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, 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. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy
for 1,260 days, clothed in
sackcloth.” Revelation 11:1-3
The temple of God figures importantly in the prophesies of
Israel in the great tribulation. Israel will be the operative dispensation and the animal sacrifices will be reinstated in the temple.The present temple in Jerusalem is just
rubble, having been destroyed by foreign invaders in 70 AD. So, the conclusion is
that the Jews will rebuild Solomon’s temple before the 2nd advent of
Christ. No doubt they could accomplish that task in the first 3½ years after
the Church is raptured. That is the point John has reached in this unveiling.
The sixth trumpet has sounded, heralding the opening of the abyss and the
release of malevolent demons on the earth. Unbelieving earthlings are being
tormented and killed by violent fallen angels. The Church is at rest in heaven,
and those Jews and other earthlings who are coming to faith during the
tribulation are under the divine protection of God. If they are martyred, they
are face to face with Jesus Christ, awaiting God’s retribution on their
killers.
The seventh trumpet has not yet sounded, and when it does,
there will be unspeakable horrors rampant on the earth. John is commanded to
measure the rebuild temple, the altar and the worshippers. The Jews have
reestablished themselves as a nation in Israel, but they are there in unbelief.
They have not believed in their Messiah. They have revived their legalistic
religion. In this new temple, they are performing religious rituals in
unbelief, just as they did in the last temple. The temple sacrifices have been
reinstated. The city itself, however, and the outer court of the temple are
under Gentile control (the nations). The world at this time will be in a state
of internationalism (world government; globalism), and the religion practiced
by the world’s population will be ecumenical ritual. Religion despises grace.
Jesus saves by regeneration, not by religion. Religion will be at its all-time
peak in the great tribulation. It is another means Satan uses to control fallen
mankind. Both of these expressions of time (42 mos, 1,260 days) add up to 3½ years.
We are now at mid-trib and the pressure of evil is becoming intense.
Enter the two witnesses. God has raised them up and given
them authority to preach the gospel for the last half of the tribulation. They
have the characteristics of Moses and Elijah, the two men who appeared with
Jesus at his transfiguration. Sackcloth is the apparel of the Old Testament
Prophets.
These are the two olive trees
and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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, 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. But after the three and a half days
a breath of life from
God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those
who saw them. 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. And at that hour there was a great earthquake,
and a tenth of the city
fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were
terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Revelation 11:4-13
In Zechariah 4:12-14 the two olive branches are identified
as “anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.” They are
also called lampstands. Lampstands illuminate the darkness. These men are
bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the last survivors of the great
tribulation. They will be supernaturally protected by God, even to the point of
consuming their foes with fire. They have a specific job to do and a designated
time in which to do it. At the end of their time of testimony, the “beast out
of the bottomless pit” will be allowed to kill them.
The rebellious inhabitants of earth will celebrate their
deaths and refuse to allow them to be buried, as they lie in the streets of
Jerusalem for 3½ days.
5O-something years ago, when I first read about these men and their
mission, we had to really use our imagination about how this prophecy could be
fulfilled. We speculated that television technology would be such that the
scene in Jerusalem could be shown remotely to the whole world, but that would
be a feat worthy of science fiction embellishment with some supernatural
trickery thrown in. Well, look at us now. We can access webcams and traffic
cams in any major city in the world. Instantly. We can punch up Google earth
and Mapquest and Bing and Skype and Facebook and have instant face-to-face
conversations with anyone, anywhere. When news happens, the cameras are there
and it is live on tv and internet, in real time. Watching two dead prophets lie
in the streets of Jerusalem will seem commonplace. We see things like that on a
daily basis.
Here’s what isn’t commonplace: They will be resuscitated!
And the world will see that, too, and will hear the Lord order them back to headquarters.
They will ascend in a cloud, with their enemies watching, and then there will
be a huge earthquake, killing 7,000 people. This gets the attention of the ones
who are left alive.
Revelation 11:14-
The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to
come.
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