We continue
to consider the mysterious two
witnesses who are introduced to us in 11:3. We
consider them under 5 headings , the first two of which we have already looked at in our previous sermon.
OUTLINE :
1. The
time of their witness (11:2,3)
2. Their
identity (11:3-6)
3. Their
work (11:7-10)
4. Their
opposition (11:7-10)
5. Their
future (11:11-12)
RECAPITULATION :
We saw, firstly
that the command
to John to measure the temple (11:1-2) relates not to the
physical temple as it
stood in Jesus’ day. It would have been physically impossible for him to do so, since at this stage he
was imprisoned on the island of
Patmos. Moreover, consider that Jesus
had foretold that this temple was going
to be destroyed (Matt 24:2), which actually
happened in AD 70. This
brought the OT temple era to an end. Furthermore consider that in the
N.T. there is no mentioning of the place of the physical temple
in worship. Jesus foresees
a spiritual temple, comprised
of a people that would worship
God in
spirit and in truth[1].
This people Jesus called the church [2].
Peter says that this church is “a temple
made of living stones” [3]. This is the people-
the true church which
John is called to measure and they are found in “the temple of God and the altar“
(11:1). This church also features widely
in in Paul’s letters, and after
Pentecost we see the church distributed
into all the world.[4]
Secondly, we saw that out of
this true
church, two
witnesses will arise. They will prophecy
for 1260 days (11:3) or 42 months
(11:2) or a time,
and times , and half a time (12:14). This is the time between Christ’s ascension and his descension – the time in
which we are now living.
Thirdly, we noted the
identity of these two witnesses. ( 11:4) They are
symbolically identified as two olive trees and two lampstands. We discovered that the picture
of the two olive trees was
taken from Zechariah 4 :1-14, and we
saw in context of Zechariah’s
prophecy that the two
olive trees were Joshua
the faithful high priest (Zec. 3:1) and Zerubbabel
the faithful governor of Judah[5] ( Zec. 4:6). These were men
who courageously led Israel by the Word of the LORD in difficult times. The second picture of the
two lampstands is a picture of the true church in a hostile world, in this age. Revelation 2 &3 helped
us to see that the lampstands were symbolic pictures of the church. These two witnesses (gospel witnesses and gospel churches) have, in
this present age continually testified
to the truth as it is in Jesus. Having considered
their identity and the time
frame in which they operate , we must now ask : What exactly do they do ?
3. Their work ( 11:3-6)
They must prophesy (v.6)
The main work of gospel witnesses
and gospel churches is to prophesy. They proclaim/ announce/ preach the
prophetic word of God. True
prophets can only speak that which is
given to them by God. The very message
of this book of Revelation is prophetic and John
tells us in Rev. 1:3 : “Blessed
is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are
those who hear , and who keep what is
written in it , for the time is near.”
The content of the prophetic witness is
obvious. They must bear witness to Christ and to His truth:
1. That
every man is made in God’s image
with an eternal soul, and finally
accountable to God.
2. That by
the disobedience of the first man, Adam, the father of humanity, every one of his descendants
inherits a sinful nature[6].
This does not only mean that every man
is alienated from their holy God, but it also means that every man
in that condition is destined to go to a place that is called “hell” – of which Jesus said that it is “a
place of outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth… an
eternal fire prepared for the devil and
his angels… a place of eternal punishment” [7].
3. That forgiveness is available if
people will trust in Christ, the
second Adam who is God’s only
and sufficient provision and
remedy for sin[8].
To trust in Christ means that people will have to
repent – that is to turn away from their
sin and rebel nature and follow
God, asking God to help them daily
to seek His kingdom, and
then upon death inherit
heaven .
This message
is the
fire that comes out of their mouth[9] (11:5)
which is the Word of God which in the end shall
judge those that resist this
testimony. The prophet Jeremiah was given a taste of this ministry when
he was told “… behold I am making my words in
your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and
the fire shall consume them…”
(Jer. 5:14). So too, by the word of
Elijah, God shut the heavens up by his prayer[10].
By the word of God , Moses turned the
waters of Egypt into blood etc. . The church is given the
keys of the kingdom. Whatever she binds on earth shall be bound in
heaven ; whatever she looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt
16:19; 18:18) . Christ has given authority
to the church by His powerful
Word. We, modern gospel witnesses and
modern gospel churches may not
always see this is the effect that the
Word has upon the world. “They have the power to shut the sky…” (v.6). All the temporary judgments – all
the things that we call natural
disasters (e.g. tsunamis, earthquakes
, wars , diseases , famines) are in fact
“acts of God“ in response to His Word. It shall eventually become clear to the world, even as it was plain to king Ahab in Elijah’s day that rain was
lacking because God had spoken, and even
as it was plain to the pharaoh of Egypt that the 10 plagues were sent from God (and
not just natural disasters) – it will
be clear to the world that these 2 witnesses in the hands of God Almighty are instrumental in bringing these plagues!
We have already noted that the testimony is to be
prophesied to many people, nations,
languages and kings (10:11). We shall now see that the world finds this message offensive[11]
, in the same way in which people were
offended by Jesus’ words. We now understand why the world wants to harm and kill the faithful witness. We shall see
this in our next point.
4. Their opposition (11:7-10)
Now we understand why the beast
rises from the bottomless pit to
make war on these witnesses (v.7). It is THE beast. The reference is plainly
to Daniel 7, and the picture of the fourth beast, “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong …It
was different from all the beasts
that were before it, and it had 10 horns” . From the 10 horns[12]
“there came up among them
another horn, a little one before
which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots … in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things (Dan
7: 7- 8). This beast is not the same
as the dragon in Chapter 12 who is there identified with Satan. The beast is closely connected to the dragon. The beast comes out of the bottomless pit (11:7
see also 9:11). That is his spiritual origin. This is the
anti-Christ, and it seems as if he appears in human form. John already has spoken of the anti- Christ in his
letters (1 Jn. 2:18-22). The anti -Christ
exists already exists in the time when John writes. Sometimes his influence
is weaker, sometimes stronger, but towards
the end of this age it appears that he will rise up
to kill these two witnesses.
We must point out that this beast can only do that after the 2 witnesses have finished their testimony (v.7). God remains sovereign! The apostle Paul says the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-7.
The anti- Christ (the man of
lawlessness) must wait until the time of
prophecy is finished. This will be after the gospel has been preached to all
nations and when the level or measure of sin will have reached its
fullness.[13]
The world must hear the witness of the
faithful preachers and the faithful churches, and hear this repeatedly, and it
must reject the salvation offered in
Christ. Then the testimony shall be
finished, and then it may be silenced by the power of the Anti-Christ. This will be the worst time in the history
of the church! This does not mean
that every Christian will be killed, for we know that at the Lord’s coming there will be those
living on earth ready to meet Him, and
when they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye. Those days however will
be full of distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now – and
never to be equaled again. It will seem as if the true church is dead. It will
seem as if the beast has finally triumphed. Figuratively, the gospel testimony will lie dead e in the streets of Jerusalem
(the city which kills the prophets- Luke
13:34), the great city which is
figuratively called Sodom and
Egypt. The two bodies will lie unburied in the sight of the nations – a sign of contempt and shame, with their life
and power gone, and their prayers and testimony silenced. They do not judge the
world any longer, and the world rejoices that they are dead. The world celebrates. They are so happy that they even send gifts
to one another!
5. Their Future (11:11-12)
But their end has not come! This
is the kind of story we all like to
hear. The tribulation will only last for 3 ½ days! This means that the days of the
anti-Christ will be cut short. He will only be allowed to triumph for half a week. Just as
the time in which we live is indicated by 3
½ years (the time of witness) so the time of suffering is indicated by 3 ½ days. The Scripture tells us in Matthew 24:22 that for the
sake of the elect those days will be cut short, and at the end of these 3 ½
symbolic days the suffering of God’s people shall be ended.
Daniel
9 and the vision of the 70 weeks (Daniel 9: 24-27) as it
relates to Revelation 11
1. The 70 weeks
indicate the period from Daniel’s time to the end of time, when iniquity
shall be finished.
2. This period
is divided into three smaller
periods:
a. 7 weeks –
from Daniel to Christ.
b. 62 weeks – from
Christ until the finished work of the antichrist. At the end of the 62 weeks we read that Christ shall be cut off and have nothing (
Dan 9:26) – which is what we read of here , when it says that the
witnesses are lying dead in the street.
c. Then we have another week left: that is the week
of the anti-Christ- when he shall reign
for a little while. But here, as
in Daniel, this week is cut in half- and the Spirit of the Lord raises the two witnesses up! The foundational paradigm is
the killing of Jesus and his raising on the third day; He is
pre-eminently the true and faithful witness (Rev 3:14) – and his rising from the dead is both the power and
guarantee of the rising from the dead of
His faithful witnesses.
And now as this all happens, terror strikes their
enemies. A loud voice speaks from heaven:
“come up here “ … and they went to heaven in a cloud , and their enemies watched them .
This is the true rapture! Now the church is delivered.
At this time the enemies of
God will feel the full wrath of God (v.13).
A tenth of the wicked city is
destroyed at this time. The time of
repentance is over. This is the time of judgment. There is no more witness of
the word of God on earth. The Spirit of
God is withdrawn. Terrible things happen
when the retraining hand of God is removed.
There is terror, and people will know
that this is the hand of God - but nothing will change : hell is truth obeyed to late !
This, dear brothers and sisters is in short – the history and the
future of the world. Are you hearing
this?
[1] John 4 : 23,24
[2] Gr.
ekklesia – lit. those that are ‘called out’; cf. Matt.
16:18
[3] 1 Peter 2:5
[4] E.g. 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:20-22
[5] Zechariah 4:6 -
see also Haggai 1
[6] Romans 5:12
[7] Matthew 25:21; 41,46
[8] Rom 5:17
[9] See also Revelation
19:15,21; see also Isa. 11:4 ).
[10] 1
Ki. 17:1; Lk. 4:25; Jas. 6:17
[11] John 15:18-25
[12] The
‘ horn’ in the Bible is a symbol of strength and power
[13] This is similar to
Genesis 15:16. The judgement of the peoples of Canaan has to wait for its appointed time.
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