Revelation 11 The Two Witnesses 11:1-14 · The 24 Elders 11:15-19

REVELATION 11

·        The Two Witnesses 11:1-14

·        The 24 Elders 11:15-19

SLIDE 1 Revelation 11: 1-2 ¹Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,² but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

The Old Testament, the idea of measuring communicates ownership, protection, and preservation.   The idea is that the Lord owns the earth and can do with it as He pleases. 

 SLIDE 2 When this temple is measured, it shows that God knows its every dimension, and He is in charge. This is surely referring to the temple built on earth by the Antichrist in his role as a peacekeeper, because God excludes the Gentile court. Soon the Antichrist will reveal himself as the evil presence of satan.

SLIDE 3 3 others prophets talk of measuring

·        The detailed measurements in Ezekiel 40-43 is the temple of the millennial earth,

·        Habakkuk 3:6 prophesies, “He (God) stood and measured the earth

·         Zechariah 2:1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 Then I said, "Where are you going?" And he said to me, "To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length."

·        In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is measured.

SLIDE 4 Two witnesses

Revelation 11:3-4 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, (Daniel’s 3 ½ years) clothed in sackcloth." 

⁴These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord on the earth.

Zechariah 4:11-14 Speaks of two olives trees and two lampstands. But Matthew Henry- explains these as Zerubbabel and Joshua, this prince and this priest. They lived at the same time, and both were instruments in the work and service of God. Together, these two men led the first wave of Jewish returnees from Babylon and began to rebuild the Temple. (chronicled in Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai)

SLIDE 5 The witnesses’ attire (clothed in sackcloth), clearly seems to imply sorrow over the impending judgment. They are not inside of this unholy temple.

Who can guess who they are?  Let’s look at some evidence.

Fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes- anyone remember a prophet who could to bring down fire

Revelation 5-8 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.

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.

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,

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.

SLIDE 6 1 Kings 18:38 King Ahab Elijah calls the 450 prophets of Baal to prove their god. Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

2 Kings 1:12  Elijah King Ahaziah sent men 50 by 50 Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

·        Power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying –Sound familiar; one prophet d pray for no rain

1 Kings 17 Elijah … said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years,

SLIDE 7 Power over the waters to turn them into blood –Hmm who do we know who preformed this feat for God- Moses announced God’s plagues on Egypt

Exodus 7:17 with the staff … I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.

·        To strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. Plagues? Again ring any bells. We compare the plaques that God sent the Egyptians by the hand of Moses

Why 2? Deuteronomy 17: 6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death

Who could they be? Events found in the Old Testament give indication it could be Elijah and Moses.

SLIDE 8 A good point could be found in Matthew 17: The Transfiguration

Peter and James, and John with Jesus :. ²And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. ³And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

Two witnesses who embody the “spirit” of prophecy (as Elijah did) and the “spirit” of the law (as Moses did). 

Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Was John the Baptist this prophet? The prophet Malachi eludes to comes during the tribulation.

 John 1: 21 “Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not."
Luke 1:17 a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,

SLIDE 9 vv. 9-12 After they have finished their testimony God allowed the beast to strike the witnesses. They laid in the streets uncovered and those on the earth celebrated.

¹¹But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

¹²Then 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. 1/10 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.

¹⁴The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to com

SLIDE 10 Revelation 11:¹⁵Then 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."

SLIDE 1116And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,¹⁷saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

¹⁸The 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."

SLIDE 12 ¹⁹Then 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.