Saving Jerusalem
Revelation 11:1-13
December 11, 2016
This morning we come to what is pretty much universally accepted to be
The most difficult and confusing chapter in the book of the Revelation.
If you’re a commentary type person, and you’ve ever read commentaries on the book of Revelation then you are aware that no two readily agree on what the main point is.
My personal favorite comes from William Barclay who says “it is at one and the same time the most difficult and the most important chapter in the book of Revelation.”
(Barclay, William [The Daily Bible Study Series: The Revelation of John Volume 2; The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1976] pg. 65)
So I guess it’s good to know that
The most important chapter is the one that nobody understands.
Typically when we run across such confusion
I almost always shoot for a more simplistic approach.
I tend to believe Bible interpretation becomes the most difficult When we try to go beyond what God has chosen to reveal to us.
For example:
We saw in chapter 10 that John was told not to record whatever it was that the seven peals of thunder said.
Well obviously if you try to figure out what was said
Then you’re going to have a difficult time
Since God never intended for you to know.
I think that sort of thing happens quite regularly in the book of the Revelation;
It seems that people look for deeper meanings than perhaps what is intended.
So our goal (and I think this is always a wise decision) is
To simply look at the things that are made plane
And see if we can understand the things that God is clearly revealing.
FIRST you must remember that we are in the middle of a parenthetical section.
After revealing the judgments of the first 6 trumpets
(In particular the 5th and 6th trumpets
Which were the locusts and the 200 million demonic army),
John made a startling observation.
Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”
And we have said repeatedly that this observation
May have been a DISHEARTENING one for John.
• He is now on the island of Patmos all because he has been faithful to proclaim the first revelation that he received from God; namely the gospel.
• And now John is being given a second revelation to go and preach which will be even harder for an unbelieving world to swallow.
You have to wonder if John questioned the rationale to all of this.
(I know we regularly do)
If they aren’t going to believe, and preaching is only going to get me in trouble; then why not just keep it quiet?
That supposed question was emphatically answered in chapter 10.
John saw a giant angel clothed in the glory of God who gave him a little book to eat.
• In reality that book is the book of the Revelation.
• It is the same scroll that the Lord Jesus has been opening which has been ushering in the judgments of God.
John was told that the scroll would be sweet in his mouth and would turn his stomach bitter, which it did.
• At first glance the vengeance of God and the return of Christ was a welcomed reality; John loved it.
• However, when the reality of the judgment of sinners began to sink in, it was indeed difficult to handle.
And with this understanding John was told to “prophesy again”
Well it is important for you to know that we are still in that same interlude.
In fact John is still caught in that same vision.
(There are no chapter breaks in the original Revelation)
John has just been told to “prophesy again”
And from there the vision continues.
I remind you of that because
I don’t want you pulling this chapter out of its context.
This chapter is also an answer to the reality that people are not repenting even under the judgment of God.
This chapter is also a message to John who needs to continue to be faithful to preach even in the midst of difficult reality.
This chapter follows that theme and that message.
Now another thing that will help us here is when we realize that the first two verses of this chapter represent information that we already know.
That is to say, this is information that Jesus already told us.
In large part this is information that has already occurred
And even in John’s day is already occurring.
(1-2) “Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”
First we have a command to measure “the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.”
Surveying denotes ownership.
We see it throughout the Scriptures. Probably the most extensive in this area is the entire end of the book of Ezekiel when Ezekiel measures everything.
It is simply God’s way of revealing what is His.
And here we find God declaring what is His.
• “the temple” is His.
• “the altar” is His.
• “those who worship in it” are His.
There we find a definite declaration of what belongs to God.
In the midst of a crooked and sinful world,
God has selected and decreed what is His,
It is those who worship God through His sacrifice in His temple.
Now we also find another truth that we already know
That is that those which are His
Are promised to be surrounded and attacked and even trampled.
(2) “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”
SO we have that which is inside which belongs to God
And that which is outside which is trampled by the world.
Now where did we hear all of this before?
Matthew 24:1-2 “Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
Jesus told His disciples that everything was going to be under attack.
Matthew 23:37-39 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”
Luke 19:41-44 “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
And to some extent JOHN WAS ALREADY SEEING THIS,
Just as we are already seeing it.
The Revelation was received by John in AD 90,
That’s 20 years after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
John already saw the temple demolished.
John was already seeing believers persecuted.
John was already well aware of the hardship of being a worshiper of God.
Today we know that on the temple mount sets that gaudy Dome of the Rock which is an Islamic worship site where they believe Mohammad ascended to heaven to receive his great vision.
We already see the world trampling under food
The things that belong to God.
Certainly there is an element to these two verses that is HISTORY.
However, there is an element that is also PROPHECY.
A time is coming when this will even escalate beyond what we see now.
Luke 21:20-24 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
If you want to get even more specific look to the Olivet Discourse when Jesus said:
Matthew 24:15-22 “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
Jesus already told us these things.
More than that Daniel told us these things many years even before Jesus.
(And you’ll have to go listen to the Daniel sermons if you want more info here, but basically Daniel revealed to us about a man named Antiochus Epiphenes who would oppress Israel, and this man would be a picture of the Antichrist who is to come.)
And Jesus reiterated the work of this Antichrist who would set up his “ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION …in the holy place.”
Paul reminded of this:
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
• Apparently Antichrist will rebuild God’s temple during his 3 ½ year campaign of peace,
• After which he will enter that temple and declare himself to be God and demand worship.
And according to Jesus when that happens YOU’D BETTER RUN.
Don’t go into your house…
Don’t try to save your valuables…
Just run!
Because this event will signify a tribulation like the world has never seen before, and tribulation which will last for 3 ½ years.
This tribulation period will undoubtedly be
The darkest and most deprave time the world has ever known.
Satan will be more active…
Truth will be more opposed…
Persecution will be more intense…
Faithfulness will be more difficult…
Than at any other time in all of human history.
Jesus even said if those days weren’t cut short
Even the elect wouldn’t survive it.
The things that God values are going to be under attack and trampled.
So, while John certainly knew what persecution was like
(and felt tempted to quit preaching because of it)
Now John finds that the persecution is actually even going to get worse.
And God is going to use this information to reiterate to John
That same point he taught him in chapter 10.
Namely that being faithful to God in this world
Will not make you safe or popular.
And yet we are called to preach the truth to a world that hates it
And will hate you for preaching it.
So at this point we find the theme intact.
• We have God’s people and God’s temple and God’s truth being pretty much universally rejected by the world.
• The truth revealed in verse 2 represents the same rebellion that we saw in chapter 9; it is the world in rebellion against God.
That was the very reality which we said
Gives us pause about preaching the truth.
FROM THERE WE SEE THE NEW INFORMATION
THAT GOD WANTS TO REVEAL TO JOHN ABOUT
PREACHING THE TRUTH IN A HOSTILE AND STUBBORN ENVIRONMENT.
What we see in verses 3 through 13 is new information.
• During the darkest time the world will ever know,
• In the most dangerous city for believers the world will ever have
• God is going to raise up two witnesses who will proclaim His truth
• And ultimately through their faithfulness take back God’s city.
It is obviously a chapter meant to motivate faithfulness among the redeemed regardless of difficulty.
3 points here
#1 A CONSTANT WITNESS
Revelation 11:3-6
You don’t see it yet, but you will in a moment that
These witnesses are raised up and minister in the midst of Jerusalem.
Only it’s not called Jerusalem right now, verse 8 reveals that it “is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.”
• Sodom was the most vile city to ever exist.
• Egypt was the most vile nation.
• Now those titles have been transferred to Israel and more specifically Jerusalem.
It is the city Jesus specifically told people to flee from.
It is the most dangerous city for believers of all time.
And yet, even in this infamous city God raises up two witnesses.
(3) “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
Granting them authority to preach is
The same thing Jesus did for us in the great commission when He said:
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The same is done for them here.
They are divinely commissioned with the right
To proclaim God’s truth to a wicked and unbelieving world.
AND THEY DO.
• They “prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days”.
• That is 3 ½ years, or during the final half of the great tribulation.
IN SHORT, at the same time that:
• Antichrist is setting up his abomination in the temple
• And believers are fleeing from the city,
• These two are running into the city and starting to preach.
They may be the boldest missionaries the world has ever seen.
And they preach faithfully in this city, right below the statue of the beast.
They are a constant bur under the saddle of Antichrist.
John says they are “clothed in sackcloth”
Sackcloth was the garment of mourning.
Preachers clothed in it signified the preaching of doom.
Imagine these two guys standing right below the statue of the beast
Emphatically declaring to everyone who worships the beast
That they will be judged eternally for their rebellion against God.
Talk about a difficult ministry, this is it.
It is also revealed to John that:
(4) “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.”
Now I don’t mind telling you that this would be much easier if you’d all come on Sunday night where we talked extensively about this as we are studying the book of Zechariah.
TURN TO: Zechariah 4
Now we don’t have time to give all the details here, again if you want more,
Go back and listen on the website, it would be extremely valuable for you.
• But in Zechariah 4 we are in the middle of Zechariah’s night visions which he received from the Lord. (8 of them in one night)
• This is vision number 5 and it addresses the difficulty and discouragement regarding the rebuilding of God’s temple after the refugees return from the Babylonian captivity.
• Zerubbabel is the governor of the land and Zechariah is the prophet and neither of them are too confident that this project is going to get done.
So God gives this vision.
(READ 1-7)
• You see that we have a menorah (representing that Israel is to be light to the world) and it is supplied with oil directly from the tree.
• The tree produces the oil, which flows through the pipes, to the bowl which feeds the lamp.
• It is a supernaturally supplied lamp.
• Which is God’s point to Zerubbabel that this project of rebuilding the temple will be “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit declares the Lord”
God is going to do this.
Later we find that Zechariah is still confused regarding the vision.
(READ 11-14)
There we find the imagery revealed.
God is the One rebuilding the temple,
But He is doing it through His anointed ones.
They were Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3) and Zerubbabel the governor.
THE POINT IS THAT
GOD IS TAKING OTHERWISE INCOMPETENT PEOPLE
AND WILL USE THEM TO ACCOMPLISH
AN OTHERWISE IMPOSSIBLE TASK.
And that is the imagery given here regarding these two witnesses in Revelation 11.
• Like Joshua and Zerubbabel these two men are God’s ordained vessels
• Through whom He is going to accomplish what seems like an otherwise
impossible task.
Does that make sense?
God is going to do the impossible through these two men.
(Because God can do impossible things through His servants)
Well you say, that’s well and good, but if they are really going to preach in the center of Jerusalem I don’t see any way that they’ll last 3 ½ years.
That’s true, so…(5) “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.”
Drastic times call for drastic measures
And God does not allow His ordained servants to minister unprotected.
If you mess with these guys you get incinerated.
And some would say, well if God would protect me from harm like that then I’d be more faithful to preach too.
REALLY? When was the last time you needed protection from harm?
God protected these men from being killed, not from being hated,
Or maligned, or talked about, or ignored, or rejected.
These men were absolutely hated by everyone in this city.
• Partly because of their message of doom and repentance
• Partly because of their ability to afflict pain on anyone who doesn’t listen to it.
(6) “These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not 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 plague, as often as they desire.”
This verse has caused many to say that these two men must be the return of Moses and Elijah.
• After all Elijah never died, and Jude told us that the devil wanted Moses’
body real bad.
• Both of those men showed up on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured.
• And beyond that the tools in the tool belts of these men are eerily similar to
the powers that both Elijah and Moses had.
But again, we’ll just stick to our decision not to venture beyond what we’re told.
If it is Moses and Elijah, the Scripture doesn’t tell us.
The point is that these men have the ability
To make life miserable of anyone who doesn’t believe their message.
These guys aren’t going to win any popularity contest any time soon.
But here they are, in the most dangerous city for believers the world has ever known and they are maintaining a constant witness of the truth.
• It is dangerous…
• It is difficult…
• But God is using them and God is protecting them.
So we see A Constant Witness
#2 A CELEBRATED REVOLT
Revelation 11:7-10
It’s a very key phrase we read:
“When they have finished their testimony…”
In short, God keeps them absolutely off limits
Until He fulfills His entire purpose for them.
That tells us something about God’s people
Serving God even in dangerous places.
If God calls you to it, God has a plan to preserve you in it
Until He fully accomplishes His purposes for you.
That is true for you
That was true for John
That will be true for these two witnesses
They were off limits for 3 ½ years until they finished their ministry.
They fully proclaimed the whole truth.
And then “the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make ware with them, and overcome them and kill them.”
They are finished, and the Lord allows them to retire.
And then comes one of the VILEST SCENES recorded in the entire Bible.
(8-10) “And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
The world hated these men because they “tormented those who dwell on the earth.”
• They tormented them with truth
• They tormented them with fire
• They tormented them with drought
This world which has thus far refused to repent will absolutely hate them.
And that hatred reveals itself in
The most disgusting display of depravity we’ve ever seen.
They refuse to let them be buried.
(In the Old Testament that was about as low as you could get. You may remember the Philistines hung Saul’s body on display after he died until a band of Israelites took it down)
Not only that, they set up a live feed, 24-hour news video for the world to continually gaze on their bodies.
And even worse the world declares it a global holiday. For Dead Prophet’s Day you actually give and receive gifts.
Why?
Because the light has been removed from the darkness.
We can now live in our sin the way we wanted to
Without these people continually telling us it’s wrong.
THE WORLD IS ECSTATIC.
It is a very fitting demonstration of just how much the darkness
Hates the light and just how much a sinful world hates the truth.
The world will kill you and be happy about it when they do.
And that should be no surprise at all.
A Constant Witness, A Celebrated Revolt
#3 A CERTAIN VICTORY
Revelation 11:11-13
They never saw that coming.
(Probably wishing now they would have buried them)
God raises them back to life “and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.”
They probably thought they were about to be
Incinerated with fire from their mouth.
But instead of any retaliation or retribution
God just takes them up to heaven.
This wasn’t about allowing them to get even with anyone,
This was about God verifying that they in fact
Were His messengers proclaiming His message.
They were from God. No doubt about it.
(12) “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.”
Remember all along Antichrist has claimed to be God
And now, it is quite obvious that he is not.
Not only that, but…
(13) “And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake…”
After removing His prophets God then shook Jerusalem
And caused 1/10th of it to fall, which killed, 7,000 people.
And then here is the really interesting part.
“and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
These people in an instant went from praising Satan to praising God.
The clearest and most natural interpretation is that at once
These people repented and started worshiping the one true God.
SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THAT?
Well, as we said at the beginning,
Keep it context with the point of this entire section.
• John was faced with the reality of preaching to a people who would not repent; a calling that must have seemed futile, and yet God emphatically told him to continue anyway.
• And then John is shown a vision of two men who preach the truth in the most difficult and rebellious city the world will ever know, and it is hard, no doubt about it.
• And yet, God uses not only their preaching, but also their death, the mockery the world makes of their bodies, and then their resurrection to accomplish His purpose of redeeming the most unredeemable city the world will ever see.
GOD WILL WIN.
God is going to win this city which is filled with
The most unbelievable animosity the world has ever seen.
SO WHAT’S THE POINT?
The point is the same as chapter 10 – “prophesy again”
• Your preaching doesn’t have to widely accepted,
• Your preaching doesn’t have to be even remotely popular.
• Your preaching does not have to be loved by those you preach to.
That’s not the point.
The point is that God is doing His work through you.
You, like Joshua, like Zerubbabl, like these 2 witnesses
Are merely olive branches, lampstands that God seeks to use
To shine His light in the world.
And if you will be faithful regardless of the opposition,
Then God will use you to accomplish His sovereign, decreed, and perfect purposes. Whatever they may be.
It’s not about whether or not you think it will work.
It’s about whether or not you are faithful to what God has asked you to do.
• John go prophesy again
• Ezekiel go whether they listen or not
• Isaiah preach until they are all destroyed
• Jeremiah go even though they war against you
BECAUSE I AM USING YOU TO ACCOMPLISH MY PURPOSES
And that is true for us as well.
We are called to be faithful
Even when the mission appears hopeless
Because the architect of the mission knows what He is doing.
You be faithful.
You prophesy again.
