The Two Witnesses /Revelation 11:1-13 Greg L Bahnsen / Revelation verse By Verse {Part 39 of 63}

Lord, we thank you this day for the weekly reminder we have the power of your resurrection. We thank you, Lord, that you have loved us to the point of death, and yet you have conquered death in our behalf. We pray, Father, that as we think on those things we might approach you with boldness in our worship today, knowing that our sins have been remitted, that we have been reconciled to you, that indeed your anger has been taken away because of the death of your son. And Lord, we pray that we would have boldness toward the world as well, realizing that there is no enemy that you cannot conquer, that you have conquered the most fierce enemy. Death itself. We thank you, Lord, for the goodness of your gracious salvation. We thank you that you should show it to us who are so unworthy of it. We pray your forgiveness of our many sins and pray that your Holy Spirit would guide our discussion and our study this day, that we might understand aright the truth of your word. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. We're In Revelation, the 11th chapter this morning. And it's my intention to discuss, if only in a very shallow way this morning, verses 3 to 13. The last time we were together I discussed through chapter 11, verse 2, but I'd like to begin our reading this morning nevertheless, at 11:1 and read to verse 13. John says, 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 and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple, leave without measure it not, for it hath been given unto the nations, and the holy city shall they tread under foot 40 in two months. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees that stand before the Lord of the earth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlestands standing before the Lord of all the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies. And if any man shall desire to hurt them in this manner, must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven that it rain not during the days of their prophecy. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry, and they shall send gifts one to another. Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half, the breath of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake. And the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake 7,000 persons, and the rest were affrighted and gave glory to the God of Heaven. Well over a hundred years ago, the Dean of Canterbury, Henry Alford, wrote that no solution has ever been given to this portion of the prophecy of Revelation. And I have to freely admit this morning that as I have studied and restudied, and then in preparing for today's lesson, studied again the various options on this passage of Scripture. I admit that it is a great enigma. There are difficulties, it seems, difficulties with just about every proposed interpretation. I feel that I can clear my way through probably 80% of it. But still, this portion of the Book of Revelation is difficult for me as well. And so at best, I'm going to discuss some options with you and give some hints as to how I think they. How we should take this passage. And then I'll try to make another run at it in two weeks and see if the obscurity has been relieved a little bit. Maybe you can help me in our discussion today to see how I'm missing the point. But this passage of the Bible has not been obscure only to your teacher, but to any number of commentary writers as well. And Henry Alford, who I don't always agree with, but nevertheless was a brilliant man, said that no solution had ever been given and he didn't have one himself. Well, we'll look at this difficult passage. It's interesting that this should be such a difficult passage for just about everybody who writes on the Book of Revelation, because it's one of the most interesting and most coherent in terms of the storyline of the Book of Revelation in most of the stories, that is most of the drama the things that are depicted dramatically in the Book of Revelation, we find a number of odd intrusions of things. The story doesn't seem to run together quite so nicely and coherently. It doesn't have such a cohesive plot as this one pericope, or this long paragraph in the Book of Revelation. And yet the one place where it seems like we can understand the story easily enough, we can't understand the interpretation nearly so easily. I think it will be helpful to note the word and that begins verse three, which is where we start studying. And I will give unto my witnesses. It's quite clear that while we can break the. The theme at verse two, that is, while there is something being said in verses one and two, and then you can begin again at verse three to start another theme, the fact remains that that portion in verses 3 to 13 in the book of Revelation tie together with verses 1 and 2, the and ties them together. And so John has measured the Temple. Remember, he has measured the sanctuary of God and the true worshipers of God. He has measured for protection the elect of God. But the court which lies outside the sanctuary, that is all the physical elements of the Temple outside the holy of holies which we approach through the veil that Christ has rent because of his body, that outer court of the Temple has been left without and has been given to the Gentiles, been given to the nations to tread underfoot 42 months. And in light of the Gospel of Luke and other passages of Scripture that we can look at as we have in the past, it's quite clear here that this is a giving over of the Temple to the Roman army to trample underfoot as they destroyed the city of Jerusalem. So while the true worshipers of God are going to be protected, Jerusalem will be destroyed. God has given this unholy city, once called the Holy city, but now unholy in his sight has given the city over to death. John says, and Lord speaking, and I will give unto my two witnesses. Now we're going to begin a new portion. I will give unto my two witnesses that they shall prophesy twelve threescore days clothed in sackcloth. Now they're going to prophesy the same length of time then as the destruction of Jerusalem. 42 months or 20, 12, 60 days. They're equivalent in terms of biblical reckoning. Now, who are the two witnesses? I suppose if we could tell who the two witnesses were, the whole passage would be cleared up. I'm going to lay out a few options for you. I have a few notes here on this, in fact, that's just about everything you can get out of the commentary is who are the two Witnesses? Well, everybody recognizes that the two Witnesses are connected in some way with Moses and Elijah. How do we see that? Well, the power given to them is, according to verse five. Excuse me. Yeah, Verse five. They have power so that fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. Now, what might that refer to? In the Old Testament? It could. Okay. Moreover, when Elijah was afflicted by the messengers of the king, you recall that he prayed to God. And the word of Elijah had the power to bring fire from heaven to devour his enemies. And so there's Elijah, allegedly. And if any man shall desire to hurt them in this manner, he must be killed. They have power to shut the heaven that it rain not during the days of their prophecy. Who had the power to shut heaven so that it wouldn't rain? Elijah. Right. And the Book of James in the New Testament holds up Elijah as an example of a man fervent in prayer, because he could, even by his prayer, shut the heavens so that they wouldn't rain. And then they have power over the waters to turn them into blood. What might that refer to? Moses. Yes, turning the Nile river into blood as one of the plagues of Egypt. And then he goes on and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they shall desire. Again referring to all the plagues that Moses then was able to bring upon Egypt. So Moses and Elijah, or the power of Moses and Elijah, or the spirit of Moses and Elijah, or the tradition of Moses and Elijah, are in some way referred to in this passage of Scripture. So the two witnesses have been taken to be Moses and Elijah by some people in Malachi the fourth chapter, verses four and five. I think it would do well to turn to these passages. Malachi 4. Here's a prophecy that ties into this passage of Scripture. Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb, for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah. Come. There is the prophecy that Elijah would come before the day of the Lord, the day of Jehovah. And in connection with that, remember the law of Moses. Now, to Moses, it was said that God would raise up a prophet. You see, in the latter days. Now we who are Christians and read the Old Testament light of the New Testament, see that prophet who was raised up as Jesus Christ himself, the greater prophet than Moses. However, it was thought by some Jewish Scribes, that Moses himself would be raised up in the latter day. And then you have the connection in Malachi of Moses with Elijah, and Elijah predicted to come back. Moreover, on the mount of transfiguration, Matthew 17:3, we see it's precisely Moses and Elijah that appear with the Lord. Let's look at Matthew 17:3 for that point. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. That would appear to be a fulfillment then of the prophecy of Elijah to come, perhaps even Moses to come. And so it is thought by some people that the two witnesses given by God here to prophesy during the fall of Jerusalem would be Moses and Elijah. Others have thought, because the two witnesses are later called two prophets. Let me see, what verse is that? Verse 10, toward the end. And they shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. Taking the cue from the fact that the two witnesses are two prophets, people have said, well, maybe it's Elijah and Elisha, then the two prophets that go hand in hand in the Old Testament. But because later on in the passage, we read that these two will come to heaven in a cloud, will be taken directly to heaven by God. The two people in the Old Testament that went directly to heaven were Enoch and Elijah. And so some have thought that the two witnesses, two prophets, are now Elijah and Enoch, both ascending to heaven supernaturally. On the other hand, people have thought that perhaps this is the law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah, Moses the lawgiver, Elijah prophet par excellence. Others have thought that maybe this is the law and the Gospel. And then others have expanded on that, saying, no, it's really the Old Testament and the New Testament that are sent by God. Still others say that the two witnesses are martyrs within the Christian church. Others say this is the Christian church as a whole at the end of the age. Well, the possibilities go on and on. Those really aren't all of them, but those are the ones that at least I deem the most sensible. Not that they're true, but they have something to be said for them. There's some prima facie reason to be inclined toward them. My own particular point of view will emerge as we go through the rest of the passage. However, let's look a little bit further at what we know about these witnesses. According to John, the two witnesses obviously appear here without warning. If we had some introduction to them would help us decide who they were. And as I've said, they prophesy for 1260 days, which corresponds to the 42 months of verse 2 they prophesied throughout the siege of Jerusalem. Verse 4, however, tells us, these are the two olive trees and the two candlestands standing before the Lord of the earth. And that clearly is a reference to Zechariah's prophecy in chapter 4 of Zechariah. And let's turn to Zechariah 4 to see if we can gain some help from it. John tells us, these are the two olive trees. Zechariah 4. I'll just read the entire passage. And the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that wakened out of his sleep. And and he said unto me, what seest thou? And I said, I have seen and behold a candlestand all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon. There are seven pipes to each of the lamps which are upon the top thereof, and the two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. And I answered and I spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, what are these? And my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, knowest thou not what these are? And I said, no, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, you want to know the meaning of the two olive trees standing by the by this one candlestand. This is the word of Jehovah, and it's being spoken to Zerubbabel, saying, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts, who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain and he shall bring forth the topstone with shoutings of grace, grace unto it. Moreover, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house his hand shall also finish it. And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you, for who hath despised the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. And these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Then answered I, and said unto him, what are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candle stand, and upon the left side thereof? And I answered the second time, and said unto him, what are these two olive branches by means of which the two golden spouts empty the golden Oil out of themselves. And they answered me and said, knowest thou not what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. Then said he, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Now, in summary, what Zechariah has been given a vision of here is that by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, not in any human strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, the temple would be rebuilt. And indeed Zerubbabel would finish the work given him to do. The plummet would be seen in his hand. And so people who despise the days of small things are condemned here. It may seem a small thing has begun here in Jerusalem, but God is going to bless the effort. And just like Jesus said, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain be removed into the sea. So in the Old Testament, the parallel is that this mountain will become a plain before the Isis are rubbable. He'll be able to accomplish whatsoever he needs to do. And even things that seem beyond human comprehension will be accomplished in the power of God's spirit. But in the process of giving this message, we have the vision of a candlestand with two olive trees on the sides of the candlestand. And the two olive trees give to the bowl of the candlestand oil continually, golden olive oil. And later on in the prophecy, the two trees are identified as the two anointed ones that stand before the whole earth. Now that begins to give us some help. Because you see In Revelation chapter 11, God sends two witnesses that stand before the Lord of the earth. And here Zechariah says that there are two anointed ones which are the two olive trees. And so now the question becomes, who are the two anointed ones of Zechariah? Chapter 4. I throw that out to the class. Now, what would you say? Who are the two anointed ones in Zechariah? 4. Joshua and Zerubbabel. Now, Joshua here is not the traditional Joshua of the Old Testament, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the leader in terms of military and civil leadership in Jerusalem in those days. All right, returning to Revelation 11, then these are the two olive trees and the two candle stands standing before the Lord of all the earth. And I think I agree with most of the commentators who say here that John is freely using the prophecy of Zechariah. That is to say, he's altered some of the details. In Zechariah, there's one candle stand supported by two olive trees. Here it appears that the two witnesses are the two olive trees, but they're also two candle stands. Now, in the prophecy of. Well, in the book of Revelation, what is the figure of a candlestand for? How does John use it? Earlier in the book, chapters one, two and three, the candle stands are. What? I didn't hear that. Churches. Okay. And so the candlestand represents the church in its proclamation, particularly as it shows forth the light of the world. Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Okay. These are two olive trees, the two anointed standing before the Lord of the earth, the two candlestands standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man desires to hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. It's self destructive to try and to harm these two witnesses before their work is done, apparently. Now there's a division among the commentators as to whether the fire here, in light of the drama being portrayed, whether the fire is to be taken literally or symbolically. Those who take it literally think of it as an advance upon the power of Elijah to call down fire from heaven upon his enemies. This actually is fire from the very mouth of the prophets. Others say figuratively, this is the word of the prophets calling to God for fire to fall upon. And others say figuratively, this really is the word of the witnesses, which, like fire, totally devours those who fight against it, totally destroys those who will, who will argue with God and who will defy his message. In that sense, it is a fiery message that they are proclaiming. And that would be like Jeremiah the 14, Wherefore, thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words and thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. And so that would appear a literary allusion that may be used by John here. The word of God is like fire that devours the wood. These people who oppose the message. And it's interesting that it's a very strong expression toward the end of this verse, it says, in this manner they must be killed. The must there, of course, is a very strong word in the Greek. Those of you who have studied it, the word is day. And it always refers to a compelling divine necessity. By a divine necessity, those who oppose the message of these two prophets and two witnesses must be killed. They must die. They must be devoured by the message itself. Verse 6 tells us they have the power to shut the heaven that it rain not during the days of their prophecy. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they shall desire. These two witnesses have a very privileged position. They have powers which are extraordinary. And if nothing else, we are told here that the servants of God during these days have as great resources as Moses and Elijah of old. I think that minimally would be agreed to by all commentators, but exactly how it's to be taken is not sure. The fact that they have power to shut up the heavens during the time of their prophecy probably indicates that at the fulfillment of their course, when they have finished doing the tasks that God gave them to do, they no longer retain these miraculous resources. Verse 7 goes on to say, and when they shall have finished their testimony. The Greek word there incorporates the idea of accomplishing an end or a goal when they their telos, when they've reached their end, their goal, when their testimony is concluded. In that sense, when they accomplish their task, they have not been cut short. But after they've done what God gives them to do, then their invulnerability to opposition seems to pass. It's interesting that in this particular place the two witnesses are regarded not as individuals. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them and overcome them and kill them. The expression there shall make war with them is a very unusual expression to refer to two individuals. You don't make war with two individuals. You make war with a mighty host. It would appear, then, the two here are the two witnesses are to be viewed, I think, in a collective sense. They are symbolic of a wider group of people or a wider power than just that of two individuals. The beast comes up and makes war with them. Daniel, the seventh chapter, verse 21, uses similar language. Daniel says, I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them. Here you have the little horn making war with the saints. In terms of the imagery of Daniel's prophecy. In Revelation 11, the beast comes up from the abyss, and he makes war with the two witnesses, the two prophets. And there are fatal consequences for the witnesses, where it says that he actually overcomes them. He overcomes them and he kills them. Well, now, that should help us to identify the two prophets, it seems to me, because it is the beast that overcomes them. And what have we learned about the beast thus far in the book of Revelation? Thus far in the Book of Revelation, the answer is obvious. What have we learned about the beast thus far? Nothing. John hasn't mentioned the beast up to this point. This is very Interesting, because he introduces him as a subordinate to him, as though everybody knows what he's talking about. And the Beast, you know, the one that comes up from the abyss, well, he makes war with them and he kills them. That's just a reminder to you that the Book of Revelation was written to people who already knew, at least in the main, they already knew the main characters and the meaning of the symbolism used. John will later tell us who the Beast is. He will give us enough information that we can historically identify the Beast, and I think conclusively, although obviously not every commentator has agreed with the point of view I'm going to give you. But I think there's enough information that we can make a conclusive identification. But here John doesn't say anything but that the Beast arises from the abyss. I suppose it's valuable enough this morning that we remember that the Book of Revelation must be read in its historical context. Then if the Beast were Henry Kissinger or Mussolini or. Or somebody yet in the future, I mean, any number of ideas have been given for who the Beast might be or the second Beast, you would think that it would make it awfully difficult for John, writing to the people in his day, to mention the Beast and just go on. But if the Beast were a common figure, a common expression for an entity then known, it would be no difficulty at all. I suggest that the people knew who the Beast was, that the Beast was a power or was a personage then present in John's own day. And he was well known as the beast. Verse 8. Well, verse 7 says the beast comes up out of the abyss. And as we've seen before, the abyss is the abode of demons, the area that the demons are consigned to. And so the fact that the Beast comes from the abyss indicates that he is connected in the thought of John with the forces of evil, demonic forces later on in the Book of Revelation, when you compare chapter 12 to chapter 13, the description of the red dragon of chapter 12 and the description of the beast of chapter 13, you'll see striking parallels between Satan in his description and the Beast who will turn out to be the Roman Empire. The description of Rome and the Beast correlate one another. And so here the Beast comes up from the abyss. He's very much like Satan, is the power of Satan. He has the character of Satan. He has the same appearance as Satan. Of course, he won't be prominent until the second half of the book, that is, in chapters 13 and following, but it will make a great difference to us in how we interpret this passage to remember or to anticipate the fact that the beast is the Roman Empire. Now, verse eight gives us some more information about who the two messengers or the two prophets might be. And their dead bodies. Most of your translations will say, and their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city. That isn't true to the Greek. That's just smooth English rendition. Actually, it says, and the carcass lies. It doesn't say lies. There's no verb in this verse, actually. And the carcass in the street of the great city, which is spiritually Sodom in Egypt. I don't mind supplying the word lies there. I think very likely that's what it means. But the Poncharcus, we've already seen that the two witnesses are understood as a host in some sense, by means of power or a multitude of people. There's a host of. There's a host that the two witnesses symbolize or represent, because the beast makes war with the two witnesses. But yet in this verse, instead of expanding the two into a many, the two are reduced to a 1. Instead of having two bodies in the street, there's one carcass in the street. And yet it's quite clear from reading the context before and after that the one carcass is the two witnesses, the two dead witnesses. Is it all becoming clear to you now? It's at this point you start really wondering, what am I supposed to do with this? The two are many and the two are one. Well, let's continue. And their dead bodies, which is to say the one carcass lies in the street of the great, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And I look with some amusement, I guess, upon some commentaries, some commentaries that say of this verse that, well, while the indication that Jerusalem is being indicated here has been seized by some people, quite clearly, it can't be Jerusalem, because the great city throughout the book of Revelation stands for Rome. And after all, it says here that the city is also Sodom and Egypt. So it's Sodom, it's Egypt, it's Jerusalem, it's Rome, it's any city that opposes the people of God. As Leon Morris says, it's every city, and it's no city. Its civilized man in organized community. And that's even worse than some of the options that you're given. I mean to say that God has some sort of spite with organized man and civilization. If he means men organized against God, that would make sense. But why the City must be an image for organization against God. Totally leaves me. And of course, I suppose people that have a farming background would be glad to say that sort of thing. It's the city dwellers God is mad with. It's every city or it's no city, it's civilized man. Well, I'll grant that the great city refers to rome after chapter 12, but I think that the phrase the great city can equally apply to Jerusalem. In fact, in the Jewish apocalyptic literature, Jerusalem is referred to as the great city. And Rome was a great city as well. It seems to me that perhaps we don't have to unify everything under that one phrase. What is clear here is that the city is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt. But it isn't spiritually said that the Lord was crucified there. That's where the Lord was crucified. I think what you have to see from this verse, in fact, it's so clear that if you hadn't read the commentaries, I don't think anybody would have any trouble with this verse. Frankly, what we are told here is that the city where Jesus was crucified is called by God, is called spiritually in the eyes of our Father in heaven, it's called Sodom and Egypt. That's what God now thinks of Jerusalem. And of course, Sodom and Egypt are symbolic in the Bible of wickedness and oppression. The wickedness, the immorality of Sodom brought the destruction of God. He reduced the city to ash because of the immorality of the people therein. Totally destroyed it. What did God do to Egypt because of its oppression of the people of God? The book of the book of Exodus speaks of Egypt being destroyed by the plagues of Moses. Moses destroyed Egypt. He certainly destroyed the power of Egypt and the power of the Pharaoh by his plagues. So proverbial, Sodom and Egypt proverbial for their wickedness and their oppression both come under the judgment of God. And so now God looks upon the great city, Jerusalem, the once holy city of God, and he sees it as Sodom and. And he sees it as Egypt. What's going to happen to Jerusalem? Anybody who knows the Old Testament knows the answer to that. He's going to reduce it to ash. He's going to destroy it totally. He's going to bring his plagues of judgment upon it. And so whoever the two witnesses are, the carcass of the two witnesses is in the street where the Lord was crucified. It's in Jerusalem that this is taking place. And it's Jerusalem now. Set for judgment, verse 9. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies. Three days and a half. Now, from among all of humanity, remember this phraseology. All peoples, tribes, tongues and nations. That sort of language is used by John continually. Or for a cosmopolitan group or the empire as a whole. He says, from among all these peoples, some men look upon the dead bodies. Three days and a half. Now the dead bodies are laying there three and a half days. I don't know the answer to this. I mean, I think I know the answer to it. But it's very strange. You see, it's three and a half months that the witnesses witness that prophesy and torment the people with their message of doom and sackcloth. And then for three and a half days their dead carcass or carcasses lie in the streets of Jerusalem. The three and a half and the three and a half must be correlated in some sense. It's not accidental. I tend to think there's a long period of witness and a short period. I mean, three and a half months for the witness and only a short period of time for the indignity and the humiliation of the two witnesses as their bodies lie in the street. But men from all over the world, or from all over the empire perhaps gloat over the fact that the witness is dead and they don't suffer the dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And as you know, the refusal of burial, especially in the ancient world, it's true today, too. But in the ancient world especially, the refusal to bury somebody only heaps shame upon the deceased person. And sometimes it was an expression of utter triumph over somebody. It was a way of showing how some thoroughly humiliated that person is, that you've killed the person and now you won't even grant the dignity of a burial service. And so the persecutors are now rejoicing over the way they have destroyed the prophets of God. Verse 10 goes on. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry. And they shall send gifts one to another. Because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. Mankind in general is in some sense said to rejoice in the unprecedented triumph of wickedness which is associated with the coming of the beast. When the beast comes and he destroys this witness, then mankind rejoices. And the preaching of the two prophets is said to have been tormenting to people. I think there's a whole sermon that could be preached just on that one phrase. How the preaching of the Prophets was tormenting to the people, because while the prophets undoubtedly preached the torment of God's judgment, the prophets of God always come tell of how God forgives sins. I think we must remember that the gospel, as Paul says, that we preach, is a savor of life unto life, to be sure, but it's also a savor of death unto death, that gospel that we rejoice in, that our hearts are warm to hear preached every week. That gospel is not a cause of rejoicing to those who are implacable and who who will not repent. The gospel is always something which is tormenting to people. That's interesting that the goodness and the grace of God could appear tormenting to somebody. But it is, it's said to be here to be the case. The preaching of the gospel is never soothing to those who are impenitent. I suppose there's a secondary application of that too. Thomas Torrance, with whom I don't have, he nevertheless says in his commentary that the church which is comfortable and undisturbed in this life is a church which is not true to the word of God. Because the word of God, for all of its graciousness to those who believe it, is nevertheless tormenting to the world, and the world will persecute those that torment it. Well, verse 10 says, they that dwell on the earth rejoice over the death of the two witnesses. They made merry and they even sent gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. Those that dwell on the earth is a common phrase used by John to refer to unregenerate mankind. Remember verse 11. And after the three days and a half, the breath of life from God. Now, do some of you have in your translations the spirit of life? Well, remember, of course, in both Hebrew and in Greek, the word breath and spirit are identical, or can be identical. My particular translation here uses breath of life from God. However, I tend to think that it's more helpful to translate it. Spirit, the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit of God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. The Spirit of life enters into the witnesses so that they live again. Look at Ezekiel 37:10. Ezekiel says, so I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. We've already said that the two witnesses in some sense look like a host of people, because the beast makes war on them as though they were an exceeding great army. And here in the prophecy of Ezekiel, the language is the breath comes into them so that they live again and stand on their feet. Precisely what John is saying in Revelation, chapter 11. So the Spirit of life, or the breath of life enters them, and they stood upon their feet. By the way, John is now using the past tense. He hasn't been using the past tense in the Greek up to this point. Now he does. What would that indicate to you? You might think, well, maybe the time has changed. I mean, John was anticipating and now John's looking back to say something. However, I think that's rather artificial. It's more likely that the past tense symbolizes or signifies what it's as though it was already passed. That's how certain it is. John now is prophesying with certainty. He's saying, for certain. You see, it's as though it were in the past already. And they are resurrected from the dead, and they stand upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. Let us hear these people gloating over the death of the witness of God. And now fear takes hold of them. After all, the world sees murder, sees death as the final end to some sort of torment, right? And when the world kills, when the world murders the witnesses of God and they still live, I mean, you can. I mean, what's left? That's the final. That's the final tool of destruction, it would appear. Well, now they stand upon their feet. Great fear falls on those who beheld them. And they heard a great voice. Now, who heard the great voice? Does everybody hear the great voice? Or do the two witnesses hear the great voice? That's another tough thing. In this particular passage, I tend to think it's only the two witnesses. However, it's ambiguous enough that it could be Everybody who beheld the witnesses heard as well, and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them. It's because it's directed unto them that I think it's only the two witnesses that hear it saying unto them, come up hither, and they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. They ascend to heaven in a cloud. Some people say that this is fulfilled in the Rapture, as you might have guessed. But that doesn't fit either the premillennial interpretation of the Book or orthodox theology of the New Testament. So I'm going to pass over that suggestion and go to verse 13. And in that hour when they ascended to heaven, there was a great earthquake. And the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake 7,000 persons, and the rest were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. More difficulties now come upon us. The final difficulty for my approach to the passage, by the way, but I'll indicate that in a minute, by their ascension into heaven is accompanied by a great earthquake. Verse 13 says, and with the earthquake, a tenth of the city collapses. What city? I'm really not sure. In fact, if I could figure that out, I think that what I want to do with chapter 11 will all fit. But it's nevertheless a difficult thing. A tenth of the city collapses and then 7,000 die. The only place in the Book of Revelation that John gives an absolute number instead of a proportion. Not a third of the city, not a quarter of the city. It's not as though he says a tenth of the city falls, but now specifically, 7,000 people die. And the commentaries do all sorts of things with that too. Perhaps the best suggestion, the most reasonable suggestion, is that 7,000 would indicate a tenth of a city in John's day. That is a tenth of a normal sized, you know, city, like about 70,000 people live there. A tenth of the city falls means 7,000 people. There may just be two ways of saying the same thing with the common conception of a city's population. Like I said, that's the most reasonable. You get all sorts of fancy suggestions. Some people say, well, a tenth would mean that the population is 70,000, and 70,000 is the symbolic number of man and civilization. Consequently, it's 1/10 of civilization that falls. I've always had a hard time with biblical numerics, though, and so I'm not following that suggestion this morning. The interesting thing is that at the end of this verse, God's judgment appears to bring, not hardening as it has in the previous occasions. The Book of Revelation. It isn't as though people rebel all the more because of the judgment of God, but now they're frightened and the rest gives glory to the God of heaven. And so it would appear that this judgment will bring repentance on the part of those who are judged. However, others say that it doesn't bring repentance, that the giving glory to the God of heaven is constrained glory. It's this type of glory that the unbeliever will have to give on the final day when every knee shall bow and they'll be constrained to admit that they were wrong. And so maybe it's not repentance after all. Well, let's go. That is, once over lightly over the passage, a few things to think about. What are we to make of it as a whole? Well, I'm going to suggest that the fact that the beast appears unannounced, he doesn't get any opening from John. And the fact that he just appears is perhaps the most helpful hint here. The beast is the Roman Empire. And it would appear the Roman Empire is going to come and make war against the two witnesses. Now, in verses 1 and 2, we already see that the temple of God has been given over to the Gentiles to be trampled under foot. 42 months. The 42 months is also identical with the period of the witness of the two prophets. And so during the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, we should understand it's the beast that's going to be responsible for this. Rome will come and destroy the temple in Jerusalem. That's all very clear. The beast comes from the abyss, and he comes and he makes war. Interesting thing is that we know from history and from other prophecies and indications in the New Testament that the war is made with Jerusalem. Here it is said that the war is made with the two witnesses. Now, how can that be? Well, the two witnesses are identified with the civil and religious authorities of the Old Testament. Moses, the civil leader, Elijah, the religious leader, identified with the law and the prophets. It's identified with Zerubbabel and Joshua in the prophecy of Zechariah. It may well be that the two witnesses here stand for the entire Old Testament economy. Then I want to suggest that it's the entire economy of the Old Testament law and prophets, civil and religious leadership in the city of Jerusalem that's being referred to. These two warn the people during the siege. God still has his testimony among his organized people, the testimony of the Old Testament economy that will nevertheless be unheeded. As Zechariah 4 said. The two lampstands representing the high priest and the civil head that is representing Joshua and Zerubbabel are here seen as coming to Jerusalem to testify to it and against it. And the identification, obviously, is with the activities of Moses, the civil head, and with Elijah, the religious head, that is the prophet in those days. And those two appear, as I've said, on the Mount of Transfiguration as well. And so what we see here is that the beast, the Roman Empire, comes and destroys both the religious and the civil heads of Jerusalem, that is, destroys the whole economy of God's people. The civil power and the religious power of Jerusalem in Jerusalem are destroyed, which is to say the old order is completely destroyed by God. Nevertheless, the old order is revived, is resurrected, but it's not resurrected as a Jewish order any longer. It's resurrected as those who have ascended to heaven and sit with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. Now, according to Ephesians, the second chapter, let's look at Ephesians 2. One, God says in you did he make alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins, wherein you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the powers of the air, the Spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience, Even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace have you been saved and raised us up with him and then made us to sit with him in the heavenlies. In Christ Jesus. Theologically speaking, the position of the Church is with the ascended Lord. The Church has the power of the ascended Lord. The Church is with the ascended Lord in the heavenlies. We sit in the heavenlies as resurrected from the death of sin with Christ. So as I see it, then, the Old Testament economy here is completely destroyed by the Roman beast. He makes war with the two witnesses. He makes war against Jerusalem. And when Jerusalem falls, representatives around the world rejoice because that was tormenting. The witness that was to come and did come from Jerusalem, from the Old Testament. People of God was a torment to the world. Of course, Israel prophesied destruction for the nations on earth that wouldn't repent. Israel was elevated, you know, Mount Zion was to be lifted up above the hills and all that. And it was tormenting to the nations on earth. But now they rejoice and they give gifts to one another because Jerusalem is fallen. And the Old Testament economy and the religion of God's people apparently has been destroyed. But lo and behold, at the very time where it seems that finally the world has done in the people of God. People of God rise again from the dead. And they're positioned in the heavenlies with Jesus Christ. They're beyond assault. There you have the Church, you see, taking the place of the Old Testament economy. The two witnesses are really a multitude that are destroyed by the Roman armies, but nevertheless rise to life again in a new form, in the form of the Church, as I've said, positioned in heaven above. All right, the world rejoices over that. But then the world is frightened because the Church really continues the traditions of the Old Testament, that is preaching the word of God, his judgment and his grace. Now, that all fits in very well, I think, until you come to verse 13. I don't mean to say that it doesn't fit into verse 13, but but there's something awkward here. For when the Church, now the new order of God, the new dispensation of God rises from the ashes, if you will, of God's destruction of the old order. In that hour there was a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell. And there were killed in the earthquake, 7,000 persons. And I'm not sure what to make of that. I think the most likely indication is that the city here is now the city of Rome. What we have is a prediction. We have a foreshadowing of what's going to happen in chapters 13. And following that, as in verse 18, we read the city of Rome falls. So here with the rising of the Church, we have a little bit of a splinter of Rome cut off. You see, a tenth of Rome now falls as an indication the Church will continue in the might of the Old Testament order of God's people. And then what you read in chapters 13 through 19 is the preaching of the Gospel and the rise of the Church. The stone cut without hands destroys all the world empires. And so now even Rome will fall. Now, please don't take that as thus saith the Lord. I throw that out as something for you to think about and something which I want to think about more. Verse 13 is something of a difficulty, although that would make sense to me literarily for John to say the continuance of the Church is already an indication that Rome is in trouble. Okay, we'll go through chapter 12, the war in heaven with Satan. And as we emerge in chapter 13, we'll see God now directs his judgment against the Roman Empire. You see, the beast has come and has destroyed the first enemy of the people of God, Jerusalem. Now God will use the stone cut without hands. He will use the church to destroy the beast. Well, for my money, that makes sense of chapter 11. Although, as I say, there are some remaining doubts in my mind. Other possibilities I've given to you. Some people think this is the final days on earth when in fact two individuals will be raised up by God, two special prophets of God who will have this particular experience. Some think it refers to the Rapture. Some think it symbolically refers to the turmoil of the Church throughout the ages. But there are numerous difficulties in my mind with all those suggestions. And so I would ask you for a couple of weeks to reflect further on what I have suggested. And I'll try to come back and be more definite at that time. Have you any questions before the final bell? Now, go ahead. I would expect you to have questions. I have A few, myself in general. Why do you think. Revelation. Why are you so obscure? Why so much about you? Very learned. And relatively speaking, let's say you read it a few times. You're indicting yourself if you think I'm learned. Why it would be so difficult to understand, since guys are. The question is whether the obscurity is in the word or the obscurity is in us. And there are two reasons why the obscurity is to be found in us. One, just because of indwelling sin. I mean, the fact is that sinners distort the word of God. Some wrest it to their destruction, but it's difficult because we're sinners. But more importantly, I think, and more directly, as an answer to your question, it was not obscure to John's readers. I mean, I can't fathom that John should write this chapter. Of course, it wasn't a chapter to him, but what we call chapter 11. And introduced the beast in such a really, in terms of literary style, cavalier way. When John says, and the beast that rises from the abyss comes and makes war on them, you say, wait a minute, beast? What beast? Monster from the bottomless pit. What are you talking about, John? That's what we say. But I think John knew that his readers would understand it. And so the obscurity comes from the fact that John was writing in terms of symbols and idioms and figures of speech that were probably well known to his readers and to the people of that day, but are not to us. I mean, after all, we watch Kojak and listen to, you know, rock music and read the New York Times and so forth, and our cultural images, the way we think and the patterns of our thought are not governed by the imagery of John's own day and especially the imagery of the Old Testament that he obviously has woven in a very ornate way through this chapter. And so I think the key to this, I think it's not that God has given us an obscure word and that he's called it a revelation. I think it really is a revelation to those who will put in the diligence and study necessary to make sense of it. I don't think there's any. I say this is the most difficult. And if this is the most difficult and we can still come up with something of a cohesive interpretation, which I've suggested to you this morning, then the rest of the book, you see, is even easier than that. I really do think that God sends the angel to interpret the mystery for us as he does in chapter 17. Indicating that he wants us to understand it. It just so happens that of all the passages, this one has the least in terms of context to suggest for us. And so if there's a problem with the passage, blame it on my lack of research and my sin and all that. But I would never say that the word of God is obscure. Even in the Book of Revelation. It's perspicuous to those who have hearts to receive it. Other questions? Did I hear the. I think I heard the second bell. No burning question. You want to get answered right away. You people are far too docile. I come here and I tell you, look, I'm not sure. Here are these suggestions. You should have all sorts of questions in your mind. Okay, David. Historically, of course, a tenth of Jerusalem didn't fall. 100% of Jerusalem fell. The Romans trampled it to the ground. There wasn't a stone left in the temple in its original position. I mean, they tore it completely to pieces. And so it seems to me that the idea of a tenth of the city falling doesn't quite match up with the idea of the utter destruction of Jerusalem as God utterly destroyed. Sodom, for instance. But that's how I had originally taken it until I studied this the second time around and I started having some trouble. Maybe in two weeks I'll come back to that. Let's close in prayer. Lord, we pray that you will have blessed us through the study of your word this morning. We thank you that you are always sufficient in your witness to men, that you are never without a witness, and that those who rebel against you are always sufficiently condemned. For that, we thank you that you provided, indeed, in the days of the fall of Jerusalem, the two witnesses necessary to indict the people and to hold them guilty before you. We pray, Father, that similar witness would not be made against us. That you would make us a faithful church, one that proclaims your word, indeed a church that brings persecution upon itself because it will not cease in the proclamation of the whole counsel of God. We thank you, Father, that you have given us relief in history as your people, that you take our tormentors and subject them to judgment, thereby vindicating your word and vindicating your people. We ask, Lord, that you would vindicate us in this day, that yout would destroy our enemies before us and that yout would destroy them with the preaching of the Gospel. Lord, increase our faithfulness, increase our courage, give us the hope that we need to do the work that is called for. As yous people, we ask that yout would do this and enlighten our minds with respect to those things that are yet obscure so that we might have the full benefit of that profitable word of truth that you've given us. For it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.