Revelation Chapter 11 continued
7. and when they have completed their testimony (witness), the beast will come out of the Abusso and make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
8. and their bodies will be on the street of the great city, which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also the Lord was crucified.
9. and the people, from tribes and tongues and nations, will look at them, on their bodies for three and a half days, and they will not allow their bodies to be buried.
10. and those dwelling on the earth will be joyous concerning them, and celebrate, and send gifts to each other because these two prophets have tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11. and after the three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12. And they heard a huge voice from heaven, saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies saw them.
13. and in that hour there was a large earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand names of men were killed in the earthquake. And the people were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14. the second woe has passed. Look! the third woe is coming quickly.
v 7 For a further discussion of the beast see 17:8. It overpowers the saints. This doesn’t look like the Church (Matt 16:18).
v 9 Everyone on earth sees these events. It looks like CNN/Facebook/twitter/Instagram/Google/YouTube etc. where everyone can easily have access to the same images at once.
v 10 Jesus taught the difference between God’s people and the people of the world and what motivates them to rejoice. The disciples grieved over the death of Jesus, but there were some who rejoiced (John 16). Then after the resurrection the disciples were again filled with joy. For the disciples, Jesus’ presence was their joy. For the demons just Jesus’ presence was a form of torture (Matthew 8). The greatest torture to someone who wants to embrace a lie is truth. The greatest torment for those who embrace darkness is light. The prophets were light and truth to a dark and deceived world. They brought torment that had nothing to do with their defensive measures.
vv 11-12 this resurrection of the Witnesses has many parallels with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The earthquake at their death (Matthew 27), and all eyes seeing them ascend & a cloud (Matthew 28) point us to the death, resurrection and ascension of our LORD.
v 13 They fear God, with good reason (16:8). At the appearance of angels at Jesus’ grave, the women were afraid. When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, they were afraid (both in Luke 24). Cornelius was afraid when an angel appeared to him (Acts 10), and when Paul talked about self-control, righteousness & judgment, Felix was afraid. Fear of God is an overriding OT theme, mentioned over 300 times in scripture (Proverbs 9, etc.). Fearing God is not a theme we may think of as New Testament, because “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). But if we are not living in perfect love, we may have reason to fear.
What it means to be a Witness
“When they have completed their testimony. . .”
I don’t know who said it first. Someone said that if you are doing what God has called you to do you are indestructible until you finish His work. I think there’s some truth to this. We are actually quite fragile and very temporary by nature, but God will strengthen you do to what He calls you to until you do it. Maybe this idea is a variation on what Paul said to the Philippian church, “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it” (Philippians 1). Being a witness means you will be used by God to do His work and complete His purposes for you, until your time is complete, then the war with death and darkness will end and He will usher you into Glory. These two witnesses have an exaggerated and extraordinary calling. Yet their experience is simply a reflection of what each of us is called to. God wants us to experience His adventure, His miraculous provision and defense, His Word, His will, and, like Jesus, His choice of ending to the story. The story may not be like the storybooks, fairy tales, and superhero movies-in the end it may seem that the bad guys have won. Yet from the heavenly perspective, the end of the story is like the story of Jesus.
He seemed defeated. He was crucified. He was buried.
But, as Larry Norman so eloquently stated
“Jesus is the Rock, and Jesus is the Way. There’s one more thing I’d like to say
They nailed Him to the cross & they laid Him in the ground, but they should have known you can’t keep a good man down”
We will all come to our Garden of Gethsemane, where we will be faced with a horrible choice, to face God’s will-His cup for us to drink-or to take the easier road.
I think this is what Frost meant in the final lines of his famous poem
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Frost knew the words of Jesus, that the way that leads to life is narrow, and few travel there.
These two Witnesses chose the road less traveled, like their Lord, Jesus.
Which road will you choose today?
Prayer for Today
Father,
Give me the strength to choose Your Way
The grace to keep choosing that Way every day
And the wisdom to take each step as You direct, knowing the Way leads to the Cross.
In the name of our Lord, Jesus
Amen.
