Revelation Chapter 11

Revelation 11:1

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, (ESV)

The measuring line is seen several times in scripture and can have a couple of different applications. One and the most obvious was for a measuring of a distance. In the old testament this almost always had to do with the temple in some way or in regards to Jerusalem. The second example was in regards to measuring if something (or usually someone), measured up to a degree of righteousness that was set by God. This very often was followed by some sort of punishment or destruction, as most of those measured failed to exceed expectations. And sometimes as in this passage the meaning seemed to contain elements of both examples. At first glance it seems as if John is told to go out and measure the temple and the altar; in other words go give us the dimensions of those places. This seems very logical because later he will be told to exclude the outer gate. But then we see that he is told also to measure “those who worship there”? This is further complicated by the fact that the reason he is given not to measure the outer gate is that it is given to the gentiles. So what could the measuring of people mean? The word used for staff here is the greek “kalamos” which was almost always used for a staff made of reed or a reed pen. The meanings of the word are interchangeable as a staff or a pen. So let's look at a prophecy where a pen was used in association with measuring people and the temple. In Ezekiel there is a vision of a MAN with a writing case at his waist. We have already established that John was here in order to write things down. The man in the vision was told to go throughout Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those that sigh and groan over the abominations that are committed in Jerusalem and he should start “at My sanctuary”. The six who were with him followed him slaughtering those who did not receive the mark on their foreheads. The dead were piled up in the courts of the temple to defile it. Could the one with the pen in Ezekiel’s vision be John? What we are not told is if he went out to finish measuring the rest of Jerusalem as in the Ezekiel vision but if we refer to the man that is told in Zechariah 2 to go and measure the whole of Jerusalem we might just be connecting the dots that God has left for us. In the next lessons this might become even more interesting as we continue to look at Zechariah’s prophecy concerning the role John and the two witnesses he sees will play.

ref: Ezekiel 42:15-20; Lamentations 2:8; Amos 7:17; Zechariah 2:1-13; Ezekiel 9:1-11

Revelation 11:2

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. (ESV)

Here we receive more clarification as to a further defiling upon the court outside where the dead bodies will be thrown. This court is given over to the gentile nations and it would seem that this is extended to the whole city of Jerusalem. It is not made clear if some of these nations will be Christian nations who are trampling Jerusalem. We would like to think that these are unbelievers that are doing this, and that may be so but most people agree that there will be people converted to Christianity during the tribulation time and what better way than to be in the very midst of the two witnesses that are about to come? What is somewhat clear is the timing of this. The nation will trample the city for 42 months. If you do the math that is 3 ½ years or 1260 days. All of these times are what we most often refer to as the tribulation, but many still maintain that the events in Revelation are mostly chronological. If that is true and these 42 months begin after the sixth trumpet, then the angel was lying when he said that there would be no more delay. Instead the beginning of this scene would have to had taken place at some earlier point that we have already discussed. We will continue to try and chip away at the revelation timeline.

Before we move forward, let’s begin discussing who the two witness may or may not be. There is a fairly significant group of people who believe that one of them may be John. They cite several verses for this, the first being just a few verses back when he was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings." The belief is that this was a prophecy of John coming back to this time period. They also say that Jesus was being mostly literal when He told Peter, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?" Both of these examples may very well be true and be happening in another way since John may be the one we spoke of yesterday who will show up at this time again to place marks on the foreheads of the worshipers.

ref: Ezekiel 9:1-11; Revelation 10:11; John 21:22

Revelation 11:3

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." (ESV)

In the old testament sackcloth was used when people were mourning, repentant or generally distressed. In this scene in Revelation one would have to think that these two witnesses must have all three of these sentiments happening at the same time, and for 3 ½ years.

I’m not going to go in very much detail with the argument of who these two witnesses might be until the next lesson. The most popular theories are that they are either Elijah and Moses or Elijah or Enoch. Most cite the latter due to both of these prophets were transitioned away from the earth without having seen death. That is a fairly straightforward statement. The former theory, and the most often believed is that they are Moses and Elijah. The thinking behind this is that they represent the given law and the prophets. The similarity goes further as they do many things that were done in the old testament by Elijah and Moses. For example; calling down fire, stopping the rain from falling, and call upon plagues. These are valid reasons and are hard to dispute. Other than the fact that there are those similarities, scripture doesn’t really speak about Elijah and Moses in this way. Scripture does say that Elijah will come again but it is referencing very clearly that it will be at the time Jesus came a few millennium ago. Jesus goes on to say Elijah had already come and that in fact, if we can accept it, that John the Baptist is Elijah who is to come. So, as with so many of His teachings, we don’t really accept what Jesus is saying about the subject when He tells us that John was that fulfillment of Elijah because we think it still remains for him to show up again. In the next lesson we will look at another possibility of who the two witnesses of the Lord may be.

ref: Malachi 4:5-6; Mark 9:13; Matthew 11:13-14

Revelation 11:4

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (ESV)

Two olive trees, two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth. If you use any type of bible that has commentary or footnotes it is likely when you look at this verse’s scripture references that it will refer somewhere to the book of Zechariah. Most of this book contains visions and prophecy of the events of Revelation so since it references this book, especially since it is referring to the olive trees and lampstands, it almost seems irresponsible to not look here for the identity of these two witnesses.

First we come across Joshua, the high priest, who is standing before the angel of the Lord and before Satan. Then the angel tells him, “If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts”. We know that the witnesses will be based in Jerusalem and that earlier the outer courts were not measured due to them being given over to the gentiles but it is still necessary for God to keep charge over these courts and that possibly being from Joshua. Also later in regards to Joshua it is said that God will send His servant the Branch (which is a prophecy regarding the Kingship of Jesus), and a stone with seven eyes (which is Jesus the cornerstone and the eyes being the spirits of God). All of these signs for Joshua are regarded as being set in these last days with Jesus becoming King and the cornerstone as well as God saying that in a single day He will remove the iniquity of the land. So it may be that Joshua ends up being one of the witnesses due to him being placed in this very position before the second coming of Jesus.

In Chapter 4 Zechariah sees a vision of a golden lampstand (symbolizing Jesus) with two olive trees, one on the right the other on the left. After he inquired about this it was told that before Zerubbabel that the “great mountain”, that being Babylon (Jer 51:25, Rev 8:8-9), would be made into a plain. Also it says that his hands would be used in completing the house of the Lord. Now this may play out in destruction of Babylon prophecy when it was said that he would bring forward the “headstone”, which is also a prophecy concerning Jesus as the anointed one. So he too may be a witness to the coming of our Lord at the final day.

It is important to note that these two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstands was/is a highly coveted position. At one point John and James’ mother asked Jesus if they could essentially be these olive trees and Jesus just commented that it was not His call to make, but that it was reserved for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.

ref: Zechariah 3-4; Psalm 118:22-24; Isaiah 28:16; Revelation 5:6; Jeremiah 51:25; Revelation 8:8-9; Genesis 28:18; Matthew 20:20-24

Revelation 11:5

If anyone wants to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and consumes their enemies; if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. (HCSB)

One thing is to be understood; they are protected. It is interesting the way this is worded here, that "if anyone wants to harm them". That makes me wonder if they will be given power to foresee what is happening or if someone actually has to be in process of causing them harm. In other words if I were there and inside my heart said, “I want to kill these men”, it would seem that I would then be killed by the fire coming from their mouths. Of course there are those that say that this is most likely symbolic and it won’t actually be fire coming out of their mouths. That may be but we must give some kind of recognition to John and what he saw; if he said fire came out of their mouths than it might just be fire coming out of their mouths. Its sad that we, as Christians, have no problem accepting that God would bring back someone who was most definitely dead, but find a problem with this former deceased person spewing fire from their mouths. One last thing that we must consider, even if the witnesses thought that this may be too harsh a punishment for someone who wants to harm them, it is not up to them to make that call; for scripture clearly states that they must be killed in that way. They are predestined to die from fire if they aim to harm these two olive trees that stand before the Lord of the earth.

Revelation 11:6

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 blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. (ESV)

So we have moved on from their specific powers toward their enemies and have entered in to their general powers over the earth and everyone else on it. This very verse is the most valid reason people have to believe that these two are Elijah and Moses. Between the two of them they shut up the sky from raining and performed all sorts of plagues. What we don’t know is if the whole of the sky will be shut up during the entire 3 ½ years of their prophesying or if they will just shut it up whenever they deem fit. To me the real miracle here is that it seems that these two men will be in total agreement with one another. We live in an age where we can’t hardly get two Christians to agree on the simplest theology, but we see these two men in total agreement about which plague will happen and at what time. And once again it is worthwhile to note that they have the control here; if they see that a plague needs to be delivered then they give that plague as often as they like. So it is easy to see why the people of the earth will come to hate them so much; that even though these plagues are still meant for people to turn toward God, it will still undoubtedly cause people to turn away from Him. Also they must continue this for 3 ½ years and I can’t help but wonder if in that time they will take a break from their work? Will they be completely sustained by God at this time or will this be a sunup to sundown type of work? That in itself ought to be enough for us to sit up and take notice that two men would devote their time, in sackcloth mind you, in mourning for the people of earth to repent from their ways at the coming of our Lord.

Revelation 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, (ESV)

Can you imagine the testimony these two men will give? They have lived a life on this earth and know what that’s like. Then they have spent at least some time if not a lot of time standing before the Lord of the earth and no doubt have learned some things. Many of us have heard testimonies in the church and some of them were powerful in our lives but I would dare to say that they pale in comparison to what these two have to say. The testimony they give has interwoven within it in a mighty way the very words of Jesus. There will be no hearing their message and picking it apart for theological misinterpretations or religious differences we may have grown accustomed to. It will consist of pure biblical fire coming into our ears with breaks and pauses for them to destroy their enemies. They continue this for 42 months and all the while Leviathan and the false prophet are most likely growing angry and more desperate as time moves forward.

Back in chapter 9, during the fifth trumpet we saw the bottomless pit was opened up by an angel. What we don’t know is if this beast was released at this time or perhaps before or after. It is mostly incomprehensible how much power this beast will actually hold. It is a creature without fear that is not able to be killed or harmed by mankind. It will reign supreme for no one is able to put the sword to it except for it’s Creator. That being said one has to wonder what is keeping it from destroying these witnesses at the first of their preaching. We will definitely discuss the beast at chp 13 but it may very well be God’s command alone that keeps the witnesses safe. I would go as far to say that even the fire coming from their mouths would have no affect on the creature. All these things will happen in God’s time and it may be that the first time the beast actually attacks the witnesses will be when their testimony is already done. They absolutely will not be killed before their appointed time; but they will at one point be attacked, overpowered and killed. Once this happens there should be not any more worrisome time for those still living on earth. The time for our Lord to return will be at hand and time will be short.

Revelation 11:8

and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. (ESV)

So we have Jerusalem possibly overrun with nations of gentiles, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the holy city would be spiritually referred to as Sodom and Egypt. In scripture, outside of Babylon, there are few places where decadence and debauchery and blatant disrespect for God reared its ugly head like it did these places. I can't help but wonder if the people and nations that love to practice these things will flock to Jerusalem at this time in order to practice these things in the very face of God's prophets. If there is one thing that is obvious in this day, its the lack of respect for those that truly proclaim the word of God, especially those who preach and teach. We often throw half studied bible verses at their teachings in order to spit on their efforts and to justify our lifestyles and lack of righteousness. We think because we read a meme that sounded like it came from the bible, we can discredit a man of God who has spent hundreds and thousands of hours in study and prayer. We no longer care about holiness but long to worship the fame of Egypt and the sexuality of Sodom. We have learned, especially the west, to hate those who are taking the word "too seriously", because they always suck the fun out of the sin we have come to love. It would seem that this will only increase in severity and hard heartedness to the point where it won’t affect our emotions in a negative way to see two men of God lying dead in the street.

Revelation 11:9

For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, (ESV)

When Jesus walked the earth the first time, He was sent for the lost sheep of Israel. He most certainly encountered gentiles during His ministry but His purpose was not for them, yet. The vast majority of His teachings and preachings were for and directed toward the Jews. He told Pilate that He came to testify to the truth, so it would stand to reason that these witnesses would also be testifying to that same truth, but just to a different people. The life and times of these two witnesses so closely resemble the life of Jesus that it cannot be a coincidence. Most scholars agree that Jesus’ ministry lasted for 3 ½ years just as these two witnesses. No man was able to take His life and it appears that no man is able to take theirs either. Furthermore, just as these lay dead for 3 ½ days, they are merely mimicking the length of time Jesus was dead as well. But you say, if Jesus died late on “good Friday” and rose early on “Easter Sunday”, that barely makes a day and a half; so what exactly have I been learning in church? In the face of tradition vs. Jesus we must believe Jesus at every turn, so let's take a moment to correct our learnings about the death of our Savior.

First we have the words of Jesus saying, “the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Now using the Jewish timeframe of that day, evening or sundown started a new day (today would be about 6pm), so if we take this back that would have Jesus eating the passover meal on a Tuesday night and being delivered to the religious officials and before Pilate all on what we would call wednesday morning; mostly if not entirely before sun-up. The sun was darkened between what we call 12pm-3pm and it seems shortly after Jesus was dead. That same evening (Wed), Joseph asked for His body, that he can lay Him in his tomb, since it was the day of preparation before the Sabbath (special Sabbath). All day Thursday Jesus was in the tomb and no one did any work since it was a high Sabbath. On Friday that’s when the women prepared the spices that they were going to be taking to the tomb for Jesus’ body. On Saturday they again rested for it was the Sabbath, and then early in the morning on the first day of the week (Sunday) is when they appeared at the tomb to find it empty. That would make the words of Jesus true in that He spent 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.

The main difference we see between these two instances is that the two witnesses are refused burial. This would preclude that there seems to be some decent people, possibly Christians, who would naturally want to have these men buried with some form of dignity and yet nations of people will win out, leaving these men to lie in the streets for all to see.

ref: John 18:37; John 10:18; Matthew 12:40; Matthew 27:45-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 24:1

Revelation 11:10

and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. (ESV)

What a curious verse this is. The people living on the earth will rejoice when the beast conquers the two men and will send each other presents, because they had been tormented. It would appear that the beast in a real way will become their savior, for killing the men that made life unbearable to live. The strange part here is why they would send each other gifts because of it. This word gift as used throughout the new testament was almost always used as a gifting of honor, pledge or as a offering or sacrifice. One thing is certain, that every time this word was used it was by someone that was professing some sort of faith. It is the same word for the gifts that were brought when Jesus was born; and it is the same as a gift offered as a sacrifice or the money given into the temple treasury. So it would make one wonder why all these people will be exchanging these gifts and will it also entail at least some of those professing Christians that are dwelling on the earth? I can’t help but envision different churches throughout the earth gathering together in these few days after they are killed and having revivals of sorts due to the fact that the tormenting has been brought to an end. Finally after 3 ½ years their prayers are being answered and God has delivered them from this agony, of which most believe that they were not supposed to endure because the rapture hasn't come. After all for some time now the beast and false prophet have been blessing them with freedom and land while these two men brought forth a terrible plague that could only have come from Satan. Multiply that by a few years and several million deaths and all of a sudden the beast becomes a hero and the men of God become the enemies. Never before had we seen punishment like this and it was certainly not anything that most of our spiritual leaders had prepared us for so these men must represent pure evil. Therefore it is no wonder why these people take part in a 3 ½ day worship service, joyful and bearing gifts because finally the evil ones have been destroyed and life can finally resume normally again...

Revelation 11:11

And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. (KJV)

Too often we read these events in Revelation and wonder how people can just blatantly not follow God even though all of these things are happening just as the bible said they would. As Christians we get all in an uproar about the movement over putting microchips in our hands to make our lives easier because some kind of way we will accidentally receive the mark of the beast in this way. Well let me paint you another picture. At the end millions of people will be dying and we will be tortured by all sorts of plagues. At some point two men will show up and will begin preaching fervently about God in a way we possibly have never seen before. These men will be unyielding and uncompromising to the point of producing their own plagues and shooting fire out of their mouths. They will most likely look middle eastern and will be wearing sackcloth which will give us, especially in the west, pause. Because most people believe they will be someone who came before they will be looking the part and will most likely be wearing turbans as well. They will very closely be resembling what we envision Muslims to look like. They will be killing people in the name of God, and since we have never really looked into the world's religious differences we won’t know any better. And right when we have had enough of these “Muslims”, a beast that cannot be hurt by men, finally comes to our rescue and kills these unwanted visitors. Something like a party ensues and I would be willing to bet that most Christians at this point would be willing to do near anything the beast wants, especially as something as accepted as getting a tattoo upon your hand or head. In us we see no problem disobeying God and getting tattoos anyway, especially when we get to idealize our favorite sport or pop culture figure and there will be no greater hero of the day then the beast. The party continues when all of a sudden…

The Spirit of life from God enters the men and they stand up. Fear falls upon them that see this and rightly so. What might have happened to you these last three days? In hindsight we would call it “the calm before the storm”, but these men had tormented the earth so at least a part of most people would have been relieved by their death (even if you weren’t their enemies). Even as Christians we read about the events in the bible and are somewhat skeptical about their legitimacy. Was Lazarus really dead and then raised to life? Possibly or it could have been some kind of mistake. He could have been swooning as some claim Jesus did, and that he didn’t really die. Utter nonsense. At least in this day and time we will get to explore the legitimacy of their deaths to find out they are actually dead and then be gripped with fear when we see them actually come alive. These are the type of events, that when put before us, we begin to question the allegiances and faith we have exhibited toward God on this earth...and this is just the beginning of our fear and troubles...

ref: Zechariah 3:5

Revelation 11:12

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. (ESV)

What a sight to behold. Everyone standing around and possibly tuned in from all over the globe; watching in amazement at these two men who were very obviously dead and now live. Everything you thought you knew up until that point is in process of being shattered. We don’t know how long exactly they will be standing there alive but at least long enough for everyone to take notice. Scripture says here that they heard a loud voice from heaven so we don’t know if they are the only ones that get to hear that, but how exciting would that be? To actually hear the loud voice of God thundering from heaven in itself would be enough to make you fall prostrate and begin worshipping. He calls to them to come up to heaven and they can’t help but follow these instructions. Many questions are left to us at this point such as, were their bodies hurt or bloodied badly from being overpowered by the beast? Are there going to be anybody with enough courage or gall to want to approach these two or is that great fear so gripping where the world literally stops for this period of time? Either way, they are seen by their enemies leaving the earth in much the same way Jesus did and just as the disciples were, I’m sure everyone will have jaws dropped not having any idea about what this means or what to expect next. Will they at that point begin searching for the beast for answers to what just happened or will those on the earth finally begin turning to the God of heaven for guidance and deliverance? Time for repentance on the earth is drawing close to an end and our troubles are just beginning.

Revelation 11:13

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. (ESV)

There are many different speculations of what is happening here; ranging from this being a literal event that happens to the entire scenario being a metaphor of something else, usually in the realm of the gentiles moving in and killing 7,000 Jews. Some even go as far to say that the city that falls is not the city that this takes place in but is in fact Rome that is destroyed. In the face of a lack of scripture further explaining that something else might be happening, we must go with a more literal interpretation, saying that at the hour the two are taken up a great earthquake occurs and a tenth of the city fell. Now some would claim that the tenth falling is actually people consisting of 7,000 people and I don’t really see a problem with that but the population of Jerusalem will have to fall dramatically before this point for the math to work, even in the face of half of the earth already dying in all the previous disasters we’ve encountered. A disproportionate number of Jerusalem citizens would have to perish in order for this to be the case, which may very well happen due to most of these events taking place around the holy land. Either way 7,000 people are killed in this earthquake but it is not for nothing, for the rest then become terrified and give glory to God. This is one of the answers why bad things continue to happen in the world; not so we can criticize God for the decisions that only He can make, but to glorify Him in those decisions even if it be God destroying a tenth of the city to make us finally fear Him. In this case as it is in life the goal is to give God the glory due Him.

Revelation 11:14

The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. (ESV)

Two out of the three woes are behind us and the world is very glad to be rid of this last woe. If we believed the first woe was the working of evil (under the eye of God), then this woe would have to be hated that much more being as there would be no doubt that it is from the Lord. All of the prophecies regarding Jesus will be coming more and more quickly and will seem to boggle the mind as we move forward because of the amount of events that will be played out in a very short period of time. It was said that if everything had been written down that Jesus did the first time He was here the world couldn’t contain the books; that would certainly be the case in His second coming. Behold, the third woe is coming soon.

Revelation 11:15

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (ESV)

Finally we have arrived at the final trumpet and it should be a time for celebration but may turn out to be a dreadful day and last of the three woes. Of this trumpet it is written, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God”, and again, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” So this seventh and final trumpet is the call for many things to begin happening. First dealing with the text, the trumpet begins the reign of God and His Messiah on earth as it is in heaven. If that sounds familiar it is part of the model prayer Jesus gave to us teaching us how we should pray. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Christians have been praying this for a couple thousand years just as Jesus had taught us and seemingly have not given much thought to what we were actually asking. We have been asking for His kingdom and will to come to earth the same as it is in heaven and yet it seems that the goal as most of us believe is to get to heaven. In the end, that is not where the Godhead will reside, they will be on earth (whether it be new or old) as an answer to our prayers. No, the goal is to be where our Lord Jesus and our heavenly Father is and this trumpet call is the beginning stages of that. His kingdom will come and He shall reign forever and ever.

Another item on the agenda will be the fulfillment of the mystery that not all will sleep but we all will be changed in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. So those that are found asleep will apparently also be changed in a moment. What we don’t know is if we will be aware of this change because at this time we don’t know for certain if the first resurrection is immediate. We do know that the Lord Jesus is about to descend on a cloud just as he had warned us about, and yes it was a warning. Yes it will be glorious for those left alive and those destined for the first resurrection but for EVERYONE else the day will bring heartache and disappointment at the very least. He will reign forever and just like every other kingdom ever known, there will be those that are favored to become servants and there will be those that will be tossed outside the gates where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Make no mistake, God will rule over every aspect of His kingdom, from those being made free to those that are bound in the fiery lake prepared for the devil and his angels.

ref: 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Matthew 6:9-13

Revelation 11:16

And the twenty- four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, (ESV)

As we go through these next few verses we could learn a few things from the heavenly beings that we will encounter that would be useful to Christians as we live out this life for God. Soon God is about to leave His dwelling place to live among those that live on the earth and these beings don’t seem to have an ounce of contention about it. Upon the news that His kingdom will be heading to earth, their very first act is to fall on their faces and worship God. Recently I was speaking to a gentleman who used to get harassed by church folk for gathering people to go down and preach the gospel at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Now I wish that this was an isolated event but I fear that it happens far too often. Now I understand it may not be preferable for a new convert to do such a taxing work, but for these people that hear that the kingdom of God will come near to the debauchery that is that celebration; why would their first reaction not be to fall down on their faces before God and worship? We would rather send forth a judgement on someone who is doing the work of God because it is not something that we would want to do. But in heaven there is no resentment for the kingdom of God to be presented before this world, who at the moment seem to hate that very kingdom.

Revelation 11:17 saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. (ESV)

This verse starts off with a peculiar comment from the heavenly beings. They have been in heaven in some sort of elder capacity of which we don’t know the ins and outs; so they have already been under the reign of God for some time. So why exactly would they be giving thanks to the Lord God for beginning His reign upon the earth? I’m not saying that it is not a thanks worthy cause but it would seem that they have some vested interest in the fact that His kingdom is now coming to earth. Whatever the reason, these elders worship the Lord, thanking Him for what He is doing.

In addition to this and a very good clue that He is actually coming at or near the last trumpet is wording left out of this verse. When they give praise to the Almighty they very intently left off the “who is to come” portion of the description of God. Formerly He was described as the one who is, who was, and who is to come for the simple reason of He is no longer to come but is in fact here. He indeed at this point has taken His great power and begun to reign.

Revelation 11:18

The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth." (ESV)

It would be difficult to come up with another sentence that says so much and yet is highly disagreed upon as to what it means theologically. So starting off it is no surprise that the world we live in is evil and will only continue to grow in this. No matter how bad it gets and how much violence the nations can put forth upon the earth, it is but a glimmer of fierceness that is able to be unleashed once the wrath of God comes. All the notions of the mild God we have come to see portrayed will be blown out of the water when we see His full wrath in action. In this next portion however we see several different actions taking place and yet we think this is one singular process. In this section of scripture, first the dead are judged; this means everyone. Even Christians you might ask, yes even Christians. When the books are opened the dead will be judged by what is in the books. Can we envision a more uncomfortable setting? I don’t know about everyone else but I used to believe and would still like it to be true that this judging will take place in secret. If only I could get God in secret then maybe I can explain to Him logically about every idle word that I have spoken. But no, it appears that everyone will be in the assembly for the judging and quite possibly remain until everyone is done and those consigned to the lake are thrown in. After the judging then the servants and so on will be rewarded. What will be the reward though? One could make a case for crowns and mansions and other costly gifts and they may be correct; but we ought to be content with this one reward: that God has come near and has not destroyed us. Anything that happens beyond that is icing on the cake as they say. The ultimate reward is not being subject to the full wrath of God when that is truly what I deserve. For everyone else whose names are not written in the book of Life, they are destroyed. There may be several aspects to that destruction that we see as we move forward but one thing we will most certainly look at more closely once we get there is the fact that this destruction is not done behind a closed door. The destruction and the lake of fire will be visible even to those that are being rewarded; and possibly will be a constant reminder for us of the holiness of the God we serve.

ref: Revelation 20:12

Revelation 11:19

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (ESV)

“Be careful to make them according to the pattern you have been shown on the mountain.” This was the commandment the LORD gave to Moses concerning the articles that were to be placed inside the tabernacle including: the gold altar of incense, the table for the bread of the Presence, the lampstand and the ark of the covenant with the cherubim of glory above it overshadowing the mercy seat. All this was but a copy of what is in heaven and this is what John is seeing here that perhaps only a few humans have ever laid eyes on before. Now the word ark that we associate with in the bible is usually either used here as in ark of His covenant or as in Noah’s ark. Now if you have been in church any length of time you probably heard these two used in tandem as if they were the same word, which is simply not true. The hebrew for the ark that Noah built is “tebah” and is only used to describe what Noah built and also two other times to describe what Moses was put in when he was an infant. The word for what we are discussing here is “arown” which is defined as a wooden chest, especially a coffin. What a visual that must be if you have not heard this before the the ark could possibly be referred to as the coffin of His covenant. This is true especially when you get to the description of it in Hebrews and it describes Jesus as a mediator and priest of a better covenant, this covenant. With words like coffin, covenant, and mercy cover how could we not realize that Jesus is this High Priest that will minister before God in His temple? Though we have talked about Him fairly often in our study of Revelation, He has not been mentioned often enough and especially from this point forward there is a tremendous emphasis on Jesus and what He means to us in the grand scope of our lives. The closer we get to approaching the Father through relationship or study the more obvious it becomes that we must go through Jesus first. There is absolutely no way around this since He is the High Priest in God’s temple. As it is written, “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” So it is not as if Jesus has gotten in the way of our trip toward God but has been placed there by God that some may trip over the cornerstone, this is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes; let us rejoice and be glad in it. It boggles the mind to realize that everything that the Israelites did in the old testament was to prepare them for what will take place in the end. God brilliantly painted a picture for them about what was to come and if it was said that they had squandered that opportunity to learn from God, how much worse off are we if we forsake these same teachings having realized and been shown that the entire reason for the existence of man was for Jesus? Going from here we will see a vivid picture of those that are stumbling over the stumbling stone and those that rejoice and are glad in that day.

ref: Exodus 25:1-40; Hebrews 8:1-6, 9; Exodus 2:3-5; Genesis 50:26; Psalm 118:19-24; Matthew 21:43-44