalem, has fallen. And now if the Book of Revelation is written in 90 or 96 AD in the last decade of the first century, and we read that John is to literally measure the Temple, then what are we to assume? I mean, anybody who knows how to do a little bit of elementary logic knows how to supply the suppressed premise, namely the Temple is to be rebuilt. And since pre millennialists have gained that opinion from other portions of the Bible already, it seems very natural for them to supply that premise. Here in chapter 11, Walward says, the Temple. The Temple will be literally rebuilt and then the tribulation period will ensue. The altar that is mentioned here will be a place for the ancient sacrifices to be renewed. The sacrifices are going to continue at that point. And the two witnesses we read of later in the chapter are two literal individuals God will send. We don't necessarily know who their names are historically, but they will be two literal individuals. And so that might be portrayed as the hyper literal interpretation of chapter 11. Hal Lindsey, of course, is in that train of thought when he tells us the Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation about the year AD 95. This means that the temple which had been standing in Jerusalem in Christ's day, the second temple was non existent for the 25 years preceding John's writing, since the Roman legions under Titus had leveled both the Temple and the holy city in AD 70. What temple then was John referring to? There can be only one answer, a yet to be built structure. Well, on those presuppositions there can be but one answer. But since we don't approach the Book of Revelation first of all in a literal way, and secondly, we don't assume that the Book of Revelation was written in AD 95 or 6 or 7, we don't have the presuppositions necessary to generate that conclusion. But on the other end of the spectrum, you have a commentator like Kittel who says that the Temple here is symbolically the Church. The two witnesses are that portion of the church which suffers martyrdom. And the great city in which the Temple is found is really civilization as a whole, which is alien to the will of God. And so there you might have the hyper figurative or hyper spiritualistic interpretation of this particular passage. Everything you see takes on an air of generality. The Jerusalem imagery, the city, that's the world as it's opposed to the Gospel. The temple, that's the church. The temple which is preserved. The inner portion of the temple and the two witnesses, well, that's the section of the church which is the truly believing church. You have a number of other possibilities. Some say that this section of the Book of Revelation represents an earlier Jewish apocalypse written by a Jew prior to the destruction of the temple in AD 70. And to be taken in a historical sense, some have gone so far as R.H. charles to say this portion of the Book of Revelation was actually written by a zealot who, toward the end of the fall of Jerusalem, had encased himself in the inner temple of Jerusalem. That is, the Romans had driven the Jews as far back as they could to the very temple. And a zealot who was hiding out in that temple, waiting for its final fall, wrote this portion of the Book of Revelation or wrote a tractate which becomes incorporated by John in this portion of the Book of Revelation. I think when I read things like that, I'm reminded of why it is I've taken up my graduate studies where I have, instead of in scriptural exegesis and speculation, anybody who can get that much out of this little portion of the Book of Revelation has got to have quite an imagination. Lacking that, we'll go on to the next one, the next possibility. Somebody says that really what we have here is a prophecy of the restoration of the Jewish temple and the eschatological struggle between the restored Jews and the Antichrist. That's very similar to Walvard and to Hal Lindsey. Another commentator says that this is a prophecy of the fate of the Church in the midst of a hostile world. George Eldon Ladd says it's actually a prophecy of the preservation and ultimate salvation of the Jewish people rather than their judgment. Beckwith tells us it's a prediction of Israel's repentance in the last days before the coming of Jesus Christ. And so what I'm suggesting is you've got quite a cafeteria of options. It would appear you could make of this passage just about anything you wanted it to if you followed the commentators in that way. But I think there is a little more definite meaning to the passage, and we needn't be quite this ambiguous about it. Verse one says, and there was given to me a reed like Unto a rod John is to in the midst of his vision, remember, he is to go. He is to rise and measure the sanctuary of God, the innermost temple of God. And he's to measure the altar and them that worship therein. This is what is considered symbolic action on the part of the prophet. And we have such symbolic actions strewn throughout the Bible. And it oughtn't to be that difficult to receive as such. For instance, in the book of Isaiah, the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 20, we read that Isaiah was to walk about the city of Jerusalem naked and barefoot as a symbolic action, as an enactment, a part of the meaning of his prophecy. Now let's test some of you in your Old Testament reading. What did Isaiah's running about Jerusalem naked indicate? Judah's trust in Egypt was barren, for that was a symbolism that Egypt was going to fall at the hands of Assyria. Well, Ezekiel, let's try another one of these symbolic actions. Ezekiel in the Old Testament was to dig through the wall of Jerusalem and through this small hole in the wall that he's dug out with his shovel, he is to carry his luggage out of the city in the sight of Israel. There's almost an element of humor about that. But what is God saying to the people of Israel when Ezekiel digs through the wall and carries his luggage out? Well, yes, I think that is in a backdoor way indicated. But the major symbolism is that the people of God are going into exile. So Ezekiel lives out part of the prophecy, enacts it. Hosea marries a harlot. And what does that symbolize to the people of God? That God's prophet has married a wicked woman? Well, God has married himself to Israel and Israel has gone a whoring after other gods. Israel has been a harlot before the face of God. Here's one that's in the New Testament. Agabus, remember Agabus, the New Testament prophet, he takes the girdle of Paul and he binds his hands and his feet with Paul's girdle as an indication to Paul of what symbolic action symbolizing what? What is Agabus telling Paul by this little play acting? That's right, Paul, you yourself will be bound when you go to Jerusalem by the Jews. Okay, so throughout the Bible we have this sort of thing happening. And I'm suggesting that that's what we have here in chapter 11. John is going through, he's enacting a portion of the prophecy. It's a symbolic action on his part. And what he's doing is he's measuring the Temple. Now the question becomes, what does measuring the temple mean? And there are a number of possibilities. Four at least, can be distinguished. Some people say measuring the temple indicates it's rebuilding and it's restoring. It's measuring the ground where the temple will be rebuilt. But that isn't what we're told, really. He's not measuring the ground where the temple will be rebuilt. He's measuring the temple itself. Well, that measuring of the temple may indicate destruction. God is sizing it up, you see, for his destructive purposes. Or measuring the temple may mean the temple will be preserved from physical harm, or measuring the temple may mean that it will be preserved from spiritual harm. Well, obviously you have to decide what the temple is before you can choose between the latter two options. Because if it's going to be preserved from spiritual harm, the temple ought not to be a physical temple, because physical temples can't undergo spiritual harm and vice versa. So to understand the passage, I think you have to put the whole thing together, and I suppose that's what we better do now if you're going to have it put together before we end today. John measures the temple, but he's told to measure only a portion of the temple. He's to measure only the holy of holies, only the inner sanctuary of the temple. And he is not to measure the outer court. He is not to measure anything outside of the holy of holies. Why? Because God is going to send destruction upon the outer courts of the temple, and God will destroy the holy city itself. Quite obviously, then, the measuring is indication of preservation. And what will be preserved is only the sanctuary of God. Symbolically, John is declaring that God will preserve the holy of holies. In Ezekiel 40:41 and 42 in the old Testament, we have the prophet in a vision watching every part of the temple of God being measured as a prerequisite to its restoration and its preservation by God. But in the New Testament, the naos of God, the sanctuary of God, the true temple of God, those who know the very presence of God with his Shekinah glory, the true temple of God is the church. First Corinthians 3, 16, 17 makes that clear enough. We'll look at a few passages in the same vein. 1 Corinthians 3, 16, 17. Know ye not that ye are the temple, the same word, sanctuary, naos of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man destroys the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, and such are ye. The temple of God is set apart. It's holy. The Spirit of God dwells there, just like the Shekinah glory of God dwelt in the midst of the holy of holies. Second Corinthians 6:16 is another passage teaching us this in what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? For we are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, I will be their God, they shall be my people. God dwells in his people, making them his temple. Ephesians 2:19 22 says, so then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom each several building fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple. The same word. Na, sanctuary of the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. The same theme. The Spirit of God dwells in your midst, making you the sanctuary of God. First Peter 2:5. Ye also as living stones, are built up a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. We are the spiritual house, we are the temple. We are the sanctuary wherein God dwells. God, we're being told by John, God will give spiritual sanctuary to his people, to the faithful believers. And that makes sense, you see, of the fact that John measures not only the naos, not only the sanctuary, but the temple. I mean, not only the temple in the form of the sanctuary, but he measures also the altar and them that worship therein. The altar here will be the altar of incense, the altar of prayer. John says intercessory prayer is protected. It's that which brings us into the very presence of God. The book of Hebrews says that we approach into the very throne of God with boldness through our great high priest, Jesus Christ. And so God protects his people. God protects them in their intercessory prayer. God protects the true worshipers that come to him through his Son, Jesus Christ. So John is to get up and to measure the sanctuary of God, but the outer temple, the outer courts, he is to leave unmeasured that spiritual blessing of being in a relationship to Jesus Christ is protected. That indwelling of the Spirit is something which is constant and will not be taken away from the people of God. But now, moving from that holy of holies symbolism, we who have come to God through the torn veil that Jesus Christ has made possible, we who come through the great high priest have God's protection, but the outer court, which is to say the physical temple of Jerusalem and the holy city itself, don't measure it, John. In fact, you'll be wasting your time to measure it, John. For the holy city has been given to the Gentiles to trample underfoot for 42 months. Now, note some important presuppositions of this passage of Scripture. First of all, the Temple in Jerusalem is still standing. John is told, measure this portion, but not that the Temple in Jerusalem, the assumption is still standing. In fact, one of the reasons that R.H. charles and a number of other fairly liberal commentators have been prone to think that this is an earlier Jewish apocalypse that John has taken over is that it's written with no idea that the Temple is already in ruins. I mean, you will find it impossible to get any hint from John that really the Temple has been destroyed for 25 years, a full quarter of a century already. John writes, and gives no other indication literally, but that the temple in Jerusalem, the well known temple, the historic temple of Jerusalem, is standing. God can send him to measure it. And the reason it can be sent to measure it is because this book wasn't written after AD 70, it was written prior to it. This is not just pseudo prophecy, it's genuine prophecy. John is foretelling the fall of Jerusalem. And when Jerusalem falls, he says the martyrdom of God's saints will be vindicated. So God says, the court which is without the Temple, leave it without, measure it not, for it hath been given unto the nations, and the holy city shall they tread underfoot. Forty and two months. Hebrews the tenth chapter, verses 19 through 22, tells us that Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, has torn the veil separating the holy of Holies from the people of God, so that we might have free access to God through the torn veil, which is the very body of Jesus Christ. And those who are now in the Holy of Holies, those who have access to the Holy of Holies through Jesus Christ are going to be preserved. Look at Zechariah 2, the first five verses, to get the meaning of the measuring of the holy of holies. Zechariah 2:1:2. I lifted up mine eyes and saw, behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, whither goest thou? And he said unto me, to measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof. Then verse 5. For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the Glory in the midst of her. Now here in Zechariah, it's the whole city of Jerusalem that's being protected by the wall of God's preserving fire and by the presence of his glory in the midst of Jerusalem. So the meaning of the measuring of the sanctuary of God in Revelation should be taken in a similar vein to mean God will be a wall of fire protection about his people. The glory of his presence will be with them. So we who come through the torn veil, through the great high priest Jesus Christ, know God in the holy of holies in his true sanctuary. It's not without significance that in Revelation 21, John stresses there is no sanctuary in the new Jerusalem. There's no need for a holy of holies, no need for a temple, because God is the temple. We will know the very presence of God for all eternity. So the meaning of verse one is clear. I think, anyway, in terms of New Testament and Old Testament and in terms of the book of Revelation, that John measures the holy of holies, the sanctuary, indicating God's protection of his faithful believers, but the outer court, symbolizing the literal temple in Jerusalem that is going to be destroyed. And. And the holy city is given to the Gentiles. The holy city, obviously, is Jerusalem. We won't look at these passages because of time, but Nehemiah 11:1 Isaiah 40:8, 2 Matthew 4, 5, continually Jerusalem is called the holy city. In Luke 21:24, I think you'll find the easiest key to understanding Revelation 11, 2 Luke 21:24. Well, let me read to give you the context. I'll begin reading at verse 20. But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. Then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains, and let them that are in the midst of her depart out. And let them that are in the country not enter therein. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. For there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem the holy city. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Revelation 11. 2. Don't measure the outer court, for it hath been given to the Gentiles and the holy city Jerusalem shall they tread under foot 40 and two months. Why, the reference to 42 months. Well, it's an allusion to the prophecy of Daniel, where the 42 month period, or the 1260 days which Daniel calls a time and times and a half. This 42 month period in Daniel symbolizes the period of time, indicates the period of time that the Jews will suffer at the hands of Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian despot. And so just as the abomination of desolation with Antiochus Epiphanes, so now the times of the Gentiles will come when Rome destroys Jerusalem and the holy temple of God. We can be very sure that this treading down by the Gentiles of the holy city is being indicated. If we'll just look at verses 8 and 13 of Revelation 11. In closing, verse 8 says, and their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city which is spiritually called Sodom in Egypt, obviously not receiving any blessing of God. Egypt and Sodom, traditional enemies of the people of God and the righteousness of God. But then we are told that the bodies lie in the street which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, but where their Lord was crucified, where Jesus was put to death, that's where this great destruction will come, where the holy city will be treading down 42 months in the times of the Gentiles. Then verse 13 says that this great city obviously is going to fall. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell. There were killed in the earthquake, 7,000 persons, and the rest were affright, and they gave glory to the God of heaven. And so the city which is to be trodden of the Gentiles is the city which is to fall. And it's the city wherein Jesus was crucified. And at this point, as we close, I frankly have to say, it becomes very difficult to see why so many commentators have difficulty with the Book of Revelation. One should think, and seeing just these two or three verses we've looked at in the allusions in the New Testament, it should be quite clear what the meaning is. God doesn't leave his word to ambiguity and to vagueness and to confusion among his people. But God interprets His Word by His Word. And I think all the clues and the keys are found in the Bible sufficient to indicate that when the seventh angel sounds, then the mystery of God will be completed. The Jews and Gentiles obviously are on equal foot with God. There will be no delay any further, for God is going to send the Gentiles to tread down the Holy City over 42 months and they will destroy even the temple, but not the true temple of God. They won't destroy the Christians. They won't destroy the faithful believers at all. I think in his commentary on the book of Revelation, Mr. Rushdooney has something good for us to hear, especially at the end of our lesson when he comments on that little book that John was to eat that would be bitter to John. And then finally on the destruction of this city, which is to follow. Rush Juni says basically that bitterness and persecution we must understand and be prepared for. Bitterness and persecution will accompany the victory of the church on earth, he says. John is then given a little book and he is asked to eat it. This is a familiar prophetic symbol for mastering God's requirements of us and digesting the meaning of His Word and making his purpose so much a part of our life that it's like free food assimilated and becomes part of our life. At first blush, the calling of the evangelist John seems to be a glorious and a happy one. But he's made to realize that it involves not only the sweet, but the bitter. Also persecution and sorrow. This John had already experienced. And he sees it now as the providence of God and the necessary price of his calling. Only those who make God's will part and parcel of their lives can know either the bitterness or the sweetness of obedience. Both are there, and John is permitted no illusions concerning his calling. The inheritance is being restored. The promised land is being reclaimed for the saints, but not without its demands upon us. Only when John accepts both the bitterness and the sweetness of his calling can he be truly commissioned with power. Thou must prophesy again before many peoples nations, tongues and kings. This is the order to John as the representative of the Church. Our power as Christians is in eating the little book and accepting our calling, both in its bitterness and in its sweetness. And then he quotes Thomas T.F. torrance, who we're not very prone to agree with because of his neo orthodox leanings. But Torrance comments on this portion of the Bible very well when he says, surely there is a question here we must ask of ourselves. If there is no wormwood, are we really in touch with the Word of God? If our message is not disturbing and even sometimes tormenting, may we not wonder whether we have ever really eaten God's holy word. This chapter tells us quite plainly that we cannot partake of God's Word in this world without bitterness. Why does the Church of Jesus Christ today sit so easy to her surroundings? Why do Christian people live such comfortable and even undisturbed lives in this evil and disturbed world. Surely it is because we are not true to the Word of God. And then finally he says about Revelation 11. To measure is to fence and to separate. The measuring is of three things. The temple itself is measured, and the court of the Gentiles is left unmeasured and given over to the Gentiles to tread for 42 months. Thus the true church is measured or set apart by God's protection, and the unbelieving members are given over to destruction. The altar of incense is measured. The altar of incense represents intercessory prayer. Thus the whole domain of intercessory prayer is set apart. Its place in the providence of God is so significant that the security of the true Church involves such intercession. Then the worshipers themselves are measured. We cannot limit the measure and extent of our obedience and service. God Himself establishes the measure thereof. The measure of man's life is the work of the Lord. The preservation of the church throughout the Christian era, to the very last, is seen as not saving out of trial and sorrow, but rather in the midst of tribulation. Pagan salvation is always salvation by way of escape. God saves his people through persecution. Let's pray. Lord, we would praise your name this morning for your truth and the whole of it. We would praise you both for the sweetness of its promises and the bitterness of its curses. And we would thank you, Father, that we who are called to minister your word, we who are called to witness to your Word and to live your Word in the midst of this world, know both sweetness and bitterness in our lives. We know youw preservation, you, protection, and you'd care. We know also the wrath of the world and the persecution that can come because of righteousness sake. We ask youk, Father, that yout would so sober our minds this morning that yout would prepare us to accept both these elements of youf Word and both these elements of our lives. As yous people in this world, Lord, do lift our hearts and give us joy as we see the victory that comes in history for your people, how you vindicate your saints and how you judge our persecutors. Lord, also give us strength in the midst of persecution, in the midst of bitterness, in the midst of that awful experience of suffering. For righteousness sake, enable us to know that this too is part of the faithful calling of a child of God. We ask, Lord, that in all these things, both in our joys and in our sorrows, we could recognize Jesus Christ as our Savior. And we would lay our eyes upon him and set them upon him. So that we could run that race before us and that we might gain the crown of full salvation, the crown of your blessing at the end of our course. We pray, Father, that you would strengthen us this day by your word, so that we could hasten the day in which the kingdoms of this world shall be indeed the kingdom our Lord and of his Christ. For it's in his only holy name that we pray. Amen.