This week, we have the privilege of working our way through Revelation 11. This is a rich, complex chapter. It's also a chapter where there's a lot of debate about how to read it. A friend of mine has a study Bible, and his notes told him that the chapter should be read literally. But the vast majority of scholars understand that a literal reading of this chapter completely falls apart. At the risk of spoiling the story, you end up thinking that the two witnesses we are about to hear about, are conjoined olive trees, with lamps on tops of their heads, who prophesy about Jesus, and who shoot fire out of their mouths. Picture the giant talking trees from Lord of the Rings, or Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.
But what we are reading here, throughout, is symbolic language. Scholars disagree about what some of the symbols mean. There's often two or three different ways to understand different parts. But amusingly, those disagreements are a bit like a sideshow, and don't actually have much effect on the big picture, and the main point, of the chapter.
So you might find yourself unconvinced by some of the decisions I've taken, about what the chapter means. Especially if you're reading a commentary in parallel to this study, you'll be aware that there are other options. But if you find yourself in this boat, I'd encourage you to not get hung up on the differences, and disagreements. If we all make the main thing, the main thing, Revelation 11 has a powerful and important message for the church-- for us.
Before we jump in, I think it will help us to try to remember where we are in the book. In chapter 6, we saw six seals opened up, each of them unleashing God's judgment on the world. Then, in chapter 7, we read two interludes-- one, of the 144,000, and the other, of a vast multitude worshipping God in heaven. After these interludes, the seventh seal was opened, and this led to the trumpet judgments. Six of those seven trumpets are in chapters 8 and 9, and we expected the end. But what we found ourselves in, instead, is another two-part interlude. In chapter 10, John prophesies. In chapter 11, the two witnesses prophesy. And it's only on the other side of those interludes, that the seventh trumpet will blast.
What I've come to decide is that the interludes are at least one of the keys to understanding the point of the book of Revelation. It's in the interludes that we see ourselves, and the church. We see where we are in human history. Where we are in God's plan for the world. And the interludes show us what God wants from us. That's what today's sermon, ultimately, is about. We are living in the time between the sixth and seventh trumpet. The end could come at any moment-- there is no more delay. And in the meantime, what is our mission? That's the question we will be able to answer, by the end of today.
Now, last week, we learned John's mission. Even though humanity looks hopelessly wicked (Revelation 9:20-21), it's not. God is not yet ready to give up on the world. He's not yet ready to end it, like He did with the flood. Instead, we saw Jesus' personal angel descend from heaven, with a rainbow of mercy on his head. He straddles earth and sea, and swears by the One who created everything that there will be no more delay. He gives John an open scroll to eat-- God's secret plan-- and he commissions John to prophesy to the nations. And what we saw, is that in the book of Revelation, prophesy basically means testifying about Jesus, and God's plan. In essence, prophesy is evangelism. Understanding that, is critical for today. So let's turn to Revelation 19:10. I'm going to read from the NLT, because it's brilliant here:
10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters[c] who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God. For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.
So that's where Revelation 10 left off. We saw John commissioned for a second time to prophesy. The first time, John was commissioned to prophesy to the seven churches (Revelation 1:11). This time, he's commissioned to prophesy to the world. John's doing so, again, in this time between the sixth and seventh trumpet call. That's his window of time, to prophesy.
And then, our story continues (with a prophetic sign-act). Revelation 11:1-2:
(11:1) and a measuring rod was given to me, similar to a rod, saying, [Ezekiel 40:3]
"Rise!,
and measure the temple of God [a symbol of the church: Revelation 1:5-6; 3:12]
and the altar [Revelation 5:8; 6:9-11; 8:3; contrast Daniel 8:11]
and the ones worshipping/bowing down in it, [Rev. 1:5-6]
(2) and the outer courtyard of the temple throw outside (=leave outside?)
and don't, it, measure, [what's focused is ambiguous here]
because it was given to the nations/Gentiles,
and the holy city, they will trample/tread on for 42 months, [the holy city is the church, not
Jerusalem; Revelation 3:12]
These two verses are perhaps the most complicated in the entire book of Revelation. At least, I hope they are.
I think it's clear that Revelation here is using symbolic language, and that it'd be a mistake to try to read it literally. There's a total scholarly consensus on this point. But what do the symbols mean?
Let's start by identifying the temple. I believe-- and there's total scholarly agreement on this point as well-- that the temple of God is the church. We, the church, are the temple. God's Spirit lives in our midst, corporately (1 Corinthians 3:16; the "you" is plural). On this side of the cross and resurrection, we worship God in the Spirit and in the truth, understanding that the actual place doesn't matter (John 4:24). We are the temple.
At the same time, we, the church, are also priests who serve God within that temple. We can think about this individually. Each one of us is a priest. And we can think about corporately-- we collectively serve God together.
Let's turn to Revelation 1:5-6 (NRSV updated no reason:
To him [=Jesus] who loves us and freed[a] us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests serving[b] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
So we are priests. We, the church, God's people, are the ones who serve God, and worship him, within the temple. As priests, we offer sacrifices. But these sacrifices are not doves, or lambs. We've seen that our sacrifices, are our prayers. We pray, and our prayers are mixed with incense, and offered as a sacrifice on God's altar (Revelation 8:1-5). Most of what we see in verses 1-2, we've already seen in Revelation. We see ourselves worshipping at the altar. We see ourselves as the priests. We see the temple, understanding that we are pillars in that temple (Revelation 3:12).
Up to this point, we are on safe ground.
Now, when we look more closely at Revelation 11:1-2, we do see something new (Revelation often spirals forward, building on what came before). John divides up the church into two sections. There is an enclosed temple structure, and there's an open courtyard. The enclosed section is protected; the outer courtyard is not. The outer courtyard is given to the Gentiles, and then, in a shift of metaphors, the Gentiles will trample the holy city for 42 months.
This shift in metaphors is what makes all of this really hard. But the most likely solution, that's followed by a clear majority of scholars (at least the ones I'm reading), is that the outer courtyard is the holy city. The outer courtyard is given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city for a period of time. So we should see here that the holy city is not the physical, literal Jerusalem. We will see, very shortly, that Jerusalem is a wicked, evil city in Revelation. The holy city is the church.
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The main alternative view, well argued by William Hendriksen and Ian Boxall, among others, is that the church is divided in half to separate out the compromised, wicked parts of it from the parts who are faithful to Jesus. Jesus protects those who have washed their robes (as in Revelation 7), while those who are lukewarm and don't repent are not protected.
I found this position persuasive for like two weeks (a tricky sermon for me to write), but it has two flaws. First, the outer courtyard doesn't have a separate group of people that aren't measured. Everyone is in the temple structure. So we aren't seeing a group of people divided into two. Second, the outer courtyard is identified with the holy city, and the holy city is identified as God's people elsewhere in Revelation.
Overall, there are close links between verses 1-2 and 3-12, focused on the combined themes of protection and suffering. Half the temple is protected; half is trampled. The two witnesses are protected, until they aren't.
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So assuming that all of this is right, what we see is the church being measured-- or, rather, half-measured. The temple structure is measured, and the ones in it are measured, and all of this is measured for protection. The outer courtyard is not measured, and Gentiles will trample it.
Now, we maybe find this language about Gentiles surprising. Are we not Gentiles? Here again is a little clue that we are supposed to see ourselves as Israel (Galatians 6:16). Even though we are Gentiles by blood, we are sons of Abraham. We are Israelites. So we see ourselves in the temple, and not in the Gentiles. We aren't the ones trampling; we are being trampled.
So what we see in these two (!) verses, confusingly, is that the church is at the same time, both protected and trampled. We are "both preserved and vulnerable" (Koester, Revelation, 485).
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Craig Koester, Revelation, 485:
"1. Outer court as the vulnerable aspect of the church. The enclosed temple (naos) that is measured signifies the worshiping community, which God preserves on earth. The open court (aule) signifies the church, as it is vulnerable to affliction in an unbelieving world. The same community is both preserved and vulnerable. The message is repeated in the story of the two witnesses, who are preserved so they can prophesy, yet exposed to martyrdom and the scorn of the nations (Rev 11:8–10; Caird; Mounce; Murphy; Osborne; Prigent; Resseguie; Satake; Smalley; Bauckham, Climax, 270–72; Minear, “Ontology,” 98; G. Stevenson, Power, 257–65)."
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How can the church be protected, and yet trampled? We've seen both ideas throughout Revelation so far. We've seen that we are sealed, and that there are things demons can't do to us. We've seen that God's wrath isn't poured out on us, but on people who don't have the seal, and who refuse to repent.
At the same time, the picture of the heavenly throne room in Revelation 7 describes Christians who have come "through" great suffering and tribulation, standing before God. And we read in Revelation 2:13 about Antipas, a faithful Christian who was killed for his witness to Jesus.
How can the church be protected, and yet trampled? How can the church be both preserved, and vulnerable?
That's the question that Revelation has hinted at, and explored, throughout. But it's never explained it. As we keep reading, today, we get our answer. Verse 3:
(3) and I will give to my two witnesses,
and they will prophesy for 1,260 days (which =42 months),
having been dressed/clothed in sackcloth.
Let's start by talking about the 1,260 days. This is the same length of time, that the Gentiles will trample the outer courtyard. And we are expected to read into this. The two witnesses prophesying, covers the same period of time as the trampling.
I've already argued this morning that prophecy, in the Revelation sense, has to do with being a faithful witness to Jesus. Prophecy, is evangelism.
I've also argued already this morning that John, and the two witnesses, are prophesying in the window of time between the sixth and seventh trumpet blast. We find ourselves on the very edge of the end of all things. And in this window, John and the two witnesses are called to faithfully tell people about Jesus.
Now, who are these two witnesses? People act like this is a hard question to answer, but verse 4 tells us (smirking):
(4) These ones are the two olive trees and the two lampstands-- the ones before the Lord of the earth standing (Zechariah 4:1-14; "standing before the Lord"= same as Rev. 7:9, 15),
For people who read Revelation literally, the identity of the two witnesses is straightforward. The two witnesses are talking olive trees-- like something out of Lord of the Rings (or perhaps one will be Groot). So we should expect God at some point to breathe his Spirit into two olive trees, and they will travel around the world telling people about Jesus. At the same time, these olive trees have lampstands, I guess on top of their heads. So they don't have a normal canopy.
Now, we maybe find ourselves thinking that this is unlikely. We've seen lots of symbols, and we've gotten the sense that we are supposed to read into them. So who are the two olive trees?
Let's turn to Zechariah 4:1-14 (NRSV updated no reason):
4 The angel who spoke with me came again and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 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. 7 What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”
8 Moreover, 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. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the LORD that range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees that pour out the oil[a] through the two golden pipes?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed [literally: "sons of oil"] ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
We see here that one of the olive trees is the king Zerubbabel. He is called "a son of oil," and he pours oil out of himself. The other olive tree, not mentioned in this chapter, is the priest Joshua. And these together, are one lampstand.
The olive oil here is a symbol of two related things. The first, is that it's a symbol of God's Spirit. Verse 6: "Not by might, nor my power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." And these two have been anointed by the Spirit for a ministry of power. They will be lights, that shine for God.
How does this relate to us? There's two clues here, in just Revelation 11:4, that tell us that we are supposed to see ourselves here.
The first clue is in Revelation 1:20 (NRSV updated no reason):
20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
We, the churches, are lampstands. Revelation has already explained the meaning of this symbolism to us.
The second clue is in the language about "standing before the Lord." We've seen this language repeatedly over the past several chapters. Who can stand before the wrath of God and of the Lamb? (Revelation 6:16). And the answer is, the church-- those who faithfully come through the tribulation, and now stand before the throne (Revelation 7:9, 15).
So we aren't supposed to read the OT, and literally conclude that the two witnesses are Zerubbabel and Joshua. We are supposed to read Zechariah 4, in combination with Revelation, and understand that we are like them. We are kings, like Zerubbabel. We are priests, like Joshua. And we are empowered by the Holy Spirit for ministry, to shine for Jesus.
So I would just encourage you here, to be brave, and see yourselves in this picture. You are a kingdom of priests, who reign in Christ. You are lampstands, who shine for Jesus. And you prophesy, telling people about Jesus, in the time of the first six trumpets, before the final trumpet blows.
And why are there two witnesses? One explanation, is that in the OT, every matter needed to be established by two or three witnesses. Another explanation, is that this is designed to make you think about yourself, working in partnership with other Christians (Luke 10:1). You are one of the witnesses, testifying about Jesus. And you are not alone. You serve God as priests, in community.
Verse 5:
(5) and if anyone, them, wishes to harm, fire comes out from their mouths, ["wishes to harm" is focused, maybe?]
[Jeremiah 5:14]
and it consumes their enemies,
and if anyone, wishes, them, to harm, in this way he must be killed. [not sure what's focused; Runge thinks it's "in this way"].
Lots of people, reading this verse, find themselves thinking about Elijah, calling down fire on his enemies. However, not only is that not exactly how those stories go, but there's actually a closer parallel. Let's turn to Jeremiah 5:14 (NIV no reason):
14 Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says:
“Because the people have spoken these words,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire
and these people the wood it consumes.
Even in Jeremiah, this is symbolic language. God didn't make Jeremiah's audience into wood, and Jeremiah didn't go around setting people on fire. Jeremiah's words were like a fire, harming people.
How should we understand the symbolism in Revelation?
When you tell people about Jesus, you'll find that you run into opposition. Tell people that Jesus is THE way and THE truth and THE life, and some will be offended. Tell them that gross immorality is sin, and they will be offended. The Holy Spirit actively convicts the world of sin. They know it's sin. But no one wants to hear it. Your words are like a light, shining on their wickedness. And your words are like a fire, harming them. And some of those people will respond, by wanting to harm you.
What verse 5 teaches, is that they will be unsuccessful. Anyone wanting to harm you will be killed.
Now, you maybe find yourself struggling with this. We know lots of Christians have been killed. And Revelation told us about one martyr, Antipas, who died for Jesus.
One possible solution, that I'm not sure is right, is to think about these two witnesses together, corporately, as the church.
If we think about this in terms of the church, more than individual Christians, it makes perfect sense.
When we look at church history, we see that in different parts of the world, at different times, people have tried to harm it. They've tried to wipe out the church, and there have been times and places (China) where they've seemed successful.
But this apparent success ended up being an illusion. People and nations who actively try to harm the church, get killed. They will be unsuccessful. The church will live.
Does this mean that every single Christian will live? Can we apply it on a smaller scale? Let's just leave that as an open question for now.
Verse 6:
(6) These have the authority/power to shut heaven,
in order that rain, it doesn't rain during the days of their prophecy, [like Elijah]
and authority/power they have over the waters,
to turn them to blood, [like Moses]
and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they wish, [like Moses]
Here, the two witnesses do sound like Elijah, and they also sound like Moses. They do the same types of wonders. If we are still somehow trying to understand this symbolism literally, it's feeling really strained. The two witnesses are Zerubbabel, Joshua, Jeremiah, Elijah, and Moses. Two is not five.
But this makes perfect sense, when we realize we are supposed to see the church. The church, is a kingdom of priests, who reign, who do signs and wonders, and have great power on the earth. We are the ones who decide if California has an extended drought. We are the ones who decide when it gets rain. We have that authority, and power, because God gives us that authority and power. The expectation of the entire NT, is that healings, and miracles, and signs, and wonders, will follow after the church, wherever we go (John 14:12; Mark 16:15-18, and for a defense of the long ending, see Nicholas Lunn; Matthew 28:19-20, understanding that Jesus taught on casting out demons and healing the sick in Matthew 10:1, where it says Jesus gave his disciples "authority"; Luke 9:1; 10:1-19, especially Luke 10:19). And we can look around this room, and look at this community, and see hints of how this should work. We've seen people healed of arthritis, and vertigo, and cancer. We've seen shoulders, and hips, and backs, and knees, and feet, and hands, and wrists, and arms, and allergies, all healed. We've seen people receive new hearts. And we've seen all of this, through the laying on of hands in Jesus' name. Amusingly, some of the greatest miracles in our local area have been done for people who are part of cessationist churches.
The Christians who most loudly say the days of signs and wonders are done, are surrounded by people, and close friends and coworkers, who know otherwise.
Now, despite all of the wonders we've seen, I don't think we walk, yet, in the fullness of our authority. I think the two witnesses looks like a picture we are still reaching toward. It's a goal, to some degree, and not a current reality.
But just think about this picture, of a triumphant church, that walks the earth as a king. Jesus has given us authority, and power. These verses should make us feel like John, being sent by Jesus' giant angel. We are spiritual giants, and spiritual warriors. We are a kingdom of priests, and kings, empowered by the Spirit, who are unstoppable, and tell everyone about Jesus.
With this, we come to verse 7, and it's a shocker. Let's read through verse 12:
(7) and whenever they complete/fulfill their testimony, the beast coming up from the netherworld/abyss will
make with them a war/battle,
and he will conquer them,
and he will kill them,
(8) and their (plural!) body (singular!) [will be] upon the streets of the great city,
which is called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt,
where also their Lord was crucified,
(9) and they will see from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations/Gentiles their body (singular!) three and a half days,
and their bodies [plural!] he will not allow to be placed in a tomb,
(10) and the ones dwelling upon the earth will rejoice over them,
and they celebrate,
and gifts they will give to one another,
because these two prophets tormented/tortured the ones dwelling upon the earth,
(11)and after three and a half days, the breath/spirit of life from God entered into them,
and they stood upon their feet (again, "who can stand?", Rev. 6:17),
and great fear fell upon the ones seeing/observing them,
(12) and they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them,
"Ascend here!,"
and they ascended toward heaven in the cloud (just like Jesus),
and their enemies saw/observed them,
Let's start by talking about the great city, in verse 8. It's identified three ways here. First, the great city, spiritually, is named Sodom, the city famous in Genesis for its immorality. Second, the great city, spiritually, is named Egypt. Now, Egypt, I kid you not, is a country. So a literal reading is awkward. But Revelation tells us that this is a spiritual naming. And the great city is called Egypt, to highlight its relationship to God's people. Egypt is famous for the way it oppressed God's people. At the same time, what we see in verse 10 is that this oppression flows both ways. Egypt may oppress God's people, but God's people torment and torture the ones dwelling upon the earth. When we speak the truth about sin, and Jesus, it tortures people who know the truth, but refuse to acknowledge it.
So the great city has been called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt. Verse 8 also identifies the city as the place Jesus was crucified. Some people are tempted to take this literally, and identify this city in the end with Jerusalem, but I think this is a mistake. Later in Revelation, we will see the great city is consistently identified as Babylon, the great city that rules over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 21; cf. 17:6; 18:20, 24; verses are from Koester, Revelation, 500). And Babylon sounds an awful lot like Rome.
But in the end, the great city isn't Sodom, or Egypt, or Jerusalem, or Babylon, or Rome. It's bigger than that. We see in verse 9 that the citizens of the great city are from the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations. We see in verse 10 that the citizens are the ones dwelling upon "the earth." And this is the group of people who are idolaters, and immoral, and who kill Christians (Revelation 6:10). It's the group who refuses to repent. In the language of Revelation, we are not the ones dwelling on the earth.
So this is what I would say:
Any people, in any place and time, that resists the church, and refuses to accept its testimony, becomes part of the great city (following Ian Boxall). Any people that celebrates God's people being killed, is part of the great city. So when you see people rejoicing on Twitter when a Christian school is attacked, and Christians are killed, you are seeing the great city. When you see people mourning the death of the shooter, you are seeing the great city.
So assuming I'm right-- and there's certainly no agreement on much of this-- what do verses 7-11 teach us through symbol?
I think verse 7 is the key:
(7) and whenever they complete/fulfill their testimony, the beast coming up from the abyss will make with them a war/battle,
The church is a church of triumph, and victory, and power, and dominion up until the point that its testimony is completed. The church will be victorious, in its fight to tell people about Jesus. There are sealed, protected, until that mission is accomplished. But whenever the church completes its testimony, the beast rises up from the abyss (netherworld), and battles them, and kills them.
This picture we are seeing can be applied to both churches, and individual Christians.
If we view this as talking about churches, instead of individual Christians, we can see times in church history where this has played out. There have been many evil rulers who have tried to stamp out Christianity. They've banned meetings. They've criminalized being a Christian. They've killed Christians. And there have been times and places, where it looks like the church has disappeared. It looks like the church has lost. But what comes next, in those places, is that God breathes life into the church. It's reborn, rises up, and is vindicated by God in the sight of all.
If we view this as talking about individual Christians, what do we see? There are Christians who are killed for their faithful witness to Jesus. Most of the time, those deaths look like a senseless tragedy. Those Christians died too young. They died, despite being the most fruitful and committed members of the body. In Revelation 2, we read about Antipas being killed. That's a shock.
What verse 7 teaches, I think, is that each of us is kept safe, sealed, and measured until our testimony about Jesus is complete. When we have told the people about Jesus, that God intends us to, then we die.
Now, you maybe don't like any part of this at all. But this perspective sounds like Paul's, in Philippians 1:6, or in Acts. When Paul talks about being confident that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it, he's not talking about eternal security. He's talking about the mission of the church. Paul is confident, despite what's happened to him, that the Philippians will be successful in telling people about Jesus. Our lives don't matter. The mission matters. And Revelation teaches that the mission will be successful, and that you will be protected for evangelism.
The other thing we should see in verses 7-11, is how much these verses sound like they describe Jesus. Jesus went around with great authority and power, doing healings, and signs, and wonders. His words were like fire to his opponents. Although people tried to kill Jesus at various points in his ministry, they were unsuccessful. Jesus wasn't killed until his testimony was completed. When he died, it looked like he was defeated. But his story ends, with his being brought back to life, and called up into heaven, and vindicated in front of all.
We are supposed to hear all of these echoes, and understand that the path Jesus walked, is our own (and some of the details in the story that are awkward, and hard to apply symbolically, are related to drawing a parallel between Jesus' life, and the church's life). We boldly testify about Jesus to all. We live with great authority and power, because Jesus has given us great authority and power. We do healings and signs and wonders, as God's power flows through us (Acts 19:11; thanks Jeff! :). We do all of this, understanding that it might lead to suffering, and pain, and death. If that is our fate, we accept it. We have died to ourselves, and if that means a literal, physical death like Antipas's, then so be it.
And that, is the main thing we are supposed to learn from the two witnesses. See yourself, working in partnership with other Christians, boldly telling people about Jesus. Understand that this mission is the important thing, and that it might cost you your life.
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On the bodies unburied:
"This is to be interpreted symbolically. Though there have been instances of bodies literally left unburied for public ridicule, this description metaphorically suggests the ongoing shame and ridicule that the unbelieving world heaps on the testimony of the church, especially in her demise, and particularly on her martyrs" (Brighton, Revelation, 298-99).
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Verse 13:
(13) and in that hour a great earthquake happened,
and a tenth of the city fell,
and seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake,
and the rest became afraid,
and they gave glory to the God of heaven.
What is the result of our ministry? Everyone left in the great city becomes fearful, and they give glory to God. What we are seeing here (following most, maybe, but this is debated), is mass conversion. 9/10s of the great city-- everyone who survives-- gives glory to God.
[And the numbers here are obviously symbolic. We shouldn't say that the great city has 70,000 people, and 7,000 people died, but 63,000 become Christians. We are dealing with numbers symbolizing perfection and completeness-- 7x1,000.]
So chapter 9 had left off on this dark, hopeless note (Revelation 9:20-21). The first six trumpets did nothing to move people to repentance. People refused to turn from their idolatry, and immorality, and murders, and stealing. God's judgments, by themselves, didn't do what they needed to do.
But God never intended his judgments to work by themselves. Along with that, God commissions John, and He commissions the church, to prophesy-- to tell people about Jesus. And it's through this combination-- through us working in partnership with God-- that we move from the hopeless scene of chapter 9, to the scene in chapter 7 of people from every tribe, tongue and nation worshipping God in heaven. It's through our willingness to suffer, that the nations move from gloating over our dead bodies, to worshipping God in heaven.
Perhaps we look around our own little corner of the world, and it looks like a suburb of the great city. Perhaps everything looks hopeless, and lost. Perhaps we see God's judgments playing out all over the place, and despite that, people are blind, and clueless, and persist in their sin.
Things are only hopeless so long as we keep our mouths shut, out of fear. God expects us to be willing to suffer, like Moses, and Elijah, and Jeremiah, and Jesus. God expects us to be willing to give up our own lives, every day, in service to him. We will be protected, and sealed, until we finish our mission. Then, we die. But we will find that it's through sacrificial life and death, that we will be wildly successful.
Verses 14-19, I'll mostly just read:
(14) The second woe has left/departed. [Boxall, paraphrased: "We are part of the second woe, tormenting the ones dwelling on the earth."]
LOOK! The third woe is coming quickly!,
(15) and the seventh angel blew a trumpet,
and there was/became great/loud voices/sounds in heaven, saying (plural),
"The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of his Christ/Anointed One,
and He will reign forever and ever,"
(16) and the 24 elders-- the ones before God seated upon their thrones-- fell upon their faces,
and they worshipped/bowed down toward God, saying,
"We give thanks to you, O Lord-- the God, The Almighty, The One Who Is and The One Who Was--
because you have taken your great power,
and you reigned,
(18) and the nations were angry,
and your wrath came,
and the time of the dead to be judged,
and to give reward/wages to your slaves-- to the prophets and to the holy ones and to the ones fearing/revering your name-- the small and the great-- [SAME WORD AS VERSE 13, INCLUDES "THE ONES DWELLING ON THE EARTH"]
and to destroy/ruin the ones destroying/ruining the earth,
(19) and the temple of God opened-- the one in heaven--
and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple,
and there became/were lightnings and rumblings and thunders and an earthquake and great hail.
I just want to say three things about these verses.
First, see that the seventh trumpet brings the end of everything. At that point, God takes ownership of the world, and judges the living and the dead. The book could end here, logically. But we will find that Revelation reloops again. So we need to resist the urge to try to read Revelation, as though it's in chronological order.
Second, look at verse 18, and the ones "destroying the earth." We tend to think about destroying the earth in environmental terms-- cutting down trees, eating meat instead of bugs, using natural gas instead of "clean" wind power. But in the thought world of Revelation, the world is being ruined by gross, terrible sin-- by idolatry, immorality, murders, and stealing. When you think about the world being ruined, think about downtown San Francisco or Portland being hollowed out due to crime. The world to come won't be plagued by these problems.
The third thing I want you to see is also in verse 18. At the world's end, in verse 18, there are still people who are ruining the earth. Not everyone, literally, fears God and gives him glory. So this is a cautionary note, that should keep us from over interpreting verse 13. Verse 13 teaches that we will be wildly successful in our mission, as we are willing to suffer and die for Jesus. But it doesn't teach that literally everyone left alive will become a Christian before the end of the world. [Revelation isn't teaching universalism in verse 13].
Translation:
(11:1) and a measuring rod was given to me, similar to a rod, saying, [Ezekiel 40:3]
"Rise!,
and measure the temple of God [a symbol of the church: Revelation 1:5-6; 3:12]
and the altar [Revelation 5:8; 6:9-11; 8:3; contrast Daniel 8:11]
and the ones worshipping/bowing down in it, [Rev. 1:5-6]
(2) and the outer courtyard of the temple throw outside (=leave outside?)
and don't, it, measure, [what's focused is ambiguous here]
because it was given to the nations/Gentiles,
and the holy city, they will trample/tread on for 42 months, [the holy city is the church, not
Jerusalem; Revelation 3:12]
(3) and I will give to my two witnesses,
and they will prophesy for 1,260 days (which =42 months),
having been dressed/clothed in sackcloth.
(4) These ones are the two olive trees and the two lampstands-- the ones before the Lord of the earth standing ("standing before the Lord"= same as Rev. 7:9, 15),
(5) and if anyone, them, wishes to harm, fire comes out from their mouths,
and it consumes their enemies,
and if anyone, wishes, them, to harm, in this way he must be killed. [not sure what's focused; Runge thinks it's "in this way"].
These have the authority/power to shut heaven,
in order that rain, it doesn't rain during the days of their prophecy,
and authority/power they have over the waters,
to turn them to blood,
and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they wish,
(7) and whenever they complete/fulfill their testimony, the beast coming up from the netherworld/abyss will make with them a war/battle,
and he will conquer them,
and he will kill them,
(8) and their (plural!) body (singular!) [will be] upon the streets of the great city,
which is called, spiritually, Sodom and Egypt,
where also their Lord was crucified,
(9) and they will see from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations/Gentiles their body (singular!) three and a half days,
and their bodies [plural!] he will not allow to be placed in a tomb,
(10) and the ones dwelling upon the earth will rejoice over them,
and they celebrate,
and gifts they will give to one another,
because these two prophets tormented/tortured the ones dwelling upon the earth,
(11)and after three and a half days, the breath/spirit of life from God entered into them,
and they stood upon their feet (again, "who can stand?", Rev. 6:17),
and great fear fell upon the ones seeing/observing them,
(12) and they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them,
"Ascend here!,"
and they ascended toward heaven in the cloud (just like Jesus),
and their enemies saw/observed them,
(13) and in that hour a great earthquake happened,
and a tenth of the city fell,
and seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake,
and the rest became afraid,
and they gave glory to the God of heaven.
(14) The second woe has left/departed.
LOOK! The third woe is coming quickly!,
(15) and the seventh angel blew a trumpet,
and there was/became great/loud voices/sounds in heaven, saying (plural),
"The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of his Christ/Anointed One,
and He will reign forever and ever,"
(16) and the 24 elders-- the ones before God seated upon their thrones-- fell upon their faces,
and they worshipped/bowed down toward God, saying,
"We give thanks to you, O Lord-- the God, The Almighty, The One Who Is and The One Who Was--
because you have taken your great power,
and you reigned,
(18) and the nations were angry,
and your wrath came,
and the time of the dead to be judged,
and to give reward/wages to your slaves-- to the prophets and to the holy ones and to the ones fearing/revering your name-- the small and the great--
and to destroy/ruin the ones destroying/ruining the earth,
(19) and the temple of God opened-- the one in heaven--
and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple,
and there became/were lightnings and rumblings and thunders and an earthquake and great hail.
