Revelation: Chapter 11
Setting
As seen in the chronology of Revelation, John is viewing the events of this chapter from both earth and heaven where the tribulation temple is measured, the two witnesses’ testimony is given, and also in heaven the 24 elders and the heavenly tabernacle are seen.
| Verses | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | The tribulation temple |
| 3-14 | Two witnesses |
| 15-18 | The seventh trumpet and the songs in heaven |
| 19 | The heavenly temple |
Israel continues to long for the resumption of their temple worship ever since General Titus destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the Jews were dispersed throughout the world, Deuteronomy 4:25-29. At some point around the beginning of the tribulation, Israel will be able to construct an operational temple, allowing them to practice the form of worship of their forefathers under the law of Moses, but without the Spirit of the Lord, as described in Ezekiel 37:1-8. They still suffer God’s Word against them, as stated in Isaiah 6:9-10, and will continue in this condition until the mid-tribulation, when God will fulfill the remaining prophetic passages in Ezekiel 37:1-28 regarding the nation of Israel.
- At some point in the first half of the tribulation, Israel will be able to bring into fruition their many detailed plans to construct, cleanse, and operate a temple during the tribulation
- However, God’s Spirit is not within the tribulation temple, but within His two witnesses outside of the temple during the first half of the tribulation
- All of the events in this chapter are tied to the passages in Haggai 1:1-15 - Haggai 2:1-23, and Zechariah 2:1-13 - Zechariah 3:1-10, and Ezekiel 40:3
In Revelation 11:1, John is given a reed to measure, similar to what is described in Ezekiel 40:3 when an angel was measuring the millennial temple, and Zechariah 2:1-2, when an angel measured Jerusalem. John was instructed to measure the temple of God, the altar (which implies sacrificial offerings had already begun), and to count the worshipers. It is believed that the tribulation temple will reside with the Mosque of Omar, on the Temple Mount. John was told to measure or count:
- The temple of God
- The altar, which means the sacrificial offerings, had already begun
- count the worshipers
However, note that the measurements and the count are never given, which is unlike any other description of any tabernacle or temple in Israel's past. Many people are eagerly anticipating the construction of this temple and are showing great excitement. It is arguable that, compared to all the other temples built in Israel's history, or the tabernacle, this temple is not held in high regard by God, given that only two verses are attributed to it, the glory of the Lord never fills it, and its measurements are never specified. This temple’s purpose is to fulfill prophecy (as seen below) and serve as a warning to the children of Israel and the world concerning the Antichrist.
In Revelation 11:2, John was told not to measure the outer court because it had been given to the Gentiles. This is the time when the Gentiles rule and influence Israel and Jerusalem, as described in the prophetic dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:31-45. Here, the city of Jerusalem will be trampled upon for only 42 months further before the end of the Gentile rule and their influence over it, and the return of Jesus Christ with His saints, and the establishment of the Lord's millennial rule. Note that the time given indicates the temple has been constructed and operational by the mid-tribulation period. Still, it does not specify how long it was in operation during the first half of the tribulation. Neither the commencement of the temple's construction nor its completion is given in scripture.
The tribulation temple, unlike all the others in Israel’s past and future prophetic history, has little written about it. The others have chapters describing the physical structure and the order of worship. The tribulation has two verses devoted to it, showing the Lord’s disregard for it because they have not accepted Jesus as Messiah. The purpose of the tribulation temple is to fulfill scripture and to serve as a sign to believing Israelites. Just as Jesus prayed, that only one of the twelve was lost, Judas Iscariot, to fulfill scripture, John 17:12. Daniel prophesied that there would be an operational temple in the 70th week of years, Daniel 9:27, which the Antichrist would confirm with a seven-year covenant with Israel. Still, midway through it, he would break the covenant and cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. Then Jesus used the temple as a sign to warn Israel that when they saw the abomination of desolation that Daniel had spoken of, they were to flee into the mountains, Matthew 24:15.
Although the start of the temple's construction is not specified, it is assumed that the signing of the seven-year covenant with the Antichrist will serve as the legal instrument that enables Israel to build a temple on the Temple Mount at the beginning of the tribulation. Although some argue that this is not Jerusalem, this website holds the belief that the prophecies concerning the Gentile rule began in Daniel 2:1-49 and are based on the conquest of the city, fitting in context with the rest of Revelation 11:8.
Based on the prophetic calendar of 360 days in a year, 42 months equals exactly 3 1/2 years, or 1,260 days. Jerusalem and the temple are the rule of prophetic time used to describe the end of Gentile domination or influence over them. This was prophesied in Daniel 2:42-45, where the stone not cut by hands will destroy the last Gentile kingdom and turn them into dust.
As Israel builds the tribulation temple based on the Mosaic law, it will firmly demonstrate Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their Messiah. God disapproves of this temple. His lack of regard is shown by the little that is written concerning it, and none of the measurements by John are recorded. As Jesus approached Jerusalem on His triumphal entry, He wept when He saw the city, and they did not know the hour of His visitation, Luke 19:41-44.
There are several references to tabernacles and temples in scripture. The following table is a summary of them.
| # | Sanctuary/Temple | Passage | God's Glory Shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The heavenly sanctuary | Exodus 25:8-9 Hebrews 8:1-2, 5 |
Yes Revelation 11:19 Revelation 15:8 |
| 2 | The tabernacle | Exodus 25-40 plus, many other passages |
Yes Exodus 40:33-35 |
| 3 | Solomon's temple | 2Chronicles 2-5 plus many other passages | Yes 2Chronicles 5:13-14 |
| 4 | Zerubbabel's temple | The book of Ezra and other passages | No |
| 5 | Herod's temple | Throughout the gospels Matthew 24:1-2 |
No |
| 6 | The body of Christ
|
John 2:21
|
The body of Christ is one with Him John 17:20-23 |
| 7 | The tribulation temple | Revelation 11:1-2 | No |
| 8 | The millennial temple | Ezekiel 40-48 | Yes Ezekiel 48:35 |
The Temple in Heaven, Revelation 11:19: John observes the temple of God, opened in heaven, and he saw the ark of His testament in the temple. John also saw lightning, heard thunder, felt an earthquake, and witnessed great hail.
The Tabernacle of Moses: This was the place for worship during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Exodus 40, and in use until the inauguration of Solomon's Temple.
Solomon's Temple: The construction of this temple by Solomon was a fulfillment of David's desire to build a "house for the LORD" - a desire which he was never to realize in his lifetime, 2Samuel 7:1-29. The temple was built after the death of David and dedicated by his son, as described in 1 Kings 8:1-66. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar destroyed this temple at the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, according to Jeremiah. 32:28-44.
Zerubbabel's Temple: This is the one under construction during the ministry of the prophet Zechariah. It was completed and dedicated in 516 BC, as mentioned in Ezra 6:1-22. It was constructed under the direction of Zerubbabel, as mentioned in Ezra 3:1-8 and Ezra 4:1-14, who was a descendant of David, 1Chronicles 3:19. The temple was desecrated around 167 BC by Antiochus Epiphanes.
Herod's Temple: Restoration of Zerubbabel's temple began in 19 BC under the administration of Herod the Great, Matthew 24:1-2. The temple was nearing completion in AD 70, after nearly 90 years of renovation and enlargement, when the Romans destroyed it. Since this time, there has been no temple in Jerusalem.
The Temple of the Body of Christ: Jesus spoke of raising His temple in three days following its destruction, John 2:21. There is a temple in which the Lord reigns at present. According to 1Corinthians 6:19 and 2Corinthians 6:16-18, the present temple of the Lord is the heart of the believers. There the Lord reigns until the day when the Messiah will return and set up his earthly kingdom and the millennial temple.
The Tribulation Temple of Revelation 11:1-2: This temple will be constructed during the Tribulation by the Antichrist. It is mentioned in 2Thessalonians 2:4 as the site for the abomination of desolation, as described by the prophet Daniel 9:27 and Jesus in Matthew 24:15. This temple will be destroyed with the kingdom of the Antichrist at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the tribulation.
The Millennial Temple: This is the temple that is described in detail in Ezekiel 40:1-42:20. It is the temple that the prophet Zechariah has in view in Zechariah 6:12-13. It will be built by the Messiah Himself, who will rule in it as the righteous Priest-King of His millennial kingdom, Zechariah 6:13. The sons of Zadok will be assigned the priestly duties, Ezekiel 40:46; Ezekiel 43:19; Ezekiel 44:15; Ezekiel 48:11. Several articles present in previous temples will be missing: there will be no veil; there will be no table of showbread as the living Bread will be present; there will be no lamp stands as the Light of the world will be present; there will be no ark of the covenant since the Shekinah Glory will hover over the world. The brazen altar of sacrifice will again be used for animal sacrifices. During the millennium, millions of children will be born and reared by saved parents who survived the Tribulation. Despite their ideal environment, however, these "kingdom kids" will still need the new birth. What object lessons can be used to reach them? They will grow up without knowing fear, experiencing pain, witnessing hatred, taking drugs, or seeing a jail. The sacrificial system will be restated to function as:
- A reminder to all of the necessity of the new birth
- An object lesson of the costliness of salvation
- An example of the awfulness of sin
- An illustration of the holiness of God
The Eternal Temple of His Presence: This temple was presented in Revelation 21:22. John says there will be no physical temple in the eternal kingdom because "...the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple". This temple will be the greatest of all, and it will be the focus of the eternal kingdom.
It is interesting to note the timescales used by God in Revelation and the book of Daniel. The Lord is not capricious in the use of words or measures in scripture. Forty-two months is the time measure God uses to describe the Gentile’s influence over Israel, Revelation 11:2. Based on the Jewish prophetic calendar of 360 days in a prophetic year, there are 42 months, which equals exactly 3 ½ years, or 1,260 days. Jerusalem and the temple are the physical, geographic, and temporal centers over which the rule of prophetic time is used to describe the end of Gentile domination or influence over them. In Daniel’s dream, he saw a stone not cut by hands, destroy and consume the last Gentile kingdom, and turn all remnants and remembrances of those Gentile nations into dust, Daniel 2:42-45. God reveals the full extent of the Gentile rule over Israel when describing the duration of the Antichrist’s reign, which is again 42 months, as stated in Revelation 13:5. Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 are the only instances where God uses 42 months as a time measure, which describes the Gentile influence over Israel. The other instance in Revelation using months as a time scale is the five months of judgment for the whole world, as described in the fifth trumpet, Revelation 9:5, 10. The following table is a summary of the time scales God uses.
| Time scale | References | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 1,260 days | Revelation 11:3 Revelation 12:6 |
Dealing with the nation of Israel |
| 42 months | Revelation 11:2 Revelation 13:5 |
Addressing the Gentile nations |
| Time, times and half a time | Daniel 7:25 Daniel 12:7 Revelation 12:14 |
Addressing the remnant, or believing portion of Israel |
Once the tribulation temple is fully operational, its days are numbered. At the end of the tribulation, this temple will be destroyed along with the Antichrist. He will be consumed by the spirit of the Lord’s mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness of His (Jesus’) coming, 2Thessalonians 2:8. Nothing of this temple will be reused in the Lord’s millennial temple. When the Lord sets His feet on the mount of Olives at the end of the tribulation, there will be an enormous earthquake that will break the mountain in two parts, one part will move to the north, and the other will move southward, creating a great valley between the two parts, Zechariah 14:4. The Lord will then make His temple and rule from it during His millennial reign over the world, which is described in detail in Ezekiel 40-48. The Lord will also build a new city to the south of the temple, as stated in Ezekiel 45:6-7.
In Revelation 11:3, John reports that immediately, after the two verses on the tribulation temple, the Lord reveals His two witnesses. The Spirit of God is not seen inside the tribulation temple, but rather outside the temple and within His two witnesses. The description of their activities follows the two verses on the tribulation temple; however, these activities occur in the first half of the tribulation. The witnesses will only prophesy for 1,260 days, or 3 1/2 years, and be clothed in sackcloth, which was worn for mourning and penitence, as seen in Joel 1:13 and Jonah 3:5-6. Their identity is not given, but scripture points to Elijah as one of them, Malachi 4:5-6, and Luke 1:13-17.
In Revelation 11:4, the Lord refers to the two witnesses as the two olive trees and lamp stands that stand before him. This allegory dates back to the vision of Zechariah, Zechariah 4:1-3, during the construction of Zerubbabel's temple, and when Joshua was the high priest, as mentioned in Haggai 1:12-14. Zerubbabel was a king in the line of David, and Joshua was the high priest, pointing to Jesus Christ, who is the Priest-King after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:14-17, Psalms 110:1-4). The two witnesses are anointed to serve, so the oil represents the Holy Spirit, Zechariah 4:6, 14, and to serve the Lord of all the earth, Zechariah 4:14. The role of these witnesses is to prepare for the Lord's kingdom and His temple that He will build in His time, not man's time as in the first two verses that described the building of the tribulation temple.
The following information is from a wonderful website, Jesus Plus Nothing, which show the possible identity of the two witnesses. Some scriptural references to consider are:
- Elijah is specifically said to come again before the great and terrible day of the Lord, Malachi 4:5
- Moses and Elijah were seen with Jesus, Matthew 17:1-13
- Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets of the Old Testament
- Both Moses and Elijah had unusual ends to their ministry. Moses died early without losing any strength, Deuteronomy 34:7, and Elijah was taken into heaven without seeing death, 2Kings 2:11. Perhaps their earthly ministries are still to be completed?
- The days and ministries of both Moses and Elijah point to the last days. Moses' judgments upon Egypt speak to what is to come in the Tribulation. Elijah's 3 1/2 years of drought with no rain also point to this period
In Revelation 11:5-6, the Lord gives the two witnesses powers to protect them and to judge the world. Their judgment is concurrent with the six trumpet judgments. Some of these judgments by the two witnesses include:
- Fire comes out of their mouths to devour their enemies, 2Kings 1:9-12
- They are given the power to stop the rain, 1Kings 17:1, Luke 4:25-26, James 5:17-18
- The two witnesses can turn water to blood, which compounds the judgment of the second trumpet where 1/3 of the sea is turned to blood, Revelation 8:8-9
- The plague on Egypt turning water into blood is repeated here, Exodus 7:17-21
- The Lord gives them power to strike the earth, the whole world, with every kind of plague as often as they want
- As the Lord's two witnesses, they inflict judgment and death, Deuteronomy 17:6-7
- Their testimony is concurrent with the 144,000 sealed witnesses, Revelation 7:4-8, and the multitude of tribulation saints under the altar, Revelation 6:9-11, who are slain for their testimony of Christ Jesus, after the Body-of-Christ is snatched away (raptured), and until the mid-tribulation
- The Lord alone determines when the two witnesses’ mission is complete, and then He will allow the beast to attack, overpower, and kill them, Revelation 11:7
Only the two witnesses are given these powers; scripture does not show that other believers in Christ Jesus possess these powers during the tribulation.
In Revelation 11:7-10, it is stated that the Lord alone determines when the testimony of the two witnesses is complete, and then the beast will be allowed to attack, overpower, and kill them. Upon their deaths, they will receive no respect. Their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem (the great city). At this time, the city of Jerusalem will be like Sodom (moral decadence) and Egypt (materialism and oppression) for 3 1/2 days. The whole world will be able to gaze upon the bodies of the two witnesses, the ones who plagued them for 3 1/2 years. Incredible as it may sound, the world will gloat and celebrate their deaths. The two witnesses' impact on the world must have been enormous to elicit such a worldwide reaction.
The impact of the two witnesses spanned the entire earth, though they were in Jerusalem, and:
- Their judgments had to have been very grievous on the unrighteous worldwide to elicit such an enormous, and spontaneous global response at their death
- Their witness of God was so powerful, the Antichrist, through sheer hatred, sought every opportunity to attack them, and he prevailed only when God allowed it, 2Kings 1:9-15
In Revelation 11:11-14, God will resurrect only the two witnesses after they had been dead 3 1/2 days. There is no other general resurrection; only the two witnesses will come to life. As the world views and gloats over the bodies of the two witnesses rotting in the streets, terror will strike all of them, as they witness these two come to life. The two witnesses will hear a voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here," just like what John heard in Revelation 4:1. Immediately, they will be taken up in a cloud and out of full view of their enemies. This is similar to the time when Jesus was taken up and His disciples saw it, Acts 1:9. Afterward, there will be a severe earthquake (probably a local one, not a global one), and a tenth of Jerusalem will collapse. There will be 7,000 people of note (probably those accompanying the Antichrist when he enters Jerusalem) who will be killed, and the rest who survive will give glory to God. Still, they are not necessarily converted to belief in the gospel of Christ Jesus and accepting Him as their Messiah, as seen in 1Kings 18:36-39. The entire duration of the two witnesses' mission was the second woe, and their death occurred before the seventh trumpet sounded. Therefore, their ministry spanned the first half of the tribulation period, and their resurrection took place at the midpoint of the tribulation.
In Revelation 11:15-16, after the two witnesses have been resurrected, John hears the 7th trumpet blown to introduce the seven bowl judgments and the 3rd woe. He also hears loud voices in heaven. The kingdom of the world (not kingdoms since the Lord's reign will reign over the entire world as a single kingdom) is the Lord's. This is when God the Father promises the Son the kingdoms of this world, as seen in Psalm 110:1-7 and Psalm 2:4-12. This is the fourth of seven songs recorded in the Book of Revelation. The 24 elders also fall on their faces and worship God as they join in the praise of God. They outline the remaining events yet to occur. This is the third time the 24 elders appear in Revelation, and they also appear one more time: Revelation 4:10-11, Revelation 5:5, 8-10, Revelation 11:16-18, and Revelation 19:4.
In Revelation 11:17-18 is the outline of events yet to occur as sung by the 24 elders:
- The Lord is and was, Revelation 1:4, 8, Revelation 4:8, (omitting the term "who is to come," for He has arrived!)
- The nations were angry, Psalms 2:1-3
- God's wrath has come, Revelation 14:9-11, Revelation 16:17-21
- Judging the dead (the second resurrection and the great white throne judgment), Revelation 20:11-15
- Rewarding your servants, Revelation 22:12-17
In Revelation 11:19, John now views the events in heaven. The scene has shifted to God's temple in heaven, which is opened. John can see the Ark of the Covenant, which was not possible with the earthly temple. On earth, the Holy of Holies could only be entered once a year by the high priest of Israel. As in Revelation 4:5, there are flashes of lightning and thunder, but on Earth, an earthquake occurs, accompanied by a great hailstorm. This is the moment for preparing the final set of judgments. In Revelation 16:1-21, John reports seeing the bowls filled with the judgments that God will give out to the angels from the temple of God. This is a distinctive event that results in critical events on Earth, such as the earthquake, which is probably unique among any other earthquake event ever recorded. Although it is not stated, the whole world may experience this quake simultaneously, unlike natural events that are regional. This also occurred with the opening of the 6th seal in Revelation 6:12, and when the angel took the censer filled with fire from the altar and threw it to the Earth in Revelation 8:3-5 (without hail). This concludes with the emptying of the 7th bowl in Revelation 16:17-18. More will follow in the succeeding chapters in Revelation.