Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
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Part 1: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/131733
Part 2: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/133598
I. The Tribulation Temple
Revelation 11:1–2 ESV
1 Then 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, 2 but 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.
The first thing John is told to do is take a measuring rod. The word for this rod is “kalamos” and it refers to a reed that grew in the Jordan Valley. They were like bamboo stalks and were used as a yardstick. So here John is told to take this stick and “measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.” (MacArthur)
Now the question is, “Why is he doing this?” There are two things that occur in the Bible with regard to God and measuring: one is to execute judgment, and the other is to establish ownership. In 2 Samuel 24, David angers God for taking a census because it was a way of David establishing ownership as king. It appears that God has John measure these things as being His own. He says, “Measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it.” (Rev 11:1)
First I want you to draw a vital truth that will occur during the end times. The Temple of God was rebuilt on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. There are some who look at this from a dispensational view. That John is referring to the second temple and there are others who look at this in an allegorical view. I hold a futurist and more literal view.
The first temple was built by Solomon and destroyed in 587 BC by the Babylonians.
The second temple was built after Israel’s return from their Babylonian captivity. It was completed by Herod. This was the temple that was there at the time of Jesus. It was destroyed in 70 AD by Rome. The temple was literally leveled to the ground. That was twenty-five years before John writes the book of Revelation.
The word for Temple used here is naos and it refers specifically to the holy of holies. In 1 Cor 6:19-20, Paul refers to our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit and Paul also uses the naos.
So when John is told to go and measure the temple of God, it must have struck him that at this particular time in prophetic history there would be a temple again.
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it, (Micah 4:1)
The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ ” (Haggai 2:9)
“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, (Amos 9:11)
During the tribulation, The Antichrist will give the Jews the freedom to worship in the temple. Halfway into the 7 years, he breaks his agreement of worship, and he will do what is called the abomination of desolations; and he will move into the temple, desecrate it, throw the Jews out; and he will slaughter unclean animals declaring himself to be god.
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27)
And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. (Daniel 12:11)
Jesus himself refers to this event. Now, this is important to understand because there are false teachers who try to put Revelation as a book of things that have already happened. One of their justifications is that during the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, Titus went into the temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar. However, they haven’t considered the entire prophetic substance presented and certainly not in the context of Revelation as a whole.
“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (Matthew 24:15)
who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
Now, these Scriptures then conclusively tell us that not only are their prophecies in the Old Testament about a millennial kingdom and about a kingdom in which the Lord Himself will establish a temple but there will also be a tribulation temple which will be abominated at the midpoint.
This is the dream and the passion and the hope of orthodox Jews today. They want their temple, and they want it on Mount Moriah. They are actively and intentionally working to rebuild the temple; not only the structure, but also all the biblical instruments, utensils, decorations, furnishings, and the animals required for sacrificial worship. This also includes the required priestly line. They have, right now a provisional high priest in a Sanhedrin Counsel ready to assume their priestly roles as soon the temple is built.
?but 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. (Revelation 11:2)
The temple had an inner court called the Holy of Holies. Just outside of that was the Holy Place, and just outside of that, the courtyard of the brazen altar where the sacrifice was made, and outside of that what was called the court of the Gentiles.
What God is saying is, “I have no plan, I have no obligation to redeem Gentiles. Now keep in mind, that innumerable numbers of Gentiles will be saved, but the covenant is through Israel and Israel alone. Without Israel, we have no redemption and God’s covenant with Israel will never be replaced.
II. The Two Witnesses
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3)
During that final three-and-a-half years while Jerusalem is being trampled by Antichrist and his worldwide Gentile force and these two witnesses will have a powerful testimony. The word “witness,” martus gives us our English word “martyr.” In other words, being a witness for Christ is synonymous with martyrdom.
Jesus repeatedly warned His disciples that they would encounter persecution and hardship, and He repeatedly admonished them not to fear. When there’s a threat, the natural reaction is to be afraid. What we as a church must do is maintain a higher fear of God than man, maintain an eternal perspective, and maintain a desire for heaven.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17–18)
The number TWO is important. Two was the Old Testament number for the confirmation of any testimony. (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15, Numbers 35:30, Hebrews 10:28, Matthew 18:16, John 8:17). These two are to give true testimony to God, the gospel, and God’s judgment. It says, “And they will prophesy.” This is referring to their preaching ministry, not about predicting the future. Prophets stood before kings to give them godly counsel, not to be a soothsayer. In other words, these two witnesses will interpret what is going on in the world and speak God’s truth in their ministry. They will be warning about hell to follow. They will be warning about Antichrist.
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3 ESV) Sackcloth is a primitive garment and it was used in ancient times uniquely by the prophets (Isaiah 22:12, Jeremiah 6:26) whenever they were prophesying judgment; it was a symbol of mourning.
?These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (Revelation 11:4) The description of these two witnesses as two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth is right out of the prophecy of Zechariah 4:11-14.
In first-century Israel, they burned Olive oil for lamp oil. So what you have is a self-contained operation here. The two olive trees are producing the oil (The Holy Spirit) that goes into the bowl that is disseminated out of the seven spouts that goes into the lamps to keep the light burning. Here is a spontaneous, automatic oil supply with no human agency; this is by God alone. (MacArthur).
These two witnesses are lights before the powers of darkness. They have the power to execute God’s truth to unbelieving Israel. They have the power to bring fire down from heaven and have unlimited authority. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. They control rainfall and are able to turn water into blood. These two witnesses are immortal and immune to all attacks until their mission is complete.
There is a strong indication that they could be Moses and Elijah returned to the earth. The things that they do – fire, drought, the water turned to blood, and smiting the earth with every plague – are very similar to judgments inflicted in the Old Testament by Moses and Elijah. (1 Kings 17, James 5:17, Exodus 7-10.) Some have tried to say that one was Enoch since he was translated to heaven. However, Enoch was a Gentile so he would not likely represent Israel.
Let me give you a second reason it might be Moses and Elijah. Prophecy has some predictions regarding them the future. Malachi 4:1, 5, 6 says, “Before the final day of Lord Elijah will come.” Thirdly, both Moses and Elijah were seen in the preview of the second coming, during the transfiguration. In Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, when the disciples were taken up in the mountain, Jesus was transfigured before them, and they saw Him in a preview of His second coming glory, who appeared? Moses and Elijah.
Fourthly, both Moses and Elijah were used by God to bring supernatural means of suffering on people for the purpose of stimulating repentance. There’s another reason: Moses represents the law and Elijah represents the prophets. There’s another reason: both left this life in unusual ways. Elijah didn’t die, he went up to heaven in a chariot of fire, 2 Kings 2 says. And Moses’ body was never found, and it was disputed over, wasn’t it, by Michael
People are going to try to harm them. I think we’re moving very fast in our own nation where Christian preachers who preach messages of repentance and the gospel are going to be harmed. The current administration is making concerted efforts to limit our religious freedom, despite promising otherwise. Over the last couple of years, the administration has unraveled protections of religious freedoms from previous administrations while at the same time protecting gay rights at the cost of religious freedom promising otherwise. So your religious freedom is being replaced with immoral freedom.
Rev 11:5 “5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.” Now verse 6 tells us some more about why people are going to want to kill them. Rev 11:6 “6 They 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 the blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
You can only imagine with all of the disasters that are going on all over the globe, all of the horrifying destruction that is going on, when they shut the sky, as it says of Elijah (Luke 4:25, James 5:17) when they shut the sky up and there’s no water to quench the thirst, to water the animals or plants for forty-two months, it is going to exacerbate the hatred for their preaching.
And everybody in the world knows about them. Every night on the news it’ll be there constantly “They’re at it again. They spoke, and there’s a plague in this city, and all the fresh water in this area turned into blood. The drought is severe and people are dying of thirst.”
The effort, after effort, will be made to destroy them. And every time anybody gets near them, they are consumed by fire from their mouths, until Rev 11:7
And 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, (Revelation 11:7)
Now, the world will be so glad that they’re dead, verse 8 says, their dead bodies will lie in the street of Jerusalem (notice they’re not buried). Verse 9 says the whole world will look at their dead bodies. Only through the internet is this now possible. The unrepentant, unconverted masses will gloat with the Antichrist and celebrate the Antichrist because he was able to kill these two. This is the first of 36 references to the Antichrist found in Revelation. The world will be enthralled by him. Their hatred toward God and His servants will show how hard-hearted they are as the bodies of the two witnesses lay in the street. By the way, it used to be that when pagan people wanted to dishonor their enemies, they would leave their corpses lying in the street.
So now there is a celebration in verse 10: “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and will send gifts to one another.” Happy dead witnesses’ day” Do you see how deep the world has plunged to ungodliness?
“11 But 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.” Can you imagine some reporter or YouTube star standing there? He’s standing by the bodies and the video is streaming, and he says, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, they’re dead, and we’re having a worldwide party to celebrate the death of these… wait a minute… they’re getting up!
Rev 11:12 “12 Then 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.” The second interlude ends.
"And 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. (Revelation 11:13)
This is the end of the final interlude. The seventh trumpet is about to sound, which will be the seven bowl judgments. The ungodly world experiences a final stroke of God’s displeasure at the very hour of the ascension of the witnesses, an earthquake strikes the city of Jerusalem with lethal results: Seven thousand people are slain in the disaster. The number of the slain was to be added to those already slain. A fourth of the population was first killed, and then another third of the population (totaling over one-half). Now “7000” more are killed. It is little wonder that the Lord Jesus said, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved . . .” (Matthew 24:22).
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. (Revelation 11:14)
God’s plans remain steadfast and unchanged. What some look at and see as failure can be God’s great triumph. The same is true in your life as well. God transforms tragic situations into triumphant events all the time (Swindoll). Underdogs become overcomers, weakness is His strength, and obstacles become opportunities. There are people all over the world who try to use positive thinking, motivation, and a variety of clever methods to help us overcome odds. However, we steadfastly need to pray to God, “Your will be done!”
“I have heard the distant sound of hoofbeats. I have seen the evil riders on the horizons of our lives. I am still an evangelist whose one goal is to proclaim new life in Christ, but there is serious trouble ahead for our world, for all of us who live in it, and in the four horsemen of the Apocalypse there is both a warning and wisdom for those troubled days ahead.” (Billy Graham)
