Two Witnesses
Revelation 11:1-14
1Then I was given a measuring rod
like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar
and those who worship there,
2but do not measure the court
outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and
they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
3And I will grant authority to my
two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4These are the two olive trees
and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their
mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is
doomed to be killed.
6They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may
fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters
to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as
often as they desire.
7And when they have finished their testimony, the beast
that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and
kill them,
8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the
great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was
crucified.
9For three and a half days some from the peoples and
tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to
let them be placed in a tomb,
10and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over
them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been
a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
11But after the three and a half days a breath of life
from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on
those who saw them.
12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to
them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies
watched them.
13And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a
tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake,
and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is
soon to come.
As our journey with John through the Revelation continues we
now see his role change from witness to the visions to active participant in
the proceedings. In chapter 10 he was given a scroll to eat (the message of the
Gospel to be digested and shared with the world) and now in chapter 11 he is
told to measure the Temple. He is given a measuring rod (a cane) and told to
measure the inner court while disregarding the outer court. As we read these words we need to bear in
mind the goal and purpose of Christ; He wants us to spread His Gospel message
as the Church and He promises us His protection as we do this work. That is the
focus of both of these chapters.
John is instructed not to measure the outer court and the
reason for that is explained. It will be “trampled” for 3½ years. This is a
figurative way to announce that the world will be ravaged from Christ’s
ascension until His Second Coming; and God will not protect the earth from this
judgment because it serves the purpose making people aware of His power and
presence. The specificity of 3½ years is not literal. This number is used in
various forms (3½ years, 1,260 days, 42 months) through the Bible to signify
that the events described with happen in God’s timing and when His work has
reached completion. (In some cases, though, it is a literal 3½ years, such as
the drought spoken into existence through the power of God by Elijah.)
Then arrives on the scene the two witnesses. While much has been made of exactly who these two
guys are, it really doesn’t matter. Most of the evidence points to them being
representative of Moses and Elijah. Ultimately they represent the Church and
her witness to the world.
“It is not so important to press
the identification of the two witnesses as Moses and Elijah. Indeed, Moses and
Elijah only serve as models for the two witnesses, who in turn are symbols of
the entire church in her mission of witnessing to Christ. Though it seems that
Moses and Elijah best fit the description
of the two witnesses and likely came to the mind of John, the two witnesses
are not actually Moses and Elijah,
nor any other OT prophets. For in the same way that John the Baptist was in
spirit that Elijah who was foretold, so now these two prophetic witnesses are
in the spirit of Moses and Elijah as they symbolize the church. For the church
carries out that prophetic ministry in that same spirit of Moses and Elijah,
which spirit is now symbolized by the two witnesses. The church is symbolized
by two witnesses most likely because
of Deuteronomy 19:15, which prescribes that for a testimony to be received it
must be established by two or three witnesses.”
Brighton, L. A.
(1999). Revelation (p. 294). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House.
Deuteronomy 19:15
A single witness shall
not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with
any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of
three witnesses shall a charge be established.
The imagery of verse 4 (from our reading today) harkens back
to Zechariah 4. I will leave you to read that and ferret out the similarities,
for there are many. Suffice it to say, these two witnesses are empowered by
God, protected by God, and faithful to their task. They represent the whole
Church throughout the time from Christ’s ascension to his return. We will look
further at their story tomorrow.
Zechariah 4:1-14
1And the angel who talked with me
came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep.
2And he said to me, “What do you
see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the
top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are
on the top of it.
3And there are two olive trees by
it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4And I said to the angel who
talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5Then the angel who talked with
me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my
lord.”
6Then he said to me, “This is the
word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
says the Lord of hosts.
7Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top
stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
8Then the word of the Lord came
to me, saying,
9“The hands of Zerubbabel have
laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you
will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.
10For whoever has despised the
day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of
Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which
range through the whole earth.”
11Then I said to him, “What are
these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12And a second time I answered
and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are
beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?”
13He said to me, “Do you not know
what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
14Then he said, “These are the
two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
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