Revelation Chapter 11‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome back! During this week’s fellowship time, we’ll continue our study of Revelation.

Revelation Chapter 11
 
This week we will investigate chapter 11 in our journey of the end times.

*By the way… This week marks a “half-way” milestone in our 22 chapter journey of this fantastic book of Bible prophecy – and we’re just getting warmed up!

Chapter 11 tells us about the ministry of the Lord’s two witnesses during the first half of the “seventieth week of Daniel” – this seven-year hell on earth. This chapter will also reveal further details of things to come that start sometime before the Seventh Trumpet Judgment.

 

In the beginning of this chapter we find that John is told to measure the holy ground in Jerusalem. He is told to leave out the court because it was given to the Gentiles to tread it underfoot for 42 months – 3 ½ years:

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months – Revelation 11:1-2

The rebuilding of the temple will be a part of the “peace agreement” that will be brokered by the Antichrist between Israel and the Gentile nations during the first half of the seven-year Tribulation period. In this prophecy, the temple will be rebuilt. However, the outer court is not measured by John. This is most likely because at that future time in history, it may still contain the pagan Muslim temple known as the Dome of the Rock. Another possibility the court is not measured is because under this agreement, Gentiles will be in control of the mount itself but will not be in control of the Jewish temple that will reside on the mount. This is a very important detail to understand!

 

During this period, all apostate forms of Christianity – Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Roman Catholicism & Apostate Protestantism – may be allowed to utilize the temple mount under the protectorate of the “World Church” which will be masterfully manipulated by the Antichrist. The peace covenant brokered will most likely “convert” the Holy City of Jerusalem into an international city, with its sites administrated by the World Church – which at this time may indeed be headquartered at the Vatican.

 

As we proceed through Chapter 11, we find an interesting scenario in verse twelve that is strikingly similar to a description of the Rapture found earlier in our study of chapter four:

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them – Revelation 11:12

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians speaks to the Rapture as well:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

However, the context of the passages in verse twelve indicates that this call from heaven saying – "come up here" – takes place during the seven year Tribulation Period. The earlier verses found in chapter four of Revelation & 1 Thessalonians denotes the Rapture, which will take place prior to the Tribulation Period.

This chapter also reveals the prophecy of the "two witnesses" and what is involved in their 3 ½ year ministry. These “two witnesses” will be stationed in Jerusalem where they set up their Temple Mount “headquarters” of evangelism:

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth – Revelation 11:3

Allow me to introduce these "two witnesses" to you…

We find in this chapter there will be "two men" who will give a testimony – which is what a witness does – during the first half of the Tribulation Period. The “two witnesses” are the two prophets who will prophesy in Jerusalem for exactly 1,260 days. These “two witnesses” are witnesses of the God of creation and His Messiah. The message they preach will be that Jesus Christ is returning to earth as well as to inform Israel and the world that He will establish His 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom on earth, in which He will rule and reign from Jerusalem. They will preach the truth of sin, righteousness and judgment – the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ alone unto eternal salvation.

The unbelieving world will not want to hear what these men have to say from the God of heaven. However, during these 1,260 days, the world will be given no choice! If the world will not accept the truth that comes by way of these "two witnesses," the Lord said He will send the world a strong delusion so they will believe the lie:

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness – 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Those who do not believe the truth from the Lord, will believe the lies of the Antichrist and his False Prophet and will be in danger of eternal damnation!

The wording in the passages about the “two witnesses” makes it crystal clear that they are real persons. Those who attempt to spiritualize these men and say they are not real persons but only represent the prophets and the law have embraced a theology of absolute nonsense! The many details of these passages make it clear that these “two witnesses” are physical persons.

They will be supernaturally protected by the Lord through various means, allowing them to reach out from Jerusalem to everyone on earth with the "gospel of the kingdom" outlined by Jesus Christ Himself:

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come – Matthew 24:14

These men will not only be supernaturally kept out of harm’s way, they will be given miraculous powers so that their brief ministry will be fruitful and effective.

However, after 3 ½ years of their pre-determined preaching is complete, these “two witnesses” are then killed:

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them – Revelation 11:7

Their dead bodies will lay in the streets of Jerusalem so that the entire world will see them – perhaps via satellite and internet technology. The unbelieving "earth dwellers" will "rejoice over them, make merry and bring gifts one to another" in great celebration:

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth – Revelation 11:10

At this point in the Tribulation period, the world will be so absolutely wicked that they will "party" and "send gifts" to each other to celebrate the deaths of these two awesome men of God. The unbelieving masses will actually be happy that these godly men have been killed – Horrible!

Amazingly, just 3 ½ days after their deaths, they are resurrected from the dead right before the eyes of the entire world:

Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them – Revelation 11:11

If you’ll remember, chapter seven also informed us that 144,000 Jews from the "twelve tribes of Israel" will be eternally saved as a result of the preaching ministry of these "two witnesses" and will be spread out across the world to reach all people on earth with the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone:

And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed – Revelation 7:4

NOTE: We will “meet up” with these 144,000 male Jewish “evangelists” again later in chapter fourteen of our studies...

Chapter seven also encourages us in that a “great multitude” of people will be eternally saved during these terrible days of Tribulation judgment:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands – Revelation 7:9

With all of that said… Who are these “two witnesses” and do we know their names? There are differing views about the identity of these two men. Most scholars who interpret this book of prophecy in its proper literal sense believe one of the “two witnesses” is Elijah. This is because the Prophet Malachi tells us that one of them will indeed be "Elijah":

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord – Malachi 4:5

In fact, some Orthodox as well as many Conservative Jews today actually expect Elijah to return at any time and they literally set a place for him at the tables of their Spring time Passover feasts!

So, who will be the other man? There is honest debate from the Scriptures on his identity. Many scholars believe the other man to be Moses for many good reasons. One being that he was seen with Elijah when Peter, James and John were given a glimpse of Jesus Christ as He was transfigured before them. This was to provide the assurance of His future glory as it will be revealed on earth:

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves;  and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah – Matthew 17:1-4

However, the Old Testament also introduces us to another man who never died but was taken to heaven – alive:

Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.  After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him – Genesis 5:21-24

Although we cannot be dogmatic about this point, I believe the other man may indeed be this “Genesis Gentile” – Enoch.

If Enoch is indeed one of the witnesses, he will be able to verify to the world truths about the historical events prior to the flood. This is important because I believe the great deception at the time of the Tribulation period will be something similar to what happened in the pre-flood days of Genesis. The Scriptures tell us in Genesis chapter six that fallen angels – “sons of God” – came to earth, indwelt certain men, impregnated certain women – “daughters of men” – which in turn produced a race of humans know as Nephilim.

There were Nephilim on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown – Genesis 6:4

The word “Nephilim” is the Greek word translated as “giants” and were evidently a race of demonic/humans. Due to this event, the world became very violent. As a result, so much evil was produced, God had to destroy all flesh with a world-wide flood to provide a pure line from Adam to the Kinsman Redeemer – the last Adam – our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Interestingly enough, these “Nephilim” are also mentioned again in the book of Numbers – the post-flood era of human history:

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the Nephilim (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight – Numbers 13:30-33

Therefore, we find Old Testament references to these Nephilim in both pre-flood and post-flood history. For further personal study of the “Nephilim” – see this excellent article from Answers in Genesis:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v2/n1/who-were-the-nephilim

Jesus Christ warned that just prior to His Second Coming, society would be “as it was in the days of Noah” and I contend that we are definitely living in such a time today! I believe this great deception in the last days may also involve demons disguising themselves as an advanced civilization from another dimension or planet. Think about it – this scenario would fit in perfectly with the New Age, One-world, Pagan Spirituality philosophies and worldviews of today!

With all these thoughts in mind… I believe these two witnesses may be Enoch & Elijah – who have not yet physically died – but were transported directly into heaven – while still alive – as we see reported in the Old Testament books of Genesis and 2 Kings. Therefore, there would then be a "Gentile witness" (Enoch) for reaching the unbelieving Gentiles and a "Jewish witness" (Elijah) for reaching the unbelieving Jews who are left on the earth after the Rapture of the Church. These men do indeed give Biblical witness to the fact that it is quite possible to be taken alive into Heaven!

One more thought – Using the Biblical injunction of Deuteronomy, we see that a matter is established on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses:

One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established – Deuteronomy 19:15

Therefore, these occurrences of Enoch and Elijah could indeed be cited to prove the validity of the Rapture of the Church – Amazing!

Then, at the end of their intense ministry – they will die – just as every person must eventually face:

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment – Hebrews 9:27

It is also interesting to note that Doctor Luke records that "two men in white apparel" at the entrance to the tomb of Jesus Christ, witnessed His resurrection:

And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments – Luke 24:4

Luke also records in the book of Acts that "two men in white apparel" watched as Jesus Christ entered the heavenlies from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem:

And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel – Acts 1:10

Although these “men in white apparel” were most likely angels, they may have been Enoch and Elijah who witnessed the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven ensuring the disciples that the Lord Jesus Christ would one day return to earth the same way He had just departed. The "resurrection" and the "Lord's coming" is the message of the "Gospel of the Kingdom". This will be the message of these “two witnesses” as they preach to the world. Remember, they are the only men whom actually witnessed all these things take place throughout history!

Whoever these "two witnesses" may be… The Scriptures tell us that after these "two witnesses" are raised from the dead and taken back to heaven at the end of their 3 ½ years of ministry service on earth, the world will finally “hear” the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet Judgment:

 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! – Revelation 7:15

When this Seventh Trumpet sounds, the kingdoms of the world are given to Jesus Christ. It will soon be time for Him to bring His Kingdom of Heaven to earth! However, the earth must first be cleansed of all evil doers. This passage says that Jesus Christ has taken His great power and shall reign forever! It implies that up to this point in time, He had the power but He had not yet taken “hold” of His power to rule and reign over all the earth. The authority to rule on the earth was won by Jesus Christ with His death on the Cross. However, the timing to take possession was set by the Father – and was delayed – so that many people could come to His Son for salvation.

Finally, we learn that the temple is “opened in heaven” and the world sees the ark of God's “covenant”:

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail – Revelation 7:19

NOTE: The Ark of the Covenant on earth was patterned after the heavenly Ark. The “copy” on earth contained Aaron’s staff, a jar of Manna as well as the Ten Commandments. These three items represented the Father’s choice for His Son to rule and reign as His:

• High Priest
• Bread of Life
• Eternal Law

When the Ark – Jesus Christ – is finally seen, He will provide final testimony to Israel and to the world that the God of Heaven made an everlasting covenant with Israel. The Lord has decreed that His Law and His chosen High Priest will rule in His peaceful Kingdom from Jerusalem on earth for 1000 years – final judgment has come!

This Seventh Trumpet Judgment ushers in the third and final “set of seven” world-wide plagues known as the Seven Bowl Judgments and will be described in greater detail by the Apostle John later in chapter 16 of our Revelation study.

The prophecy pertaining to these “end-time” events will indeed one day be fulfilled. The only thing that must happen before the ministry of the “two witnesses” is the Rapture of the Church – which could happen very soon… Maybe even today!

With this information as a foundation for your studies, please read through Chapter 11 of Revelation.

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate chapter 12 of Revelation…

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