A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, “Rise, and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
Parallel Translations
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A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, “Rise, and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
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And then was geven me a rede lyke vnto a rodd and it was sayd vnto me: Ryse and mete the temple of god and the aultre and them that worshippe therin
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Then was giuen me a reede, like vnto a rod, and the Angel stoode by, saying, Rise and mete the Temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Revelation 11:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Revelation 21:15 He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.
- Ezekiel 42:15-20 Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate which faces toward the east, and measured it all around. He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed all around. He measured on the north side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed all around. He measured on the south side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He turned about to the west side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall around it, the length five hundred, and the width five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.
- Zechariah 2:1-2 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
- Ezekiel 40:1-48 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was struck, in the same day, Yahweh’s hand was on me, and he brought me there. In the visions of God he brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down on a very high mountain, on which was something like the frame of a city to the south. He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.” Behold, there was a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a hand width each. So he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed. Then he came to the gate which looks toward the east, and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate, one reed wide; and the other threshold, one reed wide. Every lodge was one reed long and one reed wide. Between the lodges was five cubits. The threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed. He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed. Then he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and its posts, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house. The lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side. The three of them were of one measure. The posts had one measure on this side and on that side. He measured the width of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits; and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. He measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a width of twenty-five cubits, door against door. He also made posts, sixty cubits; and the court reached to the posts, around the gate. From the forefront of the gate at the entrance to the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits. There were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate all around, and likewise to the arches. Windows were around inward. Palm trees were on each post. Then he brought me into the outer court. Behold, there were rooms and a pavement made for the court all around. Thirty rooms were on the pavement. The pavement was by the side of the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates, even the lower pavement. Then he measured the width from the forefront of the lower gate to the forefront of the inner court outside, one hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north. He measured the length and width of the gate of the outer court which faces toward the north. The lodges of it were three on this side and three on that side. Its posts and its arches were the same as the measure of the first gate: its length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. Its windows, its arches, and its palm trees were the same as the measure of the gate which faces toward the east. They went up to it by seven steps. Its arches were before them. There was a gate to the inner court facing the other gate, on the north and on the east. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate. He led me toward the south; and behold, there was a gate toward the south. He measured its posts and its arches according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the width twenty-five cubits. There were seven steps to go up to it, and its arches were before them. It had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, on its posts. There was a gate to the inner court toward the south. He measured one hundred cubits from gate to gate toward the south. Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements; with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. There were arches all around, twenty-five cubits long, and five cubits wide. Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts. The ascent to it had eight steps. He brought me into the inner court toward the east. He measured the gate according to these measurements; with its lodges, its posts, and its arches, according to these measurements. There were windows in it and in its arches all around. It was fifty cubits long, and twenty-five cubits wide. Its arches were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps. He brought me to the north gate, and he measured it according to these measurements; its lodges, its posts, and its arches. There were windows in it all around. The length was fifty cubits and the width twenty-five cubits. Its posts were toward the outer court. Palm trees were on its posts on this side and on that side. The ascent to it had eight steps. A room with its door was by the posts at the gates. They washed the burnt offering there. In the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, on which to kill the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. On the one side outside, as one goes up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables. Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate: eight tables, on which they killed the sacrifices. There were four tables for the burnt offering, of cut stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half wide, and one cubit high. They laid the instruments with which they killed the burnt offering and the sacrifice on them. The hooks, a hand width long, were fastened within all around. The meat of the offering was on the tables. Outside of the inner gate were rooms for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate. They faced toward the south. One at the side of the east gate faced toward the north. He said to me, “This room, which faces toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the house. The room which faces toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the duty of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Yahweh to minister to him.” He measured the court, one hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits wide, square. The altar was before the house. Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. The width of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side.
- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
- Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
- Ephesians 2:20-22 being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
- 1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Revelation 10:1-5 I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had in his hand a little open book. He set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the land. He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. When he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices. When the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders said, and don’t write them.” The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Either that of Jerusalem which was a figure of…
Either that of Jerusalem which was a figure of the Church of Christ, or that heavenly Example, whereof verse 19, but the first liketh me better and the things following do agree thereunto. The sense therefore is, Thou seest all things in God’s house almost from the passion of Christ to be disordered: and that not only the city of Jerusalem but also the court of the Temple is trampled underfoot by the nations, and by profane men whether Jews or strangers: and that only the Temple, that is, the body of the Temple, with the Altar, and a small company of good men which truly worship God, do now remain, whom God doth sanctify and confirm by his presence. Measure therefore this, even this true Church, or rather the true type of the true Church, omitting the rest and so describe all things from me that the true Church of Christ may be as it were a very little center, and the Church of Antichrist as the circle of the center, every way in length and breadth compassing about the same, that by way of prophecy thou mayest so declare openly, that the state of the Temple of God and the faithful which worship him, that is, of the Church, is much more straight than the Church of Antichrist.
The authority of the intended revelation being declared, together with the necessity of that calling, which was particularly imposed upon Saint John: hereafter followeth the history of the estate of Christ’s Church both conflicting or warfaring, and overcoming in Christ. For both the true Church of Christ is said to fight against that which is falsely so called over the which Antichrist ruleth. Christ Jesus overthrowing Antichrist by the spirit of his mouth: and Christ is said to overcome most gloriously until he shall slay the Antichrist by the appearance of his coming, as the Apostle excellently teacheth, 2 Thess. 2:8. So this history hath two parts. One of the state of the Church conflicting with temptations, until Chapter 16. The other of the state of the same Church obtaining victory, thence unto Chapter 20. The first part hath two members most conveniently distributed into their times, whereof the first containeth an history of the Christian Church for 1260 years, what time the Gospel of Christ was as it were taken up from amongst men into heaven: the second containeth an history of the same Church unto the victory perfected. And these two members are briefly, though distinctly propounded in this Chapter, but are both of them more at large discussed after in due order. For we understand the state of the Church conflicting out of Chapters 12 and 13 and of the same growing out of afflictions out of Chapters 14, 15 and 16. Neither did Saint John at unawares join together the history of these two times in this Chapter, because here is spoken of prophecy, which all confess to be one just and innumerable in the Church, and which Christ commanded to be continual. The history of the former time reacheth unto verse 14: the latter is set down in the rest of this Chapter. In the former are showed these things: the calling of the servants of God in 4 verses: the conflicts which the faithful must undergo in their calling, for Christ and his Church, thence unto verse 10, and their resurrection and receiving up into heaven unto verse 14. In the calling of the servants of God are mentioned two things: the begetting and setting of the Church in two verses, and the education thereof in two verses. The begetting of the Church is here commended unto S. John by sign and by speech: the sign is a measuring rod, and the speech a commandment to measure the Temple of God, that is, to reduce the same unto a new form: because the Gentiles are already entered into the Temple of Jerusalem, and shall shortly defile and overthrow the same utterly.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1 And there was given me a reed like…
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Ver. 1. A reed] That is, the word of God, that little book that he had newly eaten. This is the only rule of faith and discipline whereby all in the Church must be made and meted.
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Like unto a rod] Or, sceptre. The word is that rod of Christ’s strength, whereby he rules in the midst of his enemies, Psa 110:2. It is that right sceptre, Psa 45:6, which he sways and whereby he sovereigns. The Proverbs of Solomon are called in Hebrew Mishle, or mastersentences, Pro 1:1; (from Mashal, dominari to be mastered). And the Scriptures bear the title of Chieftains, Pro 8:6, and of lords of collections, as some render it, Ecc 12:11.
Measure the temple of God] The Church, that had been so woefully wasted and oppressed by Antichrist, that it stood in need of new measuring and repairing.
That worship therein] In the temple, as being all spiritual priests; and in the altar, as placing all their confidence in Christ’s death alone.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain And there was given me a reed like a…
And there was given me a reed like a rod; the next words tell us the use of this reed. It was a measuring reed, such a one as Ezekiel in his vision {Eze 40:3} saw in the man’s hand. There, the measuring was in order to a rebuilding; here, in order to preserving.
And the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God: we cannot well understand what followeth, without understanding the structure of the temple. The Jews, for the place of their worship, had first a tabernacle, then a temple. The tabernacle was a movable house, which they took down and carried about with them in their journeyings, and pitched down when in any place they pitched their tents. We read of it, Exo 40:1-38. We read but of one court in that, into which only the priests and Levites entered; the people were without it, pitching their tents round about it. It had in it an altar of gold for incense, Exo 40:5, which stood before the ark, Exo 40:26,27; and an altar for burnt-offering, which stood by the door of the tabernacle, Exo 40:29. The temple was built by Solomon, 1Ki 6:1-38, and afterwards rebuilt by Zerubbabel, upon their return out of captivity. That was built with two courts; an inner court, 1Ki 6:36, in which was the altar; and an outward court, which is called the great court, 2Ch 4:9, and in Ezekiel, many times, the outward court. This is called the house, in 1Ki 6:17. It was in length forty cubits; the oracle was within it, 1Ki 6:19, where stood the ark covered with the cherubims. Into the inward court the priests and Levites only came; into the outward court came any of the Israelites. Herod, upon the additional building to the temple, added another large court, called the court of the Gentiles; but that not being of God’s direction, nor in Solomon’s temple, or Zerubbabel’s, is not here mentioned. This temple was a type of the church under the New Testament, 1Co 3:17; 2Co 6:16, and is so to be interpreted generally in this book: for the material temple at Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans more than twenty years before this prophecy, never to be built more; not one stone was left upon another; so that John here was bid to measure the church.
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And the altar, and them that worship therein; yet not the whole church, but that part of it which the inner court typified; the altar, and those that worshipped within that space where that was, which of old were only the priests and Levites; and under the New Testament signified those who were to be a holy priesthood, a spiritual house, those that should offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1Pe 2:5, who could endure a measuring by God’s reed, the word of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. The command given by God to…
Observe here, 1. The command given by God to St. John to take a survey of his church, his spiritual temple, consisting of living stones, and built upon the chief corner stone, Jesus Christ. God’s faithful and true worshippers are only those whom God will have to be measured, and taken notice of as being his part and portion, his tabernacle in which he will dwell. And, blessed be God! in the worst of times they are measurable; even in times of epidemical degeneracy, and universal apostasy, God has a number to stand up for his name, and to bear witness to his truth.
Observe, 2. That the temple, the altar, and the worshippers therein, are here all joined together, and the command given is, to measure them together. Arise, and measure the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein; intimating, that the true church, and the true worshippers, are ever found together; and by the true worship, and the true worshippers, is the true church ever known; so that if the question be asked, "Where is the true church?" the answer is, where the true altar is; and where the true worship is, there the true church is; that church which will bear God’s measuring reed, the scrutiny of the scriptures, and the examination of his holy word; where that worship is found, here the church of God is found.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain This prophetical passage about measuring the temple is a…
This prophetical passage about measuring the temple is a plain reference to what we find in Ezekiel's vision, Eze 40:3, etc. But how to understand either the one or the other is not so easy. It should seem the design of measuring the temple in the former case was in order to the rebuilding of it, and that with advantage; the design of this measurement seems to be either, 1. For the preservation of it in those times of public danger and calamity that are here foretold; or, 2. For its trial; that it may be seen how far it agrees with the standard, or pattern, in the mount; or, 3. For its reformation; that what is redundant, deficient, or changed, may be regulated according to the true model. Observe,
I. How much was to be measured. 1. The temple; the gospel church in general, whether it be so built, so constituted, as the gospel rule directs, whether it be too narrow or too large, the door too wide or too strait. 2. The altar. That which was the place of the most solemn acts of worship may be put for religious worship in general; whether the church has the true altars, both as to substance and situation: as to substance, whether they take Christ for their altar, and lay down all their offerings there; and in situation, whether the altar be in the holiest; that is, whether they worship God in the Spirit and in truth. 3. The worshippers too must be measured, whether they make God's glory their end and his word their rule, in all their acts of worship; and whether they come to God with suitable affections, and whether their conversation be as becomes the gospel.
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II. What was not to be measured (Rev 11:2), and why it should be left out. 1. What was not to be measured: The court which is without the temple measure it not. Some say that Herod, in the additions made to the temple, built an outer court, and called it the court of the Gentiles. Some tell us that Adrian built the city and an outer court, and called it Aelia, and gave it to the Gentiles. 2. Why was not the outer court measured? This was no part of the temple, according to the model either of Solomon or Zerubbabel, and therefore God would have no regard to it. He would not mark it out for preservation; but as it was designed for the Gentiles, to bring pagan ceremonies and customs and to annex them to the gospel churches, so Christ abandoned it to them, to be used as they pleased; and both that and the city were trodden under foot for a certain time - forty and two months, which some would have to be the whole time of the reign of antichrist. Those who worship in the outer court are either such as worship in a false manner or with hypocritical hearts; and these are rejected of God, and will be found among his enemies. 3. From the whole observe, (1.) God will have a temple and an altar in the world, till the end of time. (2.) He has a strict regard to this temple, and observes how every thing is managed in it. (3.) Those who worship in the outer court will be rejected, and only those who worship within the veil accepted. (4.) The holy city, the visible church, is very much trampled upon in the world. But, (5.) The desolations of the church are for a limited time, and for a short time, and she shall be delivered out of all her troubles.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And there was given me a reed like unto…
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod,.... A measuring reed, which with the Jews was six cubits long, Eze 40:5; with the Greeks and Romans, ten feet long; the Ethiopic version here calls it a "golden reed", as in Rev 21:15. This was given unto John very likely by the same angel that gave him the little book, since he afterwards bids him arise and measure with it; and by it seems to be designed the holy Scripture, or the word of God, which is sometimes called a line, a rule, and rod, Psa 19:4, and which is the rule and measure of doctrine and faith; and by it all doctrine is to be tried and measured, and whatsoever is not agreeably to it is not of God, nor to be received, but rejected; and it is the rule and measure of all discipline, worship, and practice; it lays down the plan of a Gospel church, which should be gathered out of the world, and separated from it; it shows who are the proper materials of it, what officers are to be constituted in it, and what ordinances are to be administered, and what laws and rules should be observed in receiving and rejecting of members, and according to which the whole community should walk; in short, it directs to all the forms, laws, and ordinances of God's house; and this is the use John, or those whom he represents, were to make of it:
and the angel stood; the same that stood with his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and gave to John the little book, Rev 10:1; though it may be not in the same place and situation, but rather at the gate of the temple, as in Eze 40:3. This clause is not in the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, but is in the Syriac version and Complutensian edition, and is rightly retained, or otherwise it would seem as if the reed spoke:
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saying, rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein; the allusion is to the temple of Jerusalem, with its appurtenances; there were the most holy place, and the holy place, which was the inner court of the priests, into which they only entered, which was strictly speaking the temple, and is referred to here; and there was the altar of burnt offering, which was in the court of the priests, and the altar of incense, which was before the vail that divided between the holy and holy of holies; and then there was the outer court for all the Israelites to worship in, referred to in Rev 11:2, and by "the temple of God" is here meant the church, of which the temple was a type; and so particular congregated churches are called temples, Co1 3:16. Solomon, a man of peace, was the builder of the one, and Christ, the Prince of peace, the builder of the other; Solomon's temple was built of hewn stones, made ready before they were brought thither, and a true church of Christ consists of lively stones, hewed and fitted for this spiritual building by the Spirit of God; the temple at Jerusalem was built on a high mountain, and on the north of the city, the church is built upon the rock Christ Jesus, and the Gospel church, or churches, in the times of the sixth trumpet, which this vision refers to, and to the close of it, are in the northern parts of Europe; and as the temple was for religious use and service, for the worship of God and sacrifices, so is the Gospel church, and so are Gospel churches, for the ministry of the word, and administration of ordinances, and for the offering up the sacrifices of prayer and praise; and as in the most holy place were the ark of the covenant, and the mercy seat, and as it was the place of the divine Presence, where God granted communion to his people, so in the church are held forth the mysteries of the covenant, Christ as the mercy seat and the propitiatory, in whom the displays of grace are made, and through whom the saints have fellowship with God, and enjoy his presence: "the altar" may design Christ himself, by whom the saints draw nigh to God, offer up their sacrifices, and are accepted with him; or the whole of Gospel worship and ordinances, as prayer, preaching, singing of praise, and the administration of baptism and the Lord's supper: and they "that worship therein", or "thereat", are the royal priesthood, or such who are made kings and priests unto God, for none went into the inner court, or served at the altar, but priests; and who make use of Christ, the altar, of his person, blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, in their approaches to God; and who are praying souls, wait at the altar of incense, and draw nigh to the throne or grace with a true heart, and worship God in Spirit and in truth: now "measuring" of these respects not the primitive church for the first three or four hundred years, and the formation of that according to the rule of God's word, and as a pattern to other churches; for though the apostolic church, or the church as it was in the apostles' time, and as described in their writings, was such a church; yet the church for such a space of time as above was not; there were great departures both from doctrine and discipline, the mystery of iniquity began to work, and way was made for the man of sin and it was far from being a pattern to be imitated; and besides, this measuring refers to the times of the sixth trumpet, and the close of it: nor does it respect the sealing of the 144,000 between the sixth seal and the opening of the seventh seal, which was for the protection and security of them during the times of the six trumpets, which brought desolation into the empire, and apostasy into the church; though measuring sometimes may seem to denote protection, as in Zac 2:1; and though the outer court is, and will be, a protection to spiritual worshippers, so long as it is not in the hands of the Gentiles, yet this is not the sense, at least not the whole of it: nor does this refer to the hiding of the church in the wilderness, during the reign of antichrist; which might seem to be signified by the internal worshippers retiring to the altar, and to the holy and the most holy place, and being concealed there; and especially since the opening of the temple in Rev 11:19, may seem to be opposed to this; but that takes in too large a compass of time, this being an affair relating only to the close of the sixth trumpet, and which was to be before the seventh trumpet sounded: it seems rather to respect the times of the Reformation by Luther, Calvin, and others, when the measuring reed of the word was taken in hand, and used; but then it was used chiefly for the restoration of pure doctrine, and with good success, but not so much for the regulating and orderly discipline of the churches, for the purity of Gospel worship and ordinances; most, if not all the reformed churches, set out upon too broad a bottom, being national, provincial, or parochial; there was a temple, and an altar erected for God, and there were internal and spiritual worshippers; but then they took in the outward court, which should not have been measured in, and circumscribed with them, but should have been left out; but the time for this was not yet come, but now is: in short, I take it that this measuring refers to what was done in the last age, particularly in our nation; and that it has respect to the separation from the national church, when churches, more or less, were gathered and formed according to the Gospel plan and the primitive institution; a work which never was set about and so effectually done before since the age of the apostles: the baptized and congregational churches are the temple, altar, and worshippers measured, who have both the true doctrine, worship, and discipline of God's house among them; a set of men in the last age were raised up, who drew a plan of churches, and of church discipline, according to the ancient model; gathered churches out of the world, and constituted them according to the order of the Gospel; circumscribed them, and enclosed them according to the rules of God's word, admitting none but such into communion who were judged by the churches subjects of the grace of God; and rejected and excluded from among them such as were wicked and scandalous; and so reduced the pure members of churches to a small number, a little flock, a few names in Sardis: and I am of opinion that the measuring reed must be used again; we have got of late, through negligence, or a want of a spirit of discerning, too many of the outward court among us; who must be left out, in order to be given up to other hands, as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain In this chapter is shown how it will fare…
In this chapter is shown how it will fare with "the holy city," till the mystery of God is fulfilled; in the twelfth, what will befall the woman, who is delivered of the man-child; in the thirteenth, how it will be with the kingdom of Christ, while the "two beasts" are in the height of their power. And there was given me - By Christ, as appears from the third verse. And he said, Arise - Probably he was sitting to write. And measure the temple of God - At Jerusalem, where he was placed in the vision. Of this we have a large description by Ezekiel, Ezek. xl - xlviii; concerning which we may observe,
1. Ezekiel's prophecy was not fulfilled at the return from the Babylonish captivity.
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2. Yet it does not refer to the "New Jerusalem," which is far more gloriously described.
3. It must infallibly be fulfilled even then "when they are ashamed of all that they have done," Ezek. xliii, 11.
4. Ezekiel speaks of the same temple which is treated of here.
5. As all things are there so largely described, St. John is shorter and refers thereto.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain The command to measure the temple, 1, 2.
CHAPTER XI.
The command to measure the temple, 1, 2.
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The two witnesses which should prophesy twelve hundred and
sixty days, 3.
The description, power, and influence of these witnesses, 4-6.
They shall be slain by the beast which shall arise out of the
bottomless pit, and shall arise again after three days and a
half, and ascend to heaven, 7-12.
After which shall be a great earthquake, 13.
The introduction to the third wo, 14.
The sounding of the seventh angel, and the four and twenty
elders give glory to God, 15-19.
NOTES ON CHAP. XI.
Verse 1. And there was given me a reed] See Eze 40:3, c.
Measure the temple of God] This must refer to the temple of Jerusalem and this is another presumptive evidence that it was yet standing.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rev 11:1-2. And there was given me — By…
Rev 11:1-2. And there was given me — By Christ, as appears from Rev 11:3; a reed — As there was shown to Ezekiel, whose vision bore a great resemblance to this, Eze 40:-43. And the angel — Which had spoken to me before; stood by me, saying, Rise — Probably he was sitting to write; and measure the temple of God and the altar — The house and the inner court where the altar stood, in which the priests worshipped God and performed the duties of their office, and into which such as offered private sacrifices for themselves were admitted. A proper representation of the church of God and his true worship, and of such as were true worshippers of him. The reason, it seems, of St. John’s being commanded to measure the inner court and the temple was, to show that during all this period there were some true Christians, who conformed to the rule and measure of God’s word and worship. “Measuring the servants of God is equivalent to sealing them. The unmeasured tenants of the outer court, and the unsealed men throughout the Roman empire, are alike the votaries of the apostacy; while they that were measured and they that were sealed, are the saints who refused to be partakers of its abominations.” — Faber, vol. 2. p. 53. This measuring might allude more particularly to the Reformation from popery, which took place under the sixth trumpet. And one of the moral causes of it was the Othman’s taking Constantinople, which occasioned the Greek fugitives to bring their books with them into the more western parts of Europe, and proved the happy cause of the revival of learning; as the revival of learning opened men’s eyes, and proved the happy occasion of the Reformation. But though the inner court, which includes the smaller number, was measured, yet the outer court, which implies the far greater part, was left out, (Rev 11:2,) and rejected, as being in the possession of those who were Christians only in name, but Gentiles in worship and practice, who profaned it with heathenish superstition and idolatry; and they shall tread under foot the holy city — They shall trample upon and tyrannise over the church of Christ, which shall be filled with idolaters, infidels, and hypocrites, possessing its most eminent and lucrative places, while true Christians are oppressed in a grievous manner; and that for the space of forty and two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, thirty days being included in a month, the same period with that afterward termed a time, times, and a half time; that is, a year, two years, and half a year, or three years and a half, according to the ancient year of three hundred and sixty days, all which are prophetic numbers; so that twelve hundred and sixty days are twelve hundred and sixty years. Now it plainly appears from the predictions both of Daniel and St. John, that this period of persecution and trouble has no connection with the persecutions which the church endured from the pagan Roman emperors. We are, however, according to the same prophecies, to look for the promoters of it within the limits of the old Roman empire; and since that empire had embraced Christianity previous to its division into ten kingdoms, the little horn, which symbolizes one of these persecuting powers, and which is represented as being contemporary with the ten kingdoms, must be nominally Christian. And this is no other than the apostate Church of Rome, so minutely described by St. Paul, 2Th 2:1, as well as by Daniel and St. John. And the two latter specify with much exactness the era from which the computation of the twelve hundred and sixty years is to be made. Daniel directs us to date them from the time when the saints were, by some public act of the state, delivered into the hand of the little horn: and St. John, in a similar manner, teaches us to date them from the time when the woman, the true church, fled into the wilderness from the face of the serpent; when the mystic city of God began to be trampled under foot by a new race of Gentiles, or idolaters; when the great Roman beast, which had been slain by the preaching of the gospel, revived in its bestial character, by setting up an idolatrous spiritual tyrant in the church; and when the witnesses began to prophesy in sackcloth. A date which, as Mr. Faber justly observes, can have no connection with the mere acquisition of a temporal principality by the pope, but must evidently be the year in which the bishop of Rome was constituted supreme head of the church, with the proud title of bishop of bishops: for, by such an act, the whole church was formally given, by the head of the Roman empire, into the hand of the little horn. This was the year 606, when the reigning emperor, Phocas, the representative of the sixth head of the beast, declared Pope Boniface to be universal bishop; at which time, the saints being delivered into his hand, the twelve hundred and sixty years of the apostacy, in its public and dominant capacity, commenced.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain And there was given me - He does not…
And there was given me - He does not say by whom, but the connection would seem to imply that it was by the angel. All this is of course to be regarded as symbolical. The representation undoubtedly pertains to a future age, but the language is such as would be properly addressed to one who had been a Jew, and the imagery employed is such as he would be more likely to understand than any other. The language and the imagery are, therefore, taken from the temple, but there is no reason to suppose that it had any literal reference to the temple, or even that John would so understand it. Nor does the language used here prove that the temple was standing at the time when the book was written; for, as it is symbolical, it is what would be employed whether the temple were standing or not, and would be as likely to be used in the one case as in the other. It is such language as John, educated as a Jew, and familiar with the temple worship, would be likely to employ if he designed to make a representation pertaining to the church.
A reed - κάλαμος kalamos. This word properly denotes a plant with a jointed hollow stalk, growing in wet grounds. Then it refers to the stalk as cut for use - as a measuring-stick, as in this place; or a mock scepter, Mat 27:29-30; or a pen for writing, 3Jo 1:13. Here it means merely a stick that could be used for measuring.
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Like unto a rod - This word - ῥάβδος rabdos - means properly a “rod, wand, staff,” used either for scourging, 1Co 4:21; or for leaning upon in walking, Mat 10:10; or for a scepter, Heb 1:8. Here the meaning is, that the reed that was put into his hands was like such a rod or staff in respect to size, and was therefore convenient for handling. The word “rod” also is used to denote a measuring-pole, Psa 74:2; Jer 10:16; Jer 51:19.
And the angel stood, saying - The phrase, “the angel stood,” is missing in many mss. and editions of the New Testament, and is rejected by Prof. Stuart as spurious. It is also rejected in the critical editions of Griesbach and Hahn, and marked as doubtful by Tittmann. The best critical authority is against it, and it appears to have been introduced from Zec 3:5. The connection does not demand it, and we may, therefore, regard the meaning to be, that the one who gave him the reed, whoever he was, at the same time addressed him, and commanded him to take a measure of the temple and the altar.
Rise, and measure the temple of God - That is, ascertain its true dimensions with the reed in your hand. Of course, this could not be understood of the literal temple - whether standing or not - for the exact measure of that was sufficiently well known. The word, then, must be used of something which the temple would denote or represent, and this would properly be the church, considered as the abode of God on the earth. Under the old dispensation, the temple at Jerusalem was that abode; under the new, that special residence was transferred to the church, and God is represented as dwelling in it. See the notes on 1Co 3:16. Thus, the word is undoubtedly used here, and the simple meaning is, that he who is thus addressed is directed to take an accurate estimate of the true church of God; as accurate as if he were to apply a measuring-reed to ascertain the dimensions of the temple at Jerusalem. In doing that, if the direction had been literally to measure the temple at Jerusalem, he would ascertain its length, and breadth, and height; he would measure its rooms, its doorways, its porticoes; he would take such a measurement of it that, in a description or drawing, it could be distinguished from other edifices, or that one could be constructed like it, or that a just idea could be obtained of it if it should be destroyed.
If the direction be understood figuratively, as applicable to the Christian church, the work to be done would be to obtain an exact estimate or measurement of what the true church was - as distinguished from all other bodies of people, and as constituted and appointed by the direction of God; such a measurement that its characteristics could be made known; that a church could be organized according to this, and that the accurate description could be transmitted to future times. John has not, indeed, preserved the measurement; for the main idea here is not that he was to preserve such a model, but that, in the circumstances, and at the time referred to, the proper business would be to engage in such a measurement of the church that its true dimensions or character might be known. There would be, therefore, a fulfillment of this, if at the time here referred to there should be occasions, from any cause, to inquire what constituted the true church; if it was necessary to separate and distinguish it from all other bodies; and if there should be any such prevailing uncertainty as to make an accurate investigation necessary.
And the altar - On the form, situation, and uses of the altar, see the Mat 5:23-24; Mat 21:12. The altar here referred to was, undoubtedly, the altar situated in front of the temple, where the daily sacrifice was offered. To measure that literally, would be to take its dimensions of length, breadth, and height; but it is plain that that cannot be intended here, for there was no such altar where John was, and, if the reference were to the altar at Jerusalem, its dimensions were sufficiently known. This language, then, like the former, must be understood metaphorically, and then it must mean - as the altar was the place of sacrifice - to take an estimate of the church considered with reference to its notions of sacrifice, or of the prevailing views respecting the sacrifice to be made for sin, and the method of reconciliation with God. It is by sacrifice that a method is provided for reconciliation with God; by sacrifice that sin is pardoned; by sacrifice that man is justified; and the direction here is equivalent, therefore, to a command to make an investigation on these subjects, and all that is implied would be fulfilled if a state of things should exist where it would be necessary to institute an examination into the prevailing views in the church on the subject of the atonement, and the true method of justification before God.
And them that worship therein - In the temple, or, as the temple is the representation here of the church, of those who are in the church as professed worshippers of God. There is some apparent incongruity in directing him to “measure” those who were engaged in worship; but the obvious meaning is, that he was to take a correct estimate of their character; of what they professed; of the reality of their piety; of their lives, and of the general state of the church considered as professedly worshipping God. This would receive its fulfillment if a state of things should arise in the church which would make it necessary to go into a close and searching examination on all these points, in order to ascertain what was the true church, and what was necessary to constitute true membership in it. There were, therefore, three things, as indicated by this verse, which John was directed to do, so far as the use of the measuring-rod was concerned:
(a)To take a just estimate of what constitutes the true church, as distinguished from all other associations of people;
(b)To institute a careful examination into the opinions in the church on the subject of sacrifice or atonement - involving the whole question about the method of justification before God; and,
(c)To take a correct estimate of what constitutes true membership in the church; or to investigate with care the prevailing opinions about the qualifications for membership.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The apostle is ordered to measure the temple. Two…
The apostle is ordered to measure the temple. Two prophets are promised, to teach mankind. They are put to death, and in three days and a half after, they are raised to life, and ascend to heaven. A great earthquake follows. The seventh Angel sounds the trumpet. The elders give thanks to God. --- Measure the temple, &c. This is to signify that the divine Providence would always protect his faithful servants, who are called the temple of God; (1 Corinthians iii. 17. and 2 Corinthians vi. 16.) but by the outward court not to be measured, because it is given to the Gentiles, &c. (ver. 2) is commonly understood idolaters, infidels, heretics, who are not in the temple of God, nor in his Church. It is an allusion to the Jewish temple, and the different divisions of it, the Gentiles not being permitted to enter into the temple itself, but only into that outward part called the court of the Gentiles. (Witham) --- The churches consecrated to the true God, are so much diminished in number, that they are represented by St. John as one church; its ministers officiate at one altar; and all the true faithful are so few, with respect to the bulk of mankind, that the evangelist sees them assembled in one temple, to pay their adorations to the Most High. (Pastorini)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain Revelation Chapter 11
Revelation Chapter 11
We are here at once in the centre of prophetic subjects-Jerusalem, the temple, the altar, and worshipers. The worshipers and the altar are recognised and accepted of God-those worshiping in the secret of God within. The general profession of Judaism is rejected and disowned. It is given up to be trodden down under the Gentiles, and that for the half-week of sorrow. Those who held the place of priests were owned. Real worshipers, according to God’s mind, were there and owned; and God gave also an adequate testimony-two witnesses -what was required under the law; and they continue day by day constantly to give witness the whole period, or half-week. The witnesses were in sorrow and reproach, but with power; as Elias and Moses were when the people were in apostacy and captivity. It was not the re-establishment of Israel with royalty and priesthood, as it would be afterwards -the candlestick of Zechariah with the two olive- trees-but the sufficient witness to it. Nor could they be touched while the half-week of their prophecy lasted; their word brought death on their adversaries. We have priesthood and prophecy in the remnant, not of course royalty, but a testimony to it practically: suffering marked its absence, yet none could touch them till their time were come. In this they were like Christ in His humiliation in the midst of Israel; only He did not slay His enemies. In the Psalms we marked it out as the remnant’s portion. Complete humiliation and the full answer of God to their prophetic word marked their state. But when they had finished their testimony, the case is different. They had to do with the beast out of the bottomless pit. They stood before the God of the earth-not preachers of heavenly gospel, but witnesses of God’s title to the earth-of His love to His people in connection with it. They bore witness to God’s claim when hostile Gentiles were in possession. The beast, now their hour is come, slays them, and their bodies are cast into the highways of the city. Those of the nations rejoice over them and make merry. The dwellers upon earth who would have the earth theirs and ease upon it; were delighted: for the witnesses of the God of the earth tormented them; but in three days and a half, quickened by the power of the Spirit of God, they ascended to heaven in a cloud, not as Christ did, apart, but in the sight of their enemies. A tenth of the great city of the world fell at the same time in the convulsion that took place on the earth; and the remnant are affrighted, and give glory to the God of heaven. But God was dealing already as the God of the earth. The second woe was now past.
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Thus we get the close of the half week indicated; the seventh trumpet was quickly to sound, which was to finish the mystery of God. It sounds; and there were great voices in heaven declaring that the worldly kingdom of their Lord (Jehovah) and of His anointed (Christ) was come-the greatest woe and terror of all to the inhabitants of the earth. Satan’s woe had been specially on Jews; man’s woe, specially on the men of the Latin Empire; this is Gods woe when the nations are angry, and Gods wrath is come, and full reckoning and final deliverance come. We have again the elders here announcing the reason of praise and thanksgiving. Voices in heaven announce the fact of the reign of Jehovah and of His Christ according to Psa 2:1-12, and that He (for, as ever, John unites both in one thought) should reign for ever and ever; and so it will be. But both the earthly and eternal kingdom are celebrated. Only in the eternal kingdom the distinction of the worldly kingdom and of Christ’s subordination is omitted. In the thanksgiving of the elders, Jehovah Elohim Shaddai is also celebrated; as the great King who takes to Him His power and reigns; for it is God’s kingdom. We have two parts in their statement: the nations angry-this brings in the time of God’s wrath; and the time of the dead to be judged. This is the first half: man’s wrath, and God’s judgment. Then He gives reward to prophets, saints, and all that fear His name, and sets aside from the earth those who corrupted it. This is blessing. The first part is general, the time of wrath and judgment; the second is reward and deliverance of the saints on earth. This closes entirely the main symbolic history. The last trumpet has sounded, and the mystery of God is closed.
In what follows we have details: the beast, and the connection of the assembly and Jews with it; Babylon; and then the marriage of the Lamb; judgments of beast and false prophet; binding of Satan; two resurrections, and final judgment; and the description of the heavenly city. But this new prophecy begins (Rev. 12:19), as to earthly prophetic dealing, with special reference to the Jews. The temple of God is opened in heaven, the ark of His covenant, which refers to Israel is seen there. But judgment characterises it now; judgments of all kinds, those coming down from above, and subversion and disaster below. [13]
Footnotes for Revelation Chapter 11
13: Where the throne is set for judgment, it is characterized only by what proceeds directly from God. There are no earth quakes and hail; here there are.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain a. The Inner and the Outer Church
B.—INTIMATIONS FROM THE EARTH-PICTURE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS. FEATURES OF THE PREPARATIVE REFORMATORY RENEWAL OF THE EARTH; OR TRAITS OF THE OPERATION OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS WHICH, IN THEMSELVES, WERE SEALED.—IN CONCLUSION: THE FIRST AND PRECURSORY ANTICHRISTIANITY; OR THE BEAST FROM THE ABYSS, THE DEMONIC REALM OF THE DEAD
Rev_11:1-14
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a. The Inner and the Outer Church
Rev_11:1-2
1And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: [,] and the angel stood, [om. and the angel stood,—ins. he]1 saying, Rise, and measure the temple [ναὸν] of God, and 2the altar, and them that worship therein [in it]. But [And] the court which is without [outside of] the temple [ναοῦ] leave [cast] out,2 and measure it not [it shalt thou not measure]; for it is [was] given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and [or and] two months.
b. The Two Witnesses. The Ideal Church and the Ideal State
Rev_11:3-12
3And I will give power [om. power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore [sixty] days, clothed in sackcloth. 4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing3 before the God5[Lord]4 of the earth. And if any man [one] will [wills5] hurt [to injure] them, fire proceedeth [goeth forth] out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man [one] will hurt [shall will6 to injure] them, he must in this manner 6[thus must he] be killed. These have [or ins. the7] power to shut [ins. the] heaven, that it [om. it—ins. rain (ὑετός)] rain [βρέχῃ] not in [during8] the days of their prophecy: and have power over [ins. the] waters to turn them to [into] blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues [every plague], as often as they [ins. shall] will. 7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast [wild-beast] that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [om. bottomless pit—ins. abyss] shall make war against [with] them, and shall overcome [conquer] them, and [ins. shall] kill them. 8And their dead bodies [corpse9] shall lie [be] in [upon] the street [broad-way10] of the great city, which spiritually is called [is called spiritually] Sodom 9and Egypt, where also our [their11] Lord was crucified. And they [men] of the people [peoples] and kindreds [tribes] and tongues and nations shall [om. shall12] see their dead bodies [corpse] three days and a half, and shall not [om. shall13 not] suffer [ins. not] their dead bodies [corpses] to be put in graves [a sepulchre]. 10And they that dwell upon the earth shall [om. shall14] rejoice over them, and make merry, 15 and shall [or om. shall16] send gifts one to another; because these two 11prophets tormented them that dwelt on [dwell upon] the earth. And after [ins. the] three days and a half the Spirit [a spirit] of life from God entered into them, 17 and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw [those 12who beheld] them. And they [or I] 18 heard a great voice from [ins. the] heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to [into—ins. the] heaven in a [the] cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
c. The Judgment
Rev_11:13-14
13And [ins. in] the same [that] hour was there [there was] a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain [ins. names] of men seven thousand: and the remnant were [became] affrighted, and gave glory to the God of [ins. the] heaven.
14The second woe is past; and, [om. and,] behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
SYNOPTICAL VIEW
The first figure that we meet with in this chapter could scarcely be plainer; nothing save a lapse into the misapprehensive literal conception could, from this passage, Rev_11:1-2, draw the conclusion that the Temple in Jerusalem was still standing at the time of these visions. The Temple has always been a symbol of the visible form under which the Kingdom of God has appeared, i. e. the Theocracy at first, and, later, the Church; and even the Temple of Ezekiel most distinctly presents this typicalism (especially in the features of the mystical stream, Eze_47:1, and the voice of the Lord, Eze_43:7). In general, the mystical Temple of Ezekiel seems to constitute a form which is transitional to the Temple of the Apocalypse, in accordance with the symbolical circumstances. The Holy of Holies has become one with the Holy Place, because the time of reconciliation has come; and, on the other hand, the outer court has spread into a number of outer courts, because it must become a place for all nations; comp. Mat_21:13, Isa_56:7. This significance and grandeur of the outer court particularly appears in the picture presented in the Apocalypse. Its contrast to the Temple is likewise strongly set forth. The Prophet is to measure the Temple, but not the outer court. The Temple of Ezekiel is also measured, Rev 40. But the City of Jerusalem itself is described as an immeasurable place in the Prophecy of Zechariah, Rev_2:1 sqq. In the Apocalypse, the measured Temple expands into the measured City of God (Rev_21:15); the unmeasured or immeasurable outer court expands into the ideal domain of the world and the nations, out of which all glory shall be brought into the Holy City (Rev_21:24; Rev_22:2).
The Temple itself, then, must be measured; a reed is given to the Prophet that he may measure it. The Spirit of God in the Church has within Himself and in the Prophet a consciousness that the inner, essential Church is a Divine definity, chosen by God and known to Him—not a passing cloud, a drifting, shifting, transitory object. That which is here expressed by measure, is twice declared by the number 144,000 (chaps. 7 and 14). So the Northern Mythology claims that the heroes of Odin are numbered.
A still more remarkable circumstance is that the Altar also is measured—the Altar of incense—the whole domain of holy prayer-life. And, humanly speaking, this belongs to the most conscious consciousness of God—to the inmost intuition (innersten Erinnerung) of the Church.
Finally, the worshippers in the Temple are to be measured. For the spiritual nature and development of every individual believer, the degree and the species of his glory, are known to God; they repose upon the individual capacities and disposition of each believer, as determined from eternity, his free agency being in nothing impaired (see Mat_6:27).
In antithesis to these Divine fixities, an immeasurable indefiniteness is reserved for the outer court. There can be nothing hostile in the direction to cast it out; the words can be expressive only of the decree that it is not to be measured along with the Sanctuary, that the consciousness of its externality is to be made permanent. For in its very quality of an outer court, it already lies outside of the Temple; and, furthermore, the direction: cast it out (on the milder or more general signification of ἐκβάλλειν, see the Lexicons) is modified by the words: measure it not. And why not? For it is given to the Gentiles. This does not mean merely, because the throng of the Gentiles—of such as are not subjective, living Christians—is immeasurable, but also because their assembly is fluctuating; because the outer court denotes the vestibule to the Sanctuary—a preparation for entrance into the Sanctuary. Of course, so long and in so far as the Gentiles are Gentiles, they trample on the outer court, as is also declared concerning the impenitent Jews, Isaiah 1. They are loungers, street-walkers [Pflastertreter] in a religious sense; their outer court is the entire Holy City, i. e., the Church as an external body; they are they who, according to another figure, “stand all the day idle in the market.” In the Christian service of the Sanctuary, they constitute the ebbing and flowing mass; they may, as a pious man once paradoxically expressed himself, sit in the way of the truly devout. Their theological knowledge consists partly of gross popular conceits, partly of spiritualistic mist. In confession, they strain the Divine word, in one direction, into a literal ordinance, and relax it, in the other direction, until nothing but an uncertain sentiment remains. In matters of practical piety, they are either violently active or inconstant and wavering. In all cases, the treading of the outer court is the leading feature of their devotions.
In regard to the import of the forty-two months, Düsterdieck and others believe, that they are connected with “the type of the duration of the down-treading of the Holy City by Antiochus Epiphanes.” That, however, lasted but three years (see 1Ma_4:59; comp. 1Ma_1:55). Moreover, the different designations of the theocratic time of tribulation (a time, two times, and half a time, Dan_7:25; Dan_12:7), according to times, years, months or days, are not without a mutual connection (see Introduction, p. 16). The forty-two months are the times of the pilgrimage of Christianity through the world, bearing the cross of suffering—suffering inflicted on the internal Church through the external Church. These times are defined as forty-two little periods of change.
The second picture, in the history of the Two Witnesses, treats of another antithesis—that of the Christian Church and the Christian State. For the voice of the Lord which, in the text, so simply speaks of His two Witnesses, we, in face of the many marvels which have here been found, conceive of as setting forth the antithesis of the Christian Church and the Christian State; and this in accordance with the original passage in the Prophecy of Zechariah, on which the present passage is founded. The candlestick of Israel, the light and law of the Theocracy (Zec_4:2), receives its oil from the two olive-trees, or sons of oil, standing at the right and left of it (Rev_11:3-4). Now these, as they stand before the Ruler of the whole Earth, are, according to the context (Revelation 3), Joshua, the High-Priest, the typical representative of the future Church, concerning whom it is expressly declared, that he stands before the Angel of the Lord, and Zerubbabel the governor, the typical representative of the future State, distinguished by like dignities (Rev_4:6-7).
Many, no doubt, will regard this conception as too home-spun—not sufficiently ingenious or anecdotical. But, let us further remark, the removal, through the Man of Sin, of the hindrance to Antichristianity—the κατέχον (2Th_2:6), or κατέχων (Rev_11:7)—coincides precisely with the removal of the two olive trees [German, sons of oil] through the medium of the Beast out of the abyss.
The two Witnesses of God prophesy. To prophesy is to aid in opening for the Kingdom of God a way into the future, by declaring the signs of the future.19 True advances, developments and reforms, are prophecies in act. All sound dogmas of the Church, as well as all sound laws of the State, are prophecies. Both Witnesses prophesy clad in sackcloth—in the penitential garb of the Church Militant and of the State, which latter is engaged in an incessant struggle with the ungodly spirit of the world. Here the movement continues through an uninterrupted chain of days’ works—one thousand two hundred and sixty days. The time is equal to the forty-two months, but is viewed from an entirely different point; the whole Church and the whole State, in their higher aspect, are denoted here. As, however, Church and State are distinct under the new dispensation, their oil no longer flows together in one candlestick; both are olive trees [oil-trees]; both, also, are candlesticks. Again, they stand before the God of the earth; i. e., they unitedly represent firm, historic order, authority,—symbolized by the earth. Both have retained somewhat of the Old Testament character, the Elijah nature; and they are, manifestly, drawn after the type of Elijah. When they desire to injure any one, fire goeth forth out of their mouth. This can, of course, only be spiritual fire; just as the sword issuing from the mouth of the Lord, is but a spiritual sword. Nevertheless, it is a fire of judgment; it devoureth their enemies. The death that they inflict upon those who offend them, cannot he apprehended as the spiritual death in order to the new life; at least social death must be understood—exclusion from religious communion and civil fellowship, practiced in the Middle Ages under the great and gloomy forms of outlawry and excommunication. Their power to shut the Heaven, that it rain not, is most strongly suggestive of Elijah; whilst their power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall will, recalls the wonders done by Moses in Egypt.
They can shut Heaven. The meaning of this is, they can check and withhold the blessings of the Spirit.
To turn the waters into blood, is to darken the currents of national life through wars and bloodshed.
To smite the earth with every plague, means to curtail the blessing of the historical authority or order of things in every way, and to convert it into a curse. As often as they shall will, adds the Seer, thereby indicating a great development of despoticalness and autocracy in their power.
Can it be supposed, we ask, that toward the end of the New Testament economy, two persons could appear as Prophets, having power to answer personal grievances with devouring fire? Or having power, at their own discretion, to bring forth in nature such wonders of judgment, and inflict them upon the earth? The Church and the State, however, have, in a symbolical sense, acted after precisely the Old Testament fashion here described, and that, with such a mingling of their qualities, as though they had done all things in common. They have likewise, in respect of their fundamental tendency, prominently set forth by the Seer, prophesied, i. e., served the cause of development; and they have been Witnesses of God—representatives of His light and justice.
The predominantly Old Testament character of the past and present fulfillment of their mission, undoubtedly aids in cutting short the time of their testimony and in facilitating the triumph of the Beast over them. In consequence of the severity—in many respects excessive—of their rule, as manifested, particularly, in the form of the mediæval excommunication, and the military and judicial system of the same period, a two-fold Helot rancor, an ecclesiastical and political resentment, has ineffaceably impressed itself on the memory of the agitated life of the nations, bringing near the fatal time at which the Beast of Antichristianity may ascend out of the abyss.
Be it observed that Antichristianity passes through three climactic stages before attaining to perfection; exhibiting itself first in the form of the Beast out of the abyss, next in that of the Beast out of the sea, and finally in that of the Beast from the earth. The Beast out of the abyss possesses, as yet, no positive popular and human apparent form, much less the complete mock-holy semblance of the Lamb, possessed by the Beast from the earth; it first comes forth, as a bodiless spirit, from the abyss, in the power of a predominantly demonic spirit of the times, or party spirit. This spirit has ascended from the abyss, i. e., the demonic region of the realm of the dead, which constitutes a transition-form to the final hell. In this respect he is suggestive of the spirit of gloom which arose from the abyss at the fifth Trumpet. And from the fact of this resemblance, it results that he does not necessarily appear in the naked forms of lawlessness [Anomismus]. There is a gloomy churchly form which is subversive of the true Church, and a passionate state-form which undermines the true State. If we have recognized in the two Witnesses the intimate union between Church and State, as respects the bright side of both institutions, it becomes evident that their absolute disagreement must speedily be followed by self-dissolution. The true spirit of the Church can, indeed, long curb the wantonness of the State; the true spirit of the State can long protect the Church against a false ecclesiastical system. But mankind has already seen the false Church-form in conflict with sound State principles, and vice versâ. And mankind must finally see the Church ruined by the Church, the State by the State, because in the case of each, sombre party-spirit has taken the place of right principles.
The Beast, then, shall make war with the two Witnesses—not merely a word and pen war, but also the war of social breach. He shall conquer them in public opinion, as men say, and complete his triumph by killing them. They are killed when destroyed as to their true principles—when the masses rule over faith and worship [Kultus] in the Church, over morals and culture in the State; or when, in the State, the last trace of kinship with the Church is destroyed through principial Atheism, and the last trace of political or social discipline and duty has disappeared from the Church. Then are they killed, even though their outward forms continue to exist, like the shades of departed substances, as, for instance, the forms of the Roman Republic under the first Emperors.
It is most significantly said: their corpses lie in the street of the great city. Their bodies, therefore, are not formally buried and put out of sight; they remain in the public street of the great city, under the eyes, and amid the surging to and fro, of a society fundamentally anarchical.
The great city itself is called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom is the symbol of perfect unnaturalness; Egypt is the symbol of a magical natural science and deification of nature. The two extremes, in their abominable coalition, are the Janus heads of a world which, in her deification of nature, is fundamentally at variance not only with God, but also with the kernel or inmost essence of nature itself.
There, adds the Seer, their Lord was crucified. The crucifixion of Christ was itself the result of a coalition of the spiritual unnaturalness of Judaism—self-murderous, in the killing of its Messiah—and the heathen world, which had fallen into sorcery [Magismus] and an intellectual cultus of nature.
Thus, as the murderess of Christ, Jerusalem may be the type of this great collective city, Sodom-Egypt; that the real Jerusalem itself is intended, can be supposed only under the erroneous system of an anti-symbolical, so-called historical treatment of the Book. With the symbolical name Jerusalem, however, another collective city, Babylon, might easily correspond. Some of the men, better disposed ones, who still have a remnant of influence left, individuals of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations, shall in the meantime keep their dead bodies in view for three days and a half—not permitting them to be put into sepulchres; assuredly, in the hope of their revival. But the time rich in promise, the time of resurrection, the three days (Hos_6:2), pass away without affording any comfort; the corpses lie there until the hour of despair, indicated by three days and a half. And precisely this fact is a cause of delight to those who dwell on the Earth, or cling to the Earth in her earthiness—the earthly-minded ones. They rejoice over the apparent destruction of the two Witnesses; they hold feasts and contemplate further festivities; mutual greetings, in the way of presents or compliments, are exchanged, falling, particularly, to the share of the great utterers of public opinion, we doubt not.
The reason for all this is as follows: These two Prophets tormented them that dwell upon the Earth. Churchly rule [Norm] and civil law have always, to the true men of this world, who have made themselves at home on the Earth, been as a troublesome fanaticism, only disciplinary and tormenting.
But the people who watched their dead bodies have not sorrowed in vain. Finally, out of the horror of the human heart, full of a religious-moral anguish, a super-terrestrial power developes. It is thus not without instrumentality that, in the most disconsolate hour, the flame of the ecclesiastical and the political spirit rises again bright and heavenly, with united brilliancy and glorified beauty; that a spirit of life from God penetrates the corpses, so that they again stand upon their feet, prepared for war and victory, offering defiance to the whole apostate world, and diffusing great spiritual terror over all with whom they come in contact.
But they are not commissioned to fight again the former conflict; in the Kingdom of Spirit, they have triumphed through their defeat, like Christ their Lord. Therefore they hear, or the Seer hears, a great voice from Heaven saying to them: Come up hither.
But how can the Christian Church and the Christian State have assigned to them an ascension more glorious than that of Elijah—similar to that of Christ Himself? Nitzsch says: “Church and State shall, in their consummation, be swallowed up in the unity of the Kingdom of God.” Let us particularly consider the following in this connection:
Their ascension is their exaltation above the former historical, in part pedagogical, forms, into the ideal form of a pure spiritual fellowship. They ascend into Heaven even whilst still on Earth, by being transported into the realm of pure spirit, of perfect fellowship with God. When, however, it is declared, that a cloud envelops them, there takes place a gathering and separation of this perfected congregation of God, this Bride of Christ, from the unbelieving world (Mat_24:31); and, no less, an alteration of her condition, to meet the heavenly glorification—an alteration characterized as an “ attaining” [Entgegenkommen=coming towards] “the resurrection” (Php_3:11); as a being “changed” (1Co_15:51); as a being “caught up into the air to meet the Lord” (1Th_4:17). Their enemies must be spectators of their beginning glorification.
The hour of their glorification, however, becomes an hour of judgment for the world. The separation of the congregation of God from the world is followed by a great earthquake; all the relations of the old human society are shaken and mingled confusedly together by the separation of the salt of the Earth. Thus a great reaction is awakened in the better elements of the ungodly world. The tenth part of the godless city falls in the earthquake. Ten, as perfect development, realized freedom, is also perfect will, decided tendency. Thus, with the fall of the tenth part of the Antichristian world, the back-bone of that world is broken; henceforth it is a confused mass, anxiously expectant of the end. This change is especially brought about, however, by the fact that seven thousand names of men, or men of name, are slain in their names by the earthquake. Without doubt, the reaction of the terrified peoples has been directed with special fury toward their leaders, who, as seducers, by thousands, as spirits, by seven (Mat_12:45). have promised men the seventh day—the peoples’ holiday. Above all, their names, shimmering with a deceptive lustre, are given up to scorn and destruction.
Whilst we must not forget that a cyclical life-picture of the entire New Testament time is here presented to us, neither should the fact be overlooked, that the conclusion of this time is characterized as the second woe—the intermediate one therefore—that which forms the transition from the first to the third woe; and it is in accordance with this fact that we must seek to determine the eschatological import of the present section.
We have seen that the second woe has presented itself in the grand succession of heresies (religious and ethical), which run through the entire Christian time; the time of this woe, therefore, coincides with that of the activity of the two Witnesses; it forms the reverse of their dispensation (Mat_24:26). It has likewise been found that the third woe begins with the seventh Trumpet, as the time of ripened Antichristianity, with features historically developed and determined.
The second woe is, therefore, a peculiar conformation of the times, consummated at the defeat of the two Witnesses and continuing until the period of positive Antichristianity. Its characteristic feature is the tremendous rocking of affairs beginning with the bursting forth of Antichristianity. The authorities and guardians of Church and State seem at last to be everlastingly destroyed; the better disposed are but individuals from all parts of the world who, in a manner, keep watch by the bodies of the slain, whilst the ruling party celebrate the excited festivities of an utterly secularized party-spirit. Then, however, by reason of the separation and gathering of the Church of God, a reaction again takes place; the power of the godless city is shaken by the glorious precursory appearing of the congregation of the Kingdom and by the altered sentiments of many of her inhabitants—in whom the change, however, bears the predominant character of a repentance of fear, and can therefore give way to the full manifestation of Antichristianity in the third woe. This period of a purely Antichristian spirit of the times, without final consolidation, is, in more general descriptions, included together with the final revelation of Antichrist, e. g. 2Th_2:8. The manifestation of wickedness [or the Wicked One—des Boshaften] has its gradations, as has already been intimated. This time seems to be more definitely characterized by the Beast, which is transformed into the eighth king (Rev_17:11), and which forms the transition from the seven kings of the old world of authority to the ten kings of absolute democracy.
We must, further, not overlook the fact, that even the second woe touches the end of the world, and that even the third woe, the revelation of Antichristianity, reaches back into the old time. In this connection, we would again call to mind the law of the cyclical circles; they ever present total world-pictures, though observing a continual progression toward the end of the world and illustrating always a different aspect of the world.
A feature worthy of notice is that the Beast of this second woe ascends out of the same abyss whence, after the fifth Trumpet, the smoke, accompanied by the swarm of locusts, arose; that, on the other hand, it precedes the third woe of consummate Antichristianity, just as the judgment upon Babylon (chs. 17 and 18) precedes the judgment upon the Beast (Revelation 19)
We have, then, in Revelation 11, the Earth-picture of the Christian visible world, in respect of its all-sided historic conformation in good and evil; above all, in respect of the conflict, waxing ever more pronounced, between ecclesiastical and political nomism ([Nomismus] in the good sense of the term), on the one hand, and the antinomism or anomism of false liberty, or the modern spirit of the times, on the other hand—a conflict finally conducting, in part, to the ripe antithesis betwixt the Kingdom of God and the world, and ending, in the world itself, with the most extreme fluctuations.
[ABSTRACT OF VIEWS, ETC.]
By the American Editor
[Elliott and Barnes regard Rev_11:1-2, as properly belonging to the preceding section (the latter part of Rev_11:2 being transitional to the following section) and as indicating the Re-Formation of the Church by those whom the Seer symbolized. The Temple, in the widest sense of the term, (inclusive of the Sanctuary and all the Courts) they interpret “as symbolic of the Christian Church Universal: the Holy of Holies… representing that part of it… gathered into Paradise; the remainder of the Temple… the Church on Earth, the Holy Place,…. as figuring the Church in respect of its secret spiritual worship and character,… the Altar-court… the Church in respect of its visible and public worship,…. the outer or Gentile court is the symbolic scene of the adscititious members from out of heathenism.” The bestowment of the rod (Elliott), as denoting “the royal authorization of those whom St. John here represented… in the work of the Scriptural re-formation of the Church;” the direction to measure, coupled with the casting out, as implying, 1. The defining of those who alone could rightly be considered as belonging to Christ’s Church (“such as in public profession and worship recognized that cardinal point of the Christian faith which the Jewish Altar and Altar ritual-worship symbolized, viz. Justification by the alone efficacy of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice”);—2. The exclusion or excommunication of “the Romish (and Greek?) Church… as apostate and heathen;”—the recognition of those excluded as within a Court of the Temple, as indicating that those excluded “would continue to appear for a time attached as an appendage to the Church visible.” By the Witnesses they understand the unbroken series of upholders and proclaimers of truth, divided as follows: (1) The earlier Western Witnesses, such as Serenus of Marseilles in the early part of the 8th Century, the Anglo Saxon Church, Agobard, Claude of Turin, etc.; (2) the Eastern line, consisting of the Paulicians arising about A. D. 653; (3) the United Eastern and Western lines, during the 11th and 12th Centuries; (4) the Waldenses20 and Albigenses originating about A. D. 1170; (5) the Churches of the Reformation.—They interpret: (1) The 1260 days as indicating 1260 years; (2) the olive-trees and candlesticks, that they were to consist of both ministers and churches; (3) the number two that they were to be, (a) a number competent to bear witness (comp. Deu_17:6; Deu_19:16, etc.), (b) a, small number, (c) possibly the original division into two lines, Eastern and Western; (4) their, being clothed in sack-cloth, that they were to witness in the midst of grief and persecution; (5) their power (Barnes), (a) over those who should injure them, to devour them with fire, their doctrines and denunciations, which would resemble consuming fire (resulting ultimately in Divine judgment); (b) to shut heaven, that spiritual blessings would seem to be under their control. (“During the ages of their ministry, there was neither dew nor rain of a spiritual kind upon the earth, but at the word of the Witnesses. There was no knowledge of salvation but by their preaching—no descent of the Spirit but in answer to their prayers; and as the Witnesses were shut out from Christendom generally, a universal famine ensued,” Seventh Vial); (c) over the waters, that the wars, commotions, etc., which have followed the attempts to destroy them, and which have caused rivers of blood to flow, would seem to have been in answer to their prayers; (6) the war against them, the war of extermination waged in particular against the Waldenses (“from the year 1540–1570… no fewer than nine hundred thousand Protestants were put to death by the Papists in different parts of Europe.”—Barnes); (7) the Beast (the fourth Beast of Daniel, Daniel 7.), the Papacy; (8) the death, the apparent destruction of the Witnesses at the Lateran Council (to which all dissentients had been summoned and at which none appeared) when, May 5, A. D. 1514, the Orator of the Council proclaimed to the Pope from the pulpit, “Jam nemo reclamat, nullus obsistit!” “There is an end of resistance to the papal rule and religion; opposers there exist no more:” and again “The whole body of Christendom is now seen to be subjected to its Head, that is to Thee.” (Quoted by Elliott, Vol. II., p. 450); (9) the not permitting their bodies to be buried, “that they should be treated with indignity as if they were not worthy of Christian burial,” (it was decreed that heretics should be denied Christian burial by the Lateran Council, A. D. 1179; again, 1215, by Gregory IX.; and by Pope Martin, 1227); (10) the broad place (or way) of the City, (Elliott) the Council above mentioned, representing the whole Roman power, gathered in Rome; (11) the rejoicing, etc., the special rejoicings after every new victory over “heretics,” and especially at the close of th Council mentioned in sect. (8)—(see Elliott, Vol. II., pp. 454 sq.); (12) the resurrection after three days and a half, the renewal of witness by Luther—Luther posted his theses at Wittemberg, Oct. 31, 1517, i. e., three years and 180 days after May 5, 1514, when the Orator of the Lateran Council (see above in 8) proclaimed heresy to be extinct; (13) the ascension, the deliverance of the Churches of the Reformation from persecution and into positions of prosperity and influence; (14) the earthquake, the Reformation—“That religious revolution which astonished and convulsed the nations of Europe” (Lingard, quoted by Barnes); (15) the fall of the tenth part of the City, the falling away from Rome of, (Barnes) a considerable portion of her power, (Elliott) England, one of the ten Papal kingdoms; (16) the slaying of seven Chiliads, (Elliott) the separation from the Roman power of the Seven United Provinces of Holland—(Barnes) the proportion of those who perished in Europe in the wars consequent on the Reformation; (17) the remnant affrighted, the alarm of, (Elliott) the remnant of Papists in Protestant countries, (Barnes) the entire unconverted portion of the Roman City; (18) gave glory to God, (Elliott) praise was given by the Witnesses, (Barnes) the unconverted stood in awe at what God was doing.
Stuart understands Rev_11:1-2, “to prefigure the preservation of all which was fundamental and essential in the ancient religion, notwithstanding the destruction of all that was external in respect to the Temple, the City, and the ancient people of God.” The vision of the Witnesses he interprets as symbolizing “that God would raise up faithful and well endowed preachers among the Jews, at the period when the nations were ready to perish; that those preachers would be persecuted and destroyed; and after all that the Christian cause would still be triumphant.”
Wordsworth regards (Rev_11:1-2) the Temple and Altar (of incense) as symbolizing the true Church; the reed as the Scriptures; the measuring as an act “of appropriation and of preservation (Num_35:5; Jer_31:39; Hab_3:6; Zec_2:2), and also of partition and separation, (2Sa_8:2)”; “in this vision of the Apocalypse, the last written of all the Books, of Holy Scripture (the completion of the Canon or measuring rule), St. John receives the reed from Christ and measures the Church.” The two Witnesses he understands as indicating the Church (called two as consisting of both Jews and Gentiles), enlivened and enlightened by the two Testaments (the two olive trees); their persecution, death, etc., that the history of Christ will be reproduced in the history of His Word and Church. The Beast and City he interprets as Barnes and Elliott.
Alford remarks, “No solution at all approaching to a satisfactory one has ever yet been given of any one of these periods. This being so, my principle is to regard them as being still among things unknown to the Church, and awaiting their elucidation by the event.” Concerning the Witnesses he remarks on Rev_11:6, “All this points out the spirit and power of Moses combined with that of Elias. And undoubtedly it is in these two directions that we must look for the two witnesses or lines of witnesses. The one impersonates the law, the other the Prophets. The one reminds us of the Prophet whom God should raise up like unto Moses; the other of Elias, the Prophet who should come before the great and terrible day of the Lord.” As to whether the prophecy is to be fulfilled by individuals or lines of witnesses, he does not attempt to decide.
Lord writes as to the measuring of the Temple, “The rod is the symbol of the revealed will of God;… the Holy of Holies… the scene in which God visibly manifests Himself, Christ intercedes, and the Cherubim, the representatives of the redeemed, serve in His presence; so the other sanctuary symbolizes the place or places on earth in which the true worshippers offer Him the public worship which He enjoins. The Altar on which incense, the symbol of prayer, was offered, represented the Cross of Christ, the instrument of His expiation, and thence of reconciliation and access to God.… To measure the Temple, then, was to seek and learn the truths taught in the Scriptures, and symbolized first by the inner sanctuary,… and next… by the outer sanctuary, respecting the place or places on earth which He has appointed for the worship which He enjoins on His people, respecting the expiation on which they are to rely,… and respecting the ministers who conduct the worship He enjoins.… The court, which was on the outside,… denoted the station of the congregation of visible worshippers;… to reject it as no part of the Temple, was therefore, to reject the body of the nominal or visible, as not true worshippers; and the direction to reject it was equivalent to the prophecy that the nominal was not to be a true Church.… The command to measure the Temple was addressed to the Apostle doubtless as representing the same persons as he symbolized in the prediction that he must again prophesy before peoples, etc.” On the subject of the Witnesses, he agrees as to their nature, substantially, with Elliott and Barnes; their death, resurrection, and ascension, however, he regards as still future and as literal. The 1260, and three and a half, days, he interprets as symbolic of years.
Glasgow refers the measuring to Apostolic times. “The Apostles (symbolized by John), by inspiration, gave laws of discipline and of morals, for receiving or excluding candidates or members. Thus they measured the House and City of God. And they measured the Altar by teaching the doctrine of the one sacrifice offered by Christ, and of His intercession, and of His government on the mediatorial throne; and they measured the worshippers, by supplying the patterns and rules of duty, and thus furnishing the means of distinguishing the Lord’s peculiar ‘people’ from His enemies.” The outside Court he interprets substantially as Elliott; the trampling of the City, as the predominance “of what Neander and Killen have called ‘the Catholic system.’ ” The Witnesses he also interprets as symbolizing the Paulicians, Waldenses, etc.; he begins the Witness, however, with the protest of the Novatians about A. D. 253, and thus concludes the 1260 days (or years) of prophesying in sackcloth (or affliction) in A. D. 1514. He adopts the opinion that the declaration made May 5th, 1514, in the Lateran Council, referred to above, denotes the death and exposure of the dead bodies of the Witnesses. On other points of interpretation he agrees generally with Elliott.—E. R. C]
EXPLANATIONS IN DETAIL
Düsterdieck holds, with us, that the present section really closes with Rev_11:14. [With Elliott and others, the Am. Ed. regards Rev_11:1-2 as connected with the preceding chapter. See Additional Note, p. 132.—E. R. C]
Rev_11:1. And there was given me a reed.—After the analogy of Old Testament prophetico-symbolical transactions; see Isa_8:1, and many other passages, particularly in the Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Given.—By whom? The indeterminateness denotes that nothing in the symbolism is dependent upon this feature. The literal interpretation would fain define the giver.
A reed—Eze_40:3; Rev_21:15. [Like unto a rod.—“The word ῥάβδος, rod, is coupled three times in the Apocalypse with the adjective σιδηρᾶ (Rev_2:27; Rev_12:5; Rev_19:15). And in the same places it is coupled also with the verb ποιμαίνειν, to tend, as a shepherd does. The idea is thus suggested of a pastoral staff.” Wordsw.—E. R. C.]
Saying [Lange: Whilst it was commanded].—Δέγων—indefinite form. Bcngel explains, grammatically but not symbolically: the κάλαμος.
Measure the Temple.—The Temple in Jerusalem had long since been measured; it, however, is not what is meant here. Neither, indeed, is the measuring to be taken literally. The worshippers, also, are to be measured, i. e., precisely determined. In Eze_40:3 sqq., the measuring of a symbolical Temple is spoken of, whilst Revelation 21 treats of the measurement of the symbolical City of God.
According to Düsterdieck and many others, the measuring here denotes exemption from destruction; the above-mentioned commentator supposes that the treading under foot of the outer court is indicative of actual destruction. Yet the very passages that he cites [in connection with the measuring]—Amo_7:7; Hab_3:6—have reference to destruction, and the idea that the outer court was destroyed, but that the Temple and the worship continued to subsist, is utterly futile, as is in general the so-called historic application of the passage to the Temple at Jerusalem. Düsterdieck calls the interpretation of the Temple as the true Church of God, allegoristic! One-sided, we admit that it is, to interpret the measuring of the Temple as indicative of a reconstruction of the Church, or to apply the contrast between the Temple and the outer court, in which contrast the chief weight of the similitude lies, to the contrast between the evangelic Church and Catholicism; in opposition to the latter exposition, Catholic exegetes distinguish between good Catholics and excommunicated persons. [See the Absteact of Views, etc., pp. 227 sqq.—E. R. C.]
The altar.—The Altar of incense. The Altar of burnt-offering stood in the outer court. [Elliott and Barnes regard the Altar as that of burnt-offering. It must be acknowledged that the language apparently points to the three great divisions of the Temple enclosure—the ναός or Sanctuary, the θυσιατήριον or altar [court], and the court outside the Sanctuary, i. e., the court of the Gentiles. Of these courts, that of the Gentiles alone entirely surrounded the Sanctuary; the inner court merely enclosed it on three sides: the latter, from both its local and spiritual relations to the Sanctuary, could not so well be described as outside (τὴν αὐλἠν τὴν ἔξωθεν τοῦ ναοῦ), as the former.—E. R. C.]
In it ἐν αὐτῷ.—These words might be referred to the Altar of incense, inasmuch as all prayers do, in a symbolical sense, ascend from the Altar of incense; most exegetes, however, make them relate to the Temple.21 The main thing, here as elsewhere, is the contrast presented to those without. John is thought even here to have in view the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, differing, however, from the eschatological prophecies of the Lord by predicting a preservation of the Temple, and placing the faithful Jewish Christians therein! (comp. also De Wette, Lücke, p. 354).
Rev_11:2. And [Lange: But] the court which is without the Temple.—On misapprehensions of the outer court, by Luther, Vitringa, Ewald, see Düsterdieck.
Cast out.—Eichhorn, correctly: Profanum declara.
Given unto the Gentiles [heathen].—[On the New Testament force of to τὰ ἔθνη see Cremer’s Biblico-Theological Lexicon under “̓́Εθνος. The following is extracted: “It is a peculiarity of New Testament, or, indeed, of Bible usage generally, to understand by τὰ ἔθνη, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, those who are not of Israel, opp. υἱοὶ ̔Ισραήλ, Act_9:15; Act_14:2; Act_14:5; Act_21:11; Act_21:21; Act_26:20; Rom_2:24; Rom_3:29; Rom_9:24; Rom_9:30-31; Rom_11:25; 1Co_1:23; Gal_2:15 : οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς Act_10:45 : περιτομή Gal_2:9 (cf. Eph_2:11): γένος 2Co_11:26 parallel; οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, Act_15:17. In this sense the word corresponds to the Hebrew גוי (LXX. Sometimes=λαός, e.g., (Jos_3:17; Jos_4:1), which signifies primarily nothing but a connected host, multitude.… Τὰ ἔθνη are the peoples outside of Israel—the totality of the nations, which, being left to themselves (Act_14:16), are unconnected with the God of Salvation, Who is Israel’s God; Act_28:28; Eph_2:11-12; Rom_11:11-12; Gal_3:8; Gal_3:14; 1Th_4:5; Eph_3:6; Mat_12:21. Left to themselves and to their own will, they stand in moral antagonism to the Divine order of life, Eph_4:17; 1Pe_4:3-4; 1Co_10:20; 1Co_12:2; Mat_6:32; Luk_12:30; cf. Mat_18:17; they are not in possession of the revealed law. Rom_2:14; cf. Rom_9:30; nor are they bound to the rules and laws of Israelitish life, Gal_2:12; Gal_2:14-15. It is this moral-religious lack that renders so significant the emphasis laid on the ὑπακοὴπίστεως, on the part of the ἔθνη, Rom_1:5; Rom_15:18; Rom_16:26… Whether in the Apocalypse ἔθνη is opposed to Israel, or, as it appears to me, to the New Testament redeemed Church, must be left to commentators to decide. Rev_2:26; Rev_11:2; Rev_11:18; Rev_12:5; Rev_14:8; Rev_15:3-4; Rev_16:19; Rev_18:3; Rev_18:23; Rev_19:5; Rev_20:3; Rev_20:8; Rev_21:24; Rev_21:26; Rev_22:2.” See foot-note† on p. 27.—E. R. C.]—[ Given unto.]—Düsterd.: They shall lodge therein as victors, treading the outer court and the entire Holy City. Bengel—better, at least: The outer court is not measured, because an unthought-of throng of Gentiles shall one day worship therein. But something more than a mere future is contemplated. De Wette and others: The bloody sacrificial service, consummated on the altar of burnt-offering, shall cease.
Rev_11:3. My two Witnesses.—According to Düsterdieck, these must be personal individuals. Personal individuals possessing the characteristics described cannot be pointed out as existing at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, or as living on through the entire Crossæon of the Church down to the end of the world. According to Düsterdieck and others (p. 382), these two witnesses are Moses and Elijah; according to Stern and others, they are Enoch and Elijah; even Luther and Melanchthon have been suggested. According to Ebrard, they are symbols of authorities, powers, which, however, he pertinently enough defines as Law and Gospel. Since the Witnesses can be witnesses of Christ only, the term, My witnesses, is elucidative of the strong Angel mentioned in the foregoing chapter [who spoke to John, Rev_10:9; Rev_10:11, and whom Lange apparently regards as still speaking]. [See Abstract of Views, pp. 227 sqq., and Add. Note, pp. 232 sq.—E. R. C.].
I will give.—What He gives them, is declared by what follows; δώσω, therefore, need not be supplemented by conjectures.
Sackcloth, as a penitential dress, Jer_4:8; Jon_3:5; Mat_11:21. [As a garment of affliction, see Gen_37:34; 2Sa_3:31; 2Sa_21:10; 2Ki_6:30; Est_4:1-4; Job_16:15; Psa_30:11; Psa_35:13; Psa_69:11; Isa_3:24; Isa_15:3; Isa_20:2; Jer_48:37; Jer_49:3; Amo_8:10.—E. R. C.]
Rev_11:4. The two olive trees.—The Seer, as an accomplished symbolist, has descried in the olive trees of Zechariah 4. perfectly admissible types of New Testament affairs. On αἱ…ἑστῶτες, see the remark in Düsterdieck. [“As the olive-tree furnished oil for the lamps, the two trees here would seem properly to denote ministers of religion; and as there can be no doubt that the candlesticks, or lamp-bearers, denote churches, the sense would appear to be that it was through the pastors of the churches that the oil of grace which maintained the brightness of those mystic candlesticks, or the churches, was conveyed. The image is a beautiful one, and expresses a truth of great importance to the world:—for God has designed that the lamp of piety shall be kept burning in the churches by truth supplied through ministers and pastors.” Barnes.—E. R. C.]
Before the Lord of the earth.—The Lord is the unitous authority of the earth or the theocratic institution—which formerly branched into Joshua and Zerubbabel, and now ramifies into State and Church. Ebrard interprets the Old Testament Lord of the whole earth as indicative of the king of Persia, and regards the corresponding New Testament expression as significant of the ruler of this world.
Rev_11:5-6. “The individual lineaments of this description, especially in Rev_11:6, are borrowed from the history of Elijah and Moses. This reference—admitted by all expositors—to the miracles of those old Prophets (miracles which are in no wise allegorically understood) of itself renders it highly improbable that the description of the present passage is allegorically intended” (Düsterdieck). Most original logic, this! As if historical facts, and especially such as have since their very occurrence assumed a symbolical coloring, might not be employed in allegorical descriptions. A slight examination of the New Testament will speedily convince us that such is not the case. [See the quotation from Alford, p, 229.—E. R. C.]
Fire goeth forth out of their mouth.—Jer_5:14. The reference to 2Ki_1:10 is by Düsterdieck considered of doubtful propriety, because Elijah calls down fire from Heaven. But even this fact might be paraphrased, in the prophetic style, as follows: fire proceeded out of his mouth, Sir_48:1. If, however, we take the words, out of their mouth, and fire, literally, we have “a fearful reality” (Düsterd.). This is called historical exegesis. The spectator of such fire-works might possibly say: a dubious reality—magic; such an one would be able to set his mind at rest only by echoing the verdict of Rothe: “God is an adept at sorcery.”
Rev_11:6. Power to shut Heaven.—1Ki_17:1.
During [Lange: For] the days.—If the words, for the days of their prophecy, denote the time of their entire activity, and that with reference to the 3½ years of drought predicted by Elijah, the time of this entire activity would need to be reduced to ordinary years—and this is not practicable. We, therefore, apprehend the passage thus: for the days fixed by their prophecy.
Over the waters.—Exo_7:19.
With every plague [Lange: With all (manner of) plagues].—Reference to the Egyptian plagues generally. According to Düsterdieck, it is inadmissible to interpret even these features allegorically, i e., to apprehend them as allegorical. Whilst the interpretation of Bede—making the power to shut Heaven the potestas clavium—may be too restrictedly ecclesiastical, the more general application of the passage to the withholding of the rain or blessing of the Gospel, is certainly removed beyond the objection urged against it, viz.: that in case of its acceptance, it would be necessary to apprehend 1 Kings 17.; Jam_5:17; Exodus 7. sqq. figuratively also; and this, apart from the fact that even these passages are not to be taken in so naked a Græco-historical sense as many seem to suppose.
Rev_11:7. Finished their testimony,22 the wild-beast, etc.—Preliminary and more general symbolization of Antichristianity. This one Beast branches into two Beasts in Revelation 13.
Rev_11:8-10. In the broad-way23 [Lange: street] of the great city.—The literal method entails the apprehension of the fact that the bodies remained lying in the City, in accordance with the ancient conception of the great impiety of suffering corpses to remain unburied. The question arises hare, however: are the individuals (Rev_11:9) of (all) the peoples identical with the persons mentioned in Rev_11:10, who are described in general terms as the inhabitants of the earth, and are, therefore, enemies of the Witnesses? The text plainly distinguishes between the two classes. There is, then, in any case, a two-fold interest which is subserved by the leaving of the corpses unburied—a hostile and a friendly interest. In Rev_11:9 it is declared: βλὲπουσιν ἐκ τῶν λαῶν, etc.
“That the great City is identical with the Holy City, where the ναὸς τωῦ θεοῦ stands (Rev_11:1 sqq.), and that it is, therefore, none other than Jerusalem, is evident from the context” (Düsterdieck). Even the literal interpretation is forced to admit that Sodom and Egypt (see Isa_1:9; Eze_16:48) is a “spiritual appellation,” the fact being expressly set forth in the text. Yet this appellation is robbed of the greater part of its force, when the attempt to exhibit a distinction (Hengstenberg’s, for instance: Egypt has reference to religious corruption, Sodom to bad morals) is swept aside, with the declaration that the only point of importance is that in which Sodom and Egypt are essentially one, viz.: perfect hostility to the true God, His servants, and His people.
The great City.—As the so-called historical interpretation regards the present passage as significant, throughout, of the real Jerusalem (Ewald, Bleek, De Wette, Düsterd., et al.), the following question arises: Why is the City called the great, and not the holy? Discussions of this question are submitted by Düsterdieck, p. 370. The question does not present itself at all to a more correct exegesis—one that appreciates the symbolical import of the passage. It is something of a leap to discover, like Calov., here, in the City of Jerusalem, Babylon—in Babylon, Rome—in Rome, papal Rome. Undoubtedly, this great City of Jerusalem is, in essentials, of like import with the great City of Babylon (in the more general sense of the latter, Rev_16:19); but the context contains a reason for the fact, that the City is here indirectly called Jerusalem, as the city where the Lord was crucified, and there, Babylon. Here, namely, it represents the symbolically modified Theocracy, or Divine establishment, embracing Church and State, as a mock-holy fallen Theocracy; there, it represents the centre of the open Antichristian spirit of the world.—The meaning of the great City is more generally apprehended by Ebrard, p. 342.24
Different interpretations of the three and a half days see in Düsterdieck, p. 371. A short time; the time during which Christ lay in the grave; the time which exceeds the term during which corpses should remain above ground; analogous to Rev_11:2; Chiliastic computations of the number.
Rev_11:11. And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life, etc.—materially [as distinguished from grammatically, Hengstenberg’s interpretation of πνεῦμα ζωῆς as the Spirit of life cannot be incorrect [Düsterdieck to the contrary, notwithstanding], since this spirit proceeds from God.—A form of peculiar significance: εἰσῆλθεν ἐν αὐτοῖς.
Great fear.—The usual effect of great Divine wonders, angelic appearances, spiritual operations, and especially of the wonder of resurrection.
Rev_11:12. And they ascended, etc.—Suggestive of the ascension of Elijah and, still more, of Christ’s ascension.
Rev_11:13-14. And in that hour.—That is, the events narrated took place simultaneously with the ascension of the two Witnesses and were co-operative therewith. According to Düsterdieck, not even this earthquake should, as Ebrard maintains, be symbolically apprehended as an extraordinary event. In respect of the numbers, we refer to the Synoptical View. Ebrard’s interpretation, see p. 347; comp. Düsterdieck, p. 374.
In spite of the invincible difficulties which lie in the literal apprehension (the outer court destroyed; the Temple, and even the worship therein celebrated, continuing; the two Witnesses vomiting fire; Christ prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem—the Seer narrates its visitation by an earthquake, etc.), Düsterdieck, supported, we must own, by notable predecessors, believes that this apprehension is in all points firmly established against the symbolical apprehension. An allegorical text, however, does not cease to be allegorical for the simple reason, that a multitude of wrong interpretations have attached themselves to it. Arbitrary interpretation is not conquered by cutting the Gordian knot and plunging into the absurdities of literalism; that which is requisite and able to overcome it is a more precise and accurate determination of the symbolical expressions and conceptions of the Old Testament. Such a determination at once dispatches the following collection of arbitrary expositions presented by Düsterdieck, p. 375.
Rev_11:1-2 are, according to Bede, prophetic of the institution of the festival of Church consecration by Pope Felix. The two Witnesses are, according to Lyra, Pope Silverius and the Patriarch Mennas; or, according to others, the testes veritatis; or the Waldenses; or Huss and Jerome; or Luther and Melanchthon. The Beast out of the Abyss is the Imperial general Belisarius, or the Pope. The Temple is the true Church; the outer court, bad Christians, etc. Similar chronological computations see in Düsterd.’s note, p. 376.
In reality, however, most of the so-called allegorists essentially occupy the same standpoint with the historical expositors after Lücke, Bleek, Dόsterd. and others; both have in view particular historic facts, literally defined; only, according to the allegorists, these particularities are actual, inspired prophecies, veiled in figures. Modern supporters of the historical view have found some portions of the veil indispensable; they, moreover, divide the prophetic items into truths and errors.
With all Düsterdieck’s fondness for literalism, however, he decidedly rejects the rationalistic interpretation, p. 377 sqq. See likewise his further examination of the symbolical exegesis as represented by Hengstenberg.
[ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SECTION]
By the American Editor
[In the judgment of the American Editor, Rev_11:1-8 (or 7) are connected with the vision of the preceding chapter
Rev_11:2-8 (or 7) containing an address made to the Seer during that vision, in which the work and death of the Witnesses are verbally described to him. The vision of the Witnesses begins with Rev_11:9 (or 8). It will be perceived that at that point the phraseology changes; the Seer no longer rehearses what another told him; he describes what he himself beheld. If this opinion be correct, the Apocalyptic stand-point of John at the vision beginning Rev_10:1, was probably at the period of the death of the Witnesses; in the explanatory narration beginning Rev_11:3, the narrator described as future that which was to be; but in the description of the vision, John describes as past and present that which (in symbol) he so beheld.
The Witnesses.—Who are they? Barnes has well declared concerning the passage which describes them: “This is, in some respects, the most difficult portion of the Book of Revelation.” There are many points in the description which seem to favor the idea that they are, as is contended by Elliott, Barnes, etc., the long line of protesters against a heathenized Christianity; there are other points, however, in which we feel that, on this hypothesis, the symbols are but inadequately satisfied; the miraculous powers ascribed to them, for instance and especially, seem to demand something which the history even of the Waldenses does not fully supply. The thought has arisen in the mind of the writer, that possibly here, as in some of the Old Testament prophecies, and probably in those concerning Antichrist (see Add. Note, p. 339), the symbols may have a double objective—respecting (1) two lines of witnesses which are to be consummated in (2) two individual Witnesses, in whom they are to be fully (as Immediatesimilar Symbols) realized. On this hypothesis (possibly) the lines would prophesy throughout the twelve hundred and sixty years of initial Gentile trampling; the individuals throughout twelve hundred and sixty days of consummate trampling (the three and a half years=twelve hundred and sixty days, during which the lines would lie as dead), and then be literally slain, and lie unburied for three and a half days.
On the general hypothesis that lines of witnesses either primarily or exclusively) are intended, two questions arise, viz., What is the period of their rise? and what of their death? These questions are so intimately associated that they cannot with propriety be considered separately; they constitute one complex subject. On this subject there are three particular hypotheses set forth by those who adopt the day-for-a-year theory: 1. That of Elliott, that they began in the Paulicians about A. D. 653; were slain at the Lateran Council, May 5th, 1514; arose again in Luther, Oct. 31st, 1517; and still continue their testimony. 2. That of Glasgow, who agrees with Elliott as to the period of their death, but who places their beginning about A. D. 253, in the Novatian protest. 3. That of Lord, who substantially agrees with Elliott as to the period of their beginning, but who places their death in the future. Of these hypotheses, the first seems to the writer to be clearly inadmissible; the comparison of Rev_11:3; Rev_11:7 requires that we should place their death at the close of the twelve hundred and sixty days of their testimony. There is much to commend the earlier period of beginning advocated by Glasgow. Manifestly, there is much in history to support the idea that a death of the Witnesses did occur at the Council referred to—a death followed by a resurrection three and a half years after in the rise of the Reformers; and it is certainly a question whether, twelve hundred and sixty years before, a trampling of the Church by the previously invading Gentiles did not begin in the almost unconditional restoration of the lapsi—a restoration against which the Novatians in sackcloth protested. But, on the other hand, this hypothesis not only assumes a doubtful terminus a quo, but it fails to provide for the present time when, manifestly, there exists just such a trampling as then existed, and likewise a similar witnessing.
The writer would suggest as a possible solution of the difficulty, that there was contemplated (1) an initial trampling of the outer court beginning about A. D. 253, followed by a typical death of the Witnesses in 1514; (2) a more complete trampling beginning, perchance, in the introduction of image worship, to be followed by a more complete death in the future; (3) the whole to be consummated, as indicated above, by the prophesying and death of individual Witnesses.
As to the measuring, the writer agrees with the general opinion of the commentators whose views he has presented above. That opinion may be most completely set forth in the language of Wordsworth: “The action of measuring is one of appropriation and preservation, and also of partition and separation.” This act, possibly, was initially and typically performed at the Reformation; probably it will be more fully performed in the future, when the casting out (the excommunication) of those who trample the outer court will be proclaimed by an individual (or a class) directly commissioned for this purpose by the Great Head of the Church. May not this event be coincident with the call to the people of the Lord, who may still remain in Babylon, to come out of her (Rev_18:4)?—E. R. C.]
Footnotes:
[1]Rev_11:1. The reading of the Rec., and the, Angel stood and said, is without sufficient foundation. [Cod. B*. gives καὶ εἱστήκει ὁ ἄγγελος; Critical Eds. generally omit, and also give λέγων with A. B*. P, instead of λέγει, ace. to א*.—E. R. C.]
[2]Rev_11:2. [Treg. and Tisch. give ἔξωθεν with אc. A.; Alf. ἔξω with B*. Cod. א*. reads ἔσω and P. ἔσωθεν.—E. R. C.]
[3]Rev_11:4. The reading ἑστῶτες with A. C. א. [א.* B*. P.] and others.
[4]Rev_11:4. Κυρίου in acc. with A. B.* C. [א. P.], not Θεοῦ.
[5]Rev_11:5. The reading θέλει. [So Crit. Eds. with א. A. B*. C. P.—E. R. C.]
[6]Rev_11:5. [Treg. and Tisch. give θελήσῃ with א. A.; Gb., Sz., Lach., Alf., Tisch. (1859), θέλει.—E. R. C.]
[7]Rev_11:6. [Lach. gives τήν with A. C. P.; Tisch. omits with א. B*.; Alf. brackets and Treg. marks with*.—E. R. C.]
[8]Rev_11:6. [Mod. Crit. Eds. give τὰς ἡμέρας with א. A. B*. C. P. See Lange, Exp. in Detail.—E. R. C.]
[9]Rev_11:8. [Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give τὸ πτῶμα with A. B*. C.; Lange, and Rec. τα πτώματα with א. P. In Rev_11:9, first occurrence,א. also gives the singular; P. alone, the plural: in the second occurrence all the Codd. give the plural.—E. R. C.]
[10]Rev_11:8. [See Explanations in Detail.—E. R. C.]
[11]Rev_11:8. Instead of ἡμῶν, read αὐτῶν. [So Modern Crit. Eds. generally with אc. A. B. C. P.; Rec. et al. read ἡμῶν with 1; א*. omits both.—E. R. C.]
[12]Rev_11:9. [Lach., Words., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give βλέπουσιν with א. A. B*. C. P., Gb., sz.; Lange, βλέψουσιν with Vulg., etc.—E. R. C.]
[13]Rev_11:10.̓Αφίυσιν. [So Eds. generally with א. A. C. P., etc.—E. R. C.]
[14]Rev_11:10. [Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., give χαίρουσιν with א. A. B*. C. P.—E. R. C.]
[15]Rev_11:10. ̓Ευφραίνονται [So Modern Eds. with א. A. C. P.—E. R. C.]
[16]Rev_11:10. [Tisch. reads πἐμπουσιν with א*. P.; Lach., Words., Alf., Treg., Tisch. (1859), Lange, πέμψουσιν, with אc. A.C.—E. R.C.]
[17]Rev_11:11. ̓Εν αὐτοῖς. See Düst. [Tisch. so gives with A.; Treg. reads αὐτοῖς without ἐν with C. P. (he cites A. as reading ἐπ̓ αυτοῖς); Alf. brackets ἐν; א. B*. read εἰς αὐτούς.—E. R. C.]
[18]Rev_11:12. The reading ἤκουσαν was probably preferred as apparently the more natural one. [So Lach., Alf., Treg., Tisch., with א. A. C. P., Vulg., etc. Gb., Tisch. (1859), Lange, give ἤκουσα with אc. B. (Treg. cites P. as giving the latter reading.)—E. R. C.]
[19][See Add. Comm. on Rev_10:11, p. 221.—E. R. C.]
[20] Elliott (Vol. II., Appendix) gives at length, and in the original, the Noble Lesson of the Waldenses. This work, written about A. D. 1170, presents the Witness of the Waldensian Church to the truth. He gives, Vol. II., pp. 390–396, translations from this, and from one of their later works entitled Antichrist. So valuable and interesting is the latter as indicating the position of that remarkable people in reference to Rome, and as witnessing against her, that the extract presented by Elliott is here reproduced. (The last paragraph is as presented by Barnes.)
“Antichrist is the falsehood (doomed to eternal damnation), covered with the appearance of the truth and righteousness of Christ and His spouse … being administered by false apostles; and defended by one or other arm (i. e., the spiritual and secular arm).… Thus it is not a certain particular person, ordained in a certain grade, office, or ministry, considering the thing generally; but the falsehood itself, opposed to the truth, with which however it covers itself, adorning itself outwardly with the beauty and piety of Christ’s Church, of Christ Himself, His names, offices, scriptures, sacraments. The iniquity of this system, with all his ministers, higher and lower, following it with an evil and blinded heart—such a congregation, taken together, is called Antichrist, or Babylon, or the Fourth Beast, or the Harlot, or the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition.
“His first work is, that the service of latria, properly due to God alone, he (Antichrist) perverts unto himself and to his works, and to the poor creature, rational or irrational, sensible or insensible; as, for instance, to male or female saints departed this life, and to their images, bones, or relics. His works are the sacraments, especially that of the tucharist, which he worships equally with God and Christ, prohibiting the adoration of God alone.
“His second work is, that he robs and deprives Christ of the merits of Christ, with the whole sufficiency of grace, righteousness, regeneration, remission of sins, sanctification, confirmation, and spiritual nourishment; and imputes and attributes them to his own authority, to his own doings, or to the saints and their intercession, or to the fire of purgatory. Thus he separates the people from Christ, and leads them away to the things already mentioned; that so they may seek not the things of Christ, nor through Christ, but only the work of their own hands; not through a living faith in God, and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit; but through the will and the works of Antichrist, agreeably to his preaching that man’s whole salvation depends on his works.
“His third work is, that he attributes the regeneration of the Holy Spirit to a dead outward faith; baptizing children in that faith, and teaching that by it is the consecration of baptism and regeneration, on which same faith it (he) ministers orders and the other sacraments; and on it founds all Christian religion.
“His fourth work is, that he rests the whole religion and sanctity of the people upon his Mass; for leading them to hear it, he deprives them of spiritual and sacramental manducation.
“His fifth work is, that he does every thing to be seen, and to glut his insatiable avarice.
“His sixth work is, that he allows manifest sins without ecclesiastical censure and excommunication.
“His seventh work is, that he defends his unity, not by the Holy Spirit, but by the secular power.
“His eighth work is, that he hates, persecutes, makes inquisition after, and robs and puts to death the members of Christ.
“These things and many others, are the cloak and vestment of Antichrist; by which he covers his lying wickedness, lest he should be rejected as a heathen. But there is no other cause of idolatry than a false opinion of grace, and truth, and authority, and invocation, and intercession; which this Antichrist has taken away from God, and which he has ascribed to ceremonies, and authorities, and a man’s own works, and to saints, and to purgatory.”—E. R. C.]
[21]With equal propriety may they refer to the Altar court, if that be meant by the θυσιαστήριον. And indeed the introduction of this clause seems to point to this interpretation of the Altar, as only priests worshipped in the Sanctuary—the people worshipping in the court. On the other hand, however, it may be contended that, as all true Christians are priests, their proper place of worship is the Sanctuary.—E. R. C.]
[22]Lord translates: And when they would finish their testimony, etc.; and comments: “The Witnesses would finish their testimony before the close of the 1260 years, doubtless under the apprehension that it was no longer to be necessary; that the great changes wrought in public opinion, and in the condition of the apostate Church by judgments on it, divested it of its dangerous power, and insured its speedy overthrow; and that they might therefore turn from the mere endeavor to maintain the truth in opposition to it, to the happier task of proclaiming it to those who had never yet heard the glad tidings.”—E. R. C.]
[23][See Kitto’s Dict. of the Bible, Title Street.—E. R. C.]
[24][For an exceedingly able argument designed to show that Rome was probably referred to by the Apocalyptist, see Barnes in loc.—E. R. C.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Outlined ground-plan of the events of the Seventh…
I. PRELUDE TO THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.
4. Outlined ground-plan of the events of the Seventh Trumpet; that is, of the whole of Rev_12:1 to Rev_22:5, Rev_11:1-13.
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a. The mystic Jerusalem=the pure Church, ascertained by measurement, Rev_11:1-2.
This chapter has been considered the very “cross of interpreters,” so various have been the interpretations. But a careful noting of its various points will, perhaps, clearly show that it is a miniature picture of the great antichristic STRUGGLE of which all of chapters 12-20 are the full portraiture. It is the preparatory programme—the portico to the building, and a small model of its structure.
To discover this we note, first, in Rev_11:7, an anticipation of the full portraiture of the struggle in the beast, who can be no other than the beast of Rev_13:1-10. Then, in Rev_11:2, we have the holy city, or Christic capital, in contrast with the great city, or Babylon, the antichristic capital. We have then a clew of the great coming antithesis. A full tracing thence of the particulars, as we will give them in our notes, will make, perhaps, perfectly clear the fact that all the leading points given at length in the full prophecy of 12-20 will be found to have their correspondent points in this miniature. See tabulation at end of Rev_11:13.
1. There was given me—By what giver is not said, (as in Rev_6:11; Rev_8:2;) doubtless by an invisible yet divine donor, the gift coming visibly as by panoramic spontaneous movement.
A reed—The light-jointed plant that grows in marshy grounds. It was an emblem of feebleness, (Mat_11:7;) used as a mock sceptre for Jesus, (Mat_27:29-30;) as an instrument for writing by our John himself. 3Jn_1:13.
A rod—A staff for walking; or a rod for chastising; or, probably, here, a sceptre or baton of office, as Aaron’s rod. Heb_1:8; Rev_2:27; Psa_2:9. This fragile reed, the emblem of a humble Christianity, was yet a sceptre mighty to take a divine measurement of human things. That measurement could be either, as here, severe and critical, or, as in Rev_21:15, an appreciation of a glorious wonder.
And the angel stood—These words are to be rejected as a false reading. The angel disappears at the close of the last chapter, and the scene changes.
Before the seer appear, (note Rev_4:11,) in gradual development, the temple or holy house; the altar of incense, which was in it; then the court, which surrounded it; and, finally, the city, which embraced the whole. The main progress is from the less in size to the greater, but from the greater in sacred importance to the less.
Measure— Take a divine and critical estimate of its present value and amount.
Saying—In the Greek (omitting the angel) there is no immediate subject-noun with which this saying agrees, save rod. And some, as Wordsworth, have accordingly made the rod utter the direction and predictions which follow, just as the altar speaks in Rev_9:13. But even then the saying, no doubt, refers to the invisible giver of the rod.
The saying embraces the predictions, in future tense, to Rev_11:10; and then, at Rev_11:11, the seer commences his past tense, yet so commences as, with exquisite skill, to take in the predictions as part of the narrative. The whole could be read in the past tense as one narration.
Rise—Not as if he had been sitting or kneeling, but as moving him to action from the reverie during which the change of scene had taken place.
Temple… altar—The inmost places of the true Church of God.
Them that worship—The true living Church of the saints. The measurement is an authentication of their trueness. The authoritative rod, or sceptre, is also a reed, or pen, that writes a divine endorsement. Happy the Church whom the measuring reed endorses.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain The Measuring Angel and the Two Witnesses. Chap. 11…
The Measuring Angel and the Two Witnesses. Chap. 11 Rev_11:1-13
1. a reed] Eze_40:3; Zec_2:1.
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like unto a rod] i.e. a walking-staff: probably not as long as the one in Ezek., l.c., but perhaps of six feet:—so that it would naturally, when carried, be grasped near the upper end, like a pilgrim’s staff, or a modern alpenstock.
and the angel stood] These words should be omitted: they are no doubt inserted for grammatical completeness. “There was given unto me a reed like unto a staff, … saying” is of course easily understood to mean, “There was given unto me … he that gave it saying.” It thus is not certain that it is the “mighty angel” of the preceding chapter who speaks in this.
the temple of God] The word used is not that for the whole “Temple-precinct,” but the “Temple” in the narrowest sense—what in the O. T. is called “the house” or “the palace.”
the altar] Being distinguished from the Temple, we should naturally think of the Altar of Burnt-offering which stood outside it: besides that this was, and the Altar of Incense was not, large enough to be measured by something longer than a foot-rule. But we saw on Rev_6:9 that the Heavenly Temple apparently has no Altar of Burnt-offering distinct from the Altar of Incense: so the question only becomes important if we suppose the earthly Temple to be meant.
Is it then the heavenly or the earthly Temple that St John is bidden to measure? Probably the latter. Without pressing the argument from Rev_10:9, that the seer is now on earth, it is hardly likely that, whereas in Ezekiel, Zechariah, and inf. Rev_21:15 the measurement, not of the Temple only but of the Holy City, is the work of angels, it should here be ascribed to a man. But what is more decisive is, that the whole of this chapter describes God’s rebukes and correcting judgements on the city, the fate of which is connected with that of the Temple here named. This proves that it is the earthly city of God that is meant—and therefore probably the literal Jerusalem: for the Christian Church, imperfectly as it realises its divine ideal, does not appear to be dissociated from it in Scriptural typology or prophecy: “Jerusalem which is above … is the Mother of us all,” even now, and even now “our citizenship is in Heaven.”
and them that worship therein] Lit. in it, not “in them,” i.e. in the Temple, the mention of “the Altar” being parenthetical. But neither the Temple (in the narrower sense) nor the Altar was ordinarily a place of spiritual “worship,” but only of the ritual “service of God.” Therefore the meaning of the Temple and Altar must be to some extent spiritualised: even if the prophecy be concerned with God’s judgements on Jerusalem and the Jewish people, we are not to understand that the actual Temple was to be spared (for we know it was not): but, most probably, that the true Israelites would not be cut off from communion with God, even when their city and the earthly splendours of their Temple were destroyed. Eze_11:16 will thus illustrate the sense of the passage, though there does not appear to be a conscious reference to it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) And there was . . .—Translate, And there…
(1) And there was . . .—Translate, And there was given to me a reed like a rod (we must omit the words “and the angel stood”), saying. It is not said by whom the reed was given, nor are we told who speaks the command. The whole transaction is impersonal. The reed, like a measuring rod, is given him, and at the same time the command is given to arise and measure the Temple, and the altar, and them that worship in the Temple. Here, again, we find the basis of the vision in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was brought, in vision, to a high mountain, and saw a man with a line of flax (for measuring long distances) and a measuring line (for shorter distances). But, more probably, the vision of Zechariah was in the seer’s mind (Zec_2:1-2), for the vision there of the man with the measuring rod to measure Jerusalem is followed, in the fourth chapter (Zec_4:1-6), by the vision of the two olive-trees, which are distinctly identified with the two witnesses in the present chapter (see Rev_11:3-4). The Temple, altar, and worshippers are to be measured. The measuring implies the protecting of, or the token of a resolve to protect, a portion of the sacred enclosure from desecration. The measuring, like the sealing of Revelation 7, is a sign of preservation during impending dangers. To understand what is thus measured out for protection we must remember that there are two Greek words which are rendered Temple: the one (hieron) signifies “the whole compass of the sacred enclosure, including the outer courts, porches, porticoes, and other buildings subordinated to the Temple itself;” the other (naos) is the Temple itself, the house of God, the Holy and Holy of Holies. When it is said that Christ taught the people in the Temple, the first of these words is used; and it may be supposed that in one of the porches or courts of the sanctuary our Lord carried on His teaching. But when Zacharias is described as going into the Temple, the word is the second (naos), for he went into the Temple proper, and left the people in the outer court, or court where the brazen altar stood. It is the second of these words which is used here: the Temple proper, the naos, the house of God, is measured, together with the altar. We are not told which altar is intended. It is at least too hasty to say that it must be the altar of incense, as this alone was in the Temple proper; for the explicit direction to measure the altar sounds like an extension of the measured area, and may perhaps mean that some portion of the court reserved for Israel is to be included in the measurement. The next verse, however, seems to imply that every spot outside the Temple proper was given up to the Gentiles, and was not to be measured. It is perhaps wisest, therefore, not to settle too definitely. The gist of the measurement is the preservation of the true, invisible Church, the Church within the Church; and everything necessary to the worship—Temple, altar, worshippers—all are reserved. There will always be the real and the conventional—the true and the formal Christian; always those who profess and call themselves Christians, and those who hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. These last are the called and chosen and faithful (Rev_17:14), the sealed who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and find therefore their safe lodging in the night of danger under the shadow of the Almighty (Psa_91:1; comp, also the whole Psalm, especially Rev_11:4-5; Rev_11:9-13;.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And there was given me a reed like unto…
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod. We are not told by whom the reed is given, but in Revelation 21. the angel has the reed, and so also in Ezekiel 40., upon which the incident seems founded (see Ezekiel 40.; and cf. the reference to the outer court in ver. 17). The reed is "like a rod;" that is, like to a staff. It is for a measuring line, as in Zec_2:1. And the angel stood, saying. Omit all except "saying," as in the Revised Version. Legwn is used absolutely, not as qualifying kalamov , "reed," as Andreas. (cf. Rev_4:1 Rev_14:7 Rev_19:6) Rise, and measure the temple of God; rather, rouse and measure, etc. The imperative verb does not imply anything as to the previous position of St. John. "The temple" is naov , the shrine or dwelling place of God, (as in ver. 19; also Rev_3:12 Rev_7:15) the inner temple, as distinguished from the outer court next mentioned. It scarcely seems possible to doubt that the temple is here figuratively used of the faithful portion of the Church of Christ. The word is plainly thus used in Rev_3:12 and Rev_7:15; and is frequently found with this signification in St. Paul"s writings, which were probably known to St. John. Dusterdieck and others think that St. John refers literally to the temple at Jerusalem, and to the earthly Jerusalem. But, if so, this portion of the Apocalypse stands self condemned as a prediction which was falsified within a year or two of its enunciation; for in ver. 13 it is expressly stated that the tenth part of the city fell. And nowhere else in the book do Jerusalem and the temple signify the earthly places. The object of the measurement is generally thought to be to set apart or mark off that which is measured from that which is felt without; but opinions vary as to why the temple is thus set apart, some thinking that it is the literal temple which is given over to destruction, others believing that the measuring is a token of the preservation of the Church of God. But may not the command have been given to St. John in order to direct his attention to the size of the Church of God? This is the common meaning of the expression throughout the Bible; it is so in Zec_2:1-5, a passage upon which this is possibly founded; and it is so in Rev_21:15. Moreover, there seems a good explanation of the reason why such an incident, thus explained, should occur here. The six trumpets have spoken of the large portions of mankind against whom they were directed; the sixth has declared that men did nevertheless not repent. The seventh trumpet is about to announce yet more terrible woe for the worldly; and, previous to this, a brief but vivid description is given of the oppression to be suffered by the Church a description inserted here in order to lead up to, and demonstrate the absolute necessity for, the terrible final judgment. Among the ungodly are even some who are nominally members of the Church, who are typified by the outer court. No one could be more conscious that only a portion of the Church elect was to be saved than the writer of the Epistles to the seven Churches (Revelation 1-3). Might not the seer and his hearers be inclined to ask, "Who, then, can be saved? Are there any who escape when so much is said about the punishment in store for men?" In answer to such questions, the seer is bidden to remember, what is apt to be forgotten in the dejection caused by the contemplation of the huge amount of wickedness which undoubtedly exists in the world, viz. the large number of good men who form God"s staple. It is to be noticed, also, that no mention is made of the command being actually carried out. It is as if the uttering of the command were sufficient to direct the attention of St. John to the fact which was to be conveyed to him, and that, therefore, the necessity for carrying out the injunction existed no longer. It therefore seems probable that "the temple" must be interpreted symbolically. It is the dwelling place of God, the place in which he is worshipped; that is, the multitude of true believers, or the faithful Church. St. John is bidden to measure it, in order to sustain the faith and hope of himself and his hearers. It is placed in antithesis to the outer court, the faithless portion of the visible Church of God, which is given over to the Gentiles the type of all that is worldly. And the altar, and them that worship therein. The altar of incense alone stood within the naov ; but this may be only an accessory detail in the general description, and not to be pressed to a particular interpretation. "Them that worship therein" directs our thoughts to the individual members of the one body which collectively is "the temple.
Vers. 1-14. "My two witnesses.
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Following on the reception of the little book from the angel"s hand, the seer is directed to measure the temple of God, the altar, and the worshippers. The outer court is not to be measured; for it, with the holy city, is to be trampled underfoot forty-two months. During this period (or a like period) there are to be two witnesses for God, clothed in sackcloth, who, though they have power with God, are slighted by men; against them a great onrush is to be made. They are silenced, and that effectually, by being put to death. The honour of burial is not to be theirs. This the world refuses. Rejoicing that it has stilled their disturbing voices, their bodies are to lie exposed, and the helplessness of their cause is to be the subject of merriment and ridicule. But lo! after a period of three days and a half, they again come to life, to the terror of their persecutors. Their ascension follows on their resurrection. As they have been made partakers of the sufferings of Christ, so also are they of the glory that should follow. What does all this signify? Dean Alford declares that no solution has as yet been given of it. The late Bishop of Manchester (Dr. Fraser) says, "I have no interpretation of this vision, nor any but the most vague and general key to its meaning." Those who regard the tenth chapter as indicative of the Reformation look at this one as pointing out the main features of the epoch which should follow it. We readily, as we have often done in previous homilies, recognize the correspondence between prophecy and event. This is what we might expect. But the correspondence is not such as to warrant us in saying that this or that event is the fulfilment of the Word, although it may be a partial one. Nor is it in any one"s power to decide when the twelve hundred and sixty days begin. If they represent as many years, and are, according to the prophecy, to follow on from the events in the preceding chapter, and if those events signify the Reformation, then there are twelve hundred and sixty years to follow on the Reformation. In other words, we are at least seven hundred or nine hundred years from the end. But we have long ago given up this sort of attempt to assign dates, as at once impracticable and unprofitable. We see in the chapter before us a symbolic setting forth of that which is ever, ever fulfilling itself again and again before our eye. It is a stay to our faith to study the principles here disclosed.
I THE EXTENT AND LIMIT OF THE TRUE CHURCH OF GOD ARE CLEARLY DEFINED. (Vers. 1, 2) At the time of this prophecy the literal temple was no more. The once holy city was defiled by the "abomination of desolation." Then the true temple, the true holy city, existed in "the Church of the living God." The outer enclosure is not to be reckoned as a part of the temple in this divinely appointed remeasurement. All this most impressively sets forth the fact that Zion"s external buildings cover a much wider space than the real heart worshippers whom God will own. There may be, and there are, large masses of people at the outer fringe of our Christian services. But if now a heavenly messenger were to come among us who was appointed to measure the real living temple of God, would it not turn out that, of a very large part of our surroundings, the order would be, Measure it not"? This measurement from on high is ever going on. And if the great Lord of the Church saw fit to show us in a vision who are in his Church and who are not, many would be without whom we thought were in, and many within whom we thought were out. But not by any human hands can the true temple of God be built; nor yet by any human eye can its limits be discerned.
II THE SPACE WITHOUT THE TEMPLE AND CITY OF GOD IS LEFT FOR A WHILE IN HOSTILE HANDS. "It hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." We know not what period of time is thus indicated; nor from what moment it begins. We know only three things concerning this matter:
1. That the worldly power will act in opposition to and preponderate over the Church.
2. That this will be for a limited time.
3. That this permissive limit is fixed by our God.
Thus far all is clear. The world in its facts answers to the Word in its statements. If we attempt to go beyond this, we shall be in confusion.
III DURING THE WHOLE OF THIS PERIOD OUR LORD WILL PRESERVE HIS FAITHFUL WITNESSES. "My two witnesses." Why two? "Is it not written in your Law that the testimony of two men is true?" Although the number should be small, there should always be enough to preserve in the world a testimony for God. Further, the symbolism is based on the vision of Zechariah. (Zec 4) Therein we have two olive trees conveying oil, and two lamp stands holding light. Just as in the times following the Captivity there were anointed ones to stand by the Lord of the whole earth, so throughout the times of the Christian Church there will be men anointed by him to maintain on his behalf a faithful testimony; whose witness bearing would be at once "means of grace and centres of light" (Vaughan). We have several details here given respecting them.
1. They are to prophesy in sackcloth. So much of their witness has to be a protest against sin in the world and against corruption in the nominal Church, that their work often bears upon it an impress of sadness which cannot be removed till the corruption ceases.
2. They are to have Tower with God and for him. As Moses and Elijah had power to smite the earth or to shut up heaven, so with those who should come "in the spirit and power of Elias." They would make men feel that God is among them still.
3. Their work is also to give out a testimony to man. Even under the Old Testament, when a priestly order was in accordance with Divine appointment, God set it aside because of its corruption and inutility, and brought on the scene prophets to declare his will. Much more now, under the New Testament economy, where every human priesthood is but a pretence and a sham, will he carry on his work by the voice of the prophet, that men may learn through the ear that which they will fail to see by a histrionic parade.
4. Around these witnesses there should be a special guard. (Ver. 5) No one can willingly wound or plot against any witness for God without suffering for it, either in his reputation or in his peace, Nor can any one seek to injure a Church that is true to its Lord, without bringing on himself, sooner or later, the judgments of God. God surrounds his witnesses as with a wall of fire.
5. This guard will be around them till they have finished their testimony. (Ver. 7) "Man is immoral till his work is done." There are forces of ill, concealed, pent up, restrained, which, if they were but let loose, would soon make havoc of the Church; but an all controlling Power keeps them in check, and as long as God has anything for a witness to say, that witness will be spared and empowered to say it.
6. At some time or other there will be such an onrush of the great worldpower as to seem, for a while, to silence this witness bearing. Just as our Lord was hedged round with an impenetrable guard until his hour was come, so shall it be with his witnesses. Just as there came a time when his voice was stilled in death and the enemy triumphed, so shall it be with them. There is yet to be permitted such an onrush of the powers of darkness as shall seem for a while to carry all before it, and the voices of the witnesses shall be stilled.
7. The silencing of the witnesses will cause their foes to triumph. (Vers. 8-10) These prophets were the torment of the ungodly (ver. 10). Hence the world"s hatred. In proportion to its hatred of the message and the messengers will be its gladness when the messengers can trouble it no more. Ill will run riot. The wickedness of a Sodom will be renewed. The Holy Ghost has forewarned us what to expect. Tares will ripen; evil men will grow worse and worse. Perilous times will come. "When the Son of man cometh, will he find the faith on the earth?
8. The triumph of the foe is but for a season. (Vers. 11, 12) Just as the Master put to shame all his foes by rising again on the third day, and afterwards ascending to heaven, so, after a like period, will that power, which the enemy thought was at an end, revive again. The world shall yet see that those whom it vilified are those whom God has glorified.
9. The Divine glorification of his witnesses will be accompanied with a mighty visitation of judgment on the world. (Ver. 13) They who think to stop the mouths of God"s witnesses will have to meet a Power before which they will melt away in terror, and the very earth on which they were committing these crimes will be made to reel beneath their feet. Providence will affright these who sneered at the voice of the prophet. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, and the Lord shall have them in derision". (Ps 2) "And the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." In all these nine points of detail the chapter gives us not only that which is true now and then, but that which is continuously true in one part or other throughout the Christian age; and instead of the chapter seeming to be shrouded in unintelligible mystery, it is actually radiant with a light that makes all things clear. For note, in conclusion:
(1) It behoves us to ask the question Are we in the real Church of God as well as in the nominal one of Christendom?
(2) Should we not be ambitious to join the band of holy witnesses for God?
(3) If we are testifying for God, let us not expect all ease or comfort. Every part of our message runs counter to the prepossessions of the ungodly. If we do not meet, again and again, with direct opposition, we have reason to suspect that we do not with sufficient clearness and boldness testify against sin.
(4) Let us take comfort from the thought that not one of God"s witnesses can possibly be swept away until his testimony is finished.
(5) Let none be deterred from loyalty to the Lord Jesus because Of the repeated onsets which may be made upon them, nor on account of the scorn which will ever and anon be cast upon the witness bearers. For furious as the wrath of the enemy may be, it is curbed.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY. Vers. 1, 2. The measuring of the temple.
Whether this chapter be the history of events that had already taken place when it was written or were then happening; or whether it consists of predictions inspired of God of events then future, though near at hand in the history of Judaism and of the Church; or of events yet future in the experience of the whole Church, as many affirm; or whether, yet again, the whole chapter be an inspired allegory which, under the likeness of actual historical events, or of incidents recorded in the ancient Scriptures, were intended to convey to us spiritual teachings applicable to all times; who can positively and certainly say? And like doubt hangs over the interpretation of the forty and two months told of here and elsewhere, whether they are to be taken literally, symbolically, or according to the reckoning of those who count each day to mean a year. We stay not, however, to discuss these questions, but prefer to take these verses which tell of the measuring of the temple as echoes of those earlier teachings of this book, and of many other Scriptures beside, which tell us of the Lord"s perpetual presence in his Church, his strict investigation and his perfect knowledge of all who constitute her membership, and of all that occurs therein. "The Lord is in his holy temple; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men:" of such words does this command to "Arise, and measure the temple" remind us, and in the sense they suggest we desire to consider them now. Let us observe, therefore
I THE MEASURING. We have a similar command in Ezekiel 40., when in like inspired vision that prophet beholds the glorious restored temple of God. And so in Revelation 21 of this book we read of the angel who had the golden reed to measure the holy city. But as in those other representations we cannot think that material earthly buildings are meant, or any literal measurements whether of city or temple, so here we regard the temple as telling of that glorious spiritual fabric of which we so often read under like imagery in the Epistles of St. Paul; and the measuring is a metaphor to signify that careful investigation and scrutiny whereby true knowledge is gained as to the nearness or otherwise of that which is measured to its proper standard and ideal. For it is to be noted:
1. God has an ideal for everything, a standard to which he would have it conform. He had in the creation of the world, and we are told how he saw all that which he had made, and declared that it answered to his ideal, and that it was "very good." And he looks down from heaven so we are told to see what is done upon the earth; he taketh account of all that men do. All other creatures fulfil their ideal, there is no need to take account of them; but man, endowed with the terrible power of contradicting and refusing his Maker"s will, as well as of assenting to it and he could not have the one without the other it is needful that the Lord should "behold" and "try" his actions by an unerring standard in order that he may be the more readily led to try them in like manner himself, and so conform them thereto the more nearly.
2. Christ is the ideal Man, and therefore called "the Son of man." He did in all things so answer to his Father"s intent that he was the "beloved Son in whom" God was "well pleased." That is the standard to which we are to look, and by which we are to regulate our lives. Happy they who follow him closely "whithersoever he goeth.
3. And this measuring" is continually going on. There is an inward monitor as well as an outward one. Conscience affirms, consents to, and confirms what the Word of God declares, and is perpetually holding up both the standard and ourselves, and making us inwardly if not outwardly blush when we see the contrast between the two.
4. How grateful we should be for this! "Lord with what care thou hast begirt us round!" so sings holy George Herbert; and one evidence of this care is in the constant bringing before our consciences the rigid rule of right. But note next
II THE MEASURED THAT ARE SPOKEN OF HERE. The temple, the altar, and the people.
1. The temple of God. No doubt St. John, as a devout Jew, and one who had often frequented with joy the courts of the Lord"s house at Jerusalem, had that temple for it was still standing, though soon to fall before his mind. And it was to him a symbol and type of all Israel, if not of the whole Church of God (cf. St. Paul, "In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple unto the Lord"). He is telling of the Church of God throughout the whole world and in all ages of time. Therefore we may take "the temple of God" as representing the Church in its outward form. Now, God has his ideal for this. What is it? The Catholic declares the true Church to be the great body of the baptized, organized into one organic whole. The individualist asserts that there is no such body that man can know of, but that the Church consists of "living stones," that is, of individual souls who have been quickened into the life of God by personal faith in Christ. And there are multitudes of subdivisions under each of these two ruling beliefs. But all such outward forms will be measured, tested, tried. And what will the standard be to which conformity will be demanded? Christ"s herald said, "Now also the axe is laid at the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire". (Mat_3:10) By this supreme test will all our Church organizations be tried. What fruit have they borne in that which is the end of all religion the making of bad men good, and good men better? Have souls in such Churches been quickened, converted, cheered, built up, and helped heavenward? If so, well. If not, then not well. No antiquity, orthodoxy, catholicity, popularity, beauty, wealth, or any other such plea will stand if God"s standard be not answered to, and his demand for "good fruit" be not met. The axe will fall, and the tree will go down.
2. The altar. This also was to be measured. We may take "the altar" as the symbol of the worship of the Church. Around it Israel gathered; on it the fire was perpetually burning; from it was taken the fire which enkindled the incense that went up in the immediate presence of God. It was the centre of Israel"s worship: there was but one altar for them all. It therefore does set forth the worship of the Church according to the Divine ideal, and the altar was to be measured, that that worship might be compared with that ideal. Is our worship fervent? On that altar was an ever burning fire. Upon the heads of the disciples at Pentecost descended fire, telling that Christ"s people were to be known by their ardour. And the altar fire tells that worship is to be fervent. Is it spiritual? Does it ascend up to God as the smoke of the sacrifice mounted up and up into the heavens, symbol, beautiful, striking, appropriate, of that uplifting of the heart, that real outgoing of the soul after God, which belongs to all true worship? And, above all, is it sacrificial? The altar was for sacrifice. Worship that has not this element in it will be rejected when that measurement of the altar told of here takes place. And let no one think that having correct views as to the atonement of Christ, and making mental reference thereto, or verbal, by adding on, as we should, to all our prayers, "through Jesus Christ our Lord let no one think that that fulfils the ideal of altar worship. No; our worship may ring with the mention of that ever blessed Name, and our views may be of the most unexceptional sort, and there be not one atom of "sacrifice" in our worship. And often and often, as in the Lord"s prayer, that Name may not be heard at all, and ideas about the atonement may be very crude, and yet the worship be full of sacrifice, and will bear well the measuring which is to be applied to all our worship. Sacrifice means giving up something which we should like to keep. Was not Christ"s sacrifice such? Is not all sacrifice such? If, then, worship do not carry with it the giving up of anything, save the little time that it occupies to get through with it; if sin be not given up, nor self, nor that which we have and could spare, and our brother needs; if there be naught of this, where is the sacrifice? how will our worship bear God"s test?
3. The people. "Them that worship therein so we read. Now, the Divine ideal for these may be learnt by noting what was not to be measured. And we are told in ver. 2 that "the court which is without the temple... measure it not." It was to be cast out, left out of the reckoning altogether. Now, the outer court of the temple was the addition of Herod; he was given to erecting magnificent buildings, and the addition of this outer court did undoubtedly add much to the splendour of the whole fabric. But such court had no place in the tabernacle nor in the temple of Solomon or that of Zerubbabel. But Herod had made this outer court in the temple at Jerusalem. It was thronged by all manner of people. There it was the money changers had their tables, and they who bought and sold doves. The Gentiles might come there, though they might not pass into what was especially the temple, and which was sacred to Israelites only. And so it represented all those outer court worshippers, those mixed multitudes which are found associated with God"s true people everywhere of them, but not truly belonging to them. The courts of the temple were separated literally. No Gentile durst pass the boundaries which parted the outer court from the rest of the temple on pain of death. But there is no such visible, material, separation in the throng of worshippers in the professing Church of God. We cannot draw the line nor apply the measure. But all the same there is such a line drawn, and it is clearly visible to the eye of God. He can discriminate, though we cannot, between those who profess and those who possess true religion, and one day he will make this difference plain. Tares get in amongst the wheat, bad fish amid the good, the foolish virgins were associated with the wise; and the worshippers in the true temple of God today are mingled with those whose place is in the outer court. But as in the parables referred to separation did come at last, so will it be for the Church of today, when the Son of man sends forth his angels, and they "gather out of his kingdom all that do offend, and they that work iniquity." The question, therefore, for us all is Where do we belong! In that outer court were many who were well disposed towards Israel"s God, and professed more or less of attachment to his worship; but they were not true Israelites. And the like is true still. "Let a man examine himself, and so let him" take his place in the Church of God.
III THE MEANING OF ALL THIS. It was because a time of sore trial was imminent, close at hand. For "forty and two months" the court and the city were to be trodden underfoot by the nations. The invasion and overthrow of Jerusalem by the Romans, and the escape of the Christian Church to Pella, supply illustrative historical incidents of the treading underfoot told of here, and of the measuring, like the sealing of Revelation 7, for the purpose of separating and preserving God"s faithful ones. God ever has, even in the worst of times, a remnant of such; like the "seven thousand" who had not bowed the knee to Baal. And he takes notice of them, and will keep them securely, whilst those who are not as they are subjected to his sore judgments. The measuring means preservation for the faithful, judgment for all else. "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people." The measuring is ever going on. Let us each ask On which side of that unerring line am I? S.C.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-19The cause of right on earth.
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months," etc. What does this chapter mean? Has it any intelligible meaning? Is it to be taken literally or ideally? One of our most modern, able, and distinguished biblical critics Archdeacon Farrar has said concerning it, "There neither is, nor ever has been, in Christendom, in any age, or among any school of interpreters, the smallest agreement, or even approach to an agreement, as to the events which the seer had in view .... There are no two writers of any importance who even approximately agree in their interpretation." Shrinking, as I do, from contributing anything to the unsightly pile of interpretations which have been given to this chapter, I shall merely use it as the heavenly Teacher used the lilies of the field and the birds of the air to illustrate truth. The subject which it serves in some extent to set forth is the cause of right on earth. It illustrates the fact
I THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THIS EARTH HAS ITS MEASURING RULE. "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." Two things are suggested.
1. That in the human world there is right and wrong. There is the temple of God, the altar, and "them that worship therein." At the same time, there is the court that is outside the "court which is without the temple a sphere discarded by the right and trampling on the holy. This, however, is only for a time.
2. That right here has its measuring line. Take the "temple" here as the emblem of right on the earth, and the "reed" as that of the moral Law of God the Law that measures moral character. Such a Law we have here, here in the conscience, here in the Decalogue, here in the life of Christ. This measuring line concerns qualities rather than quantities; it analyzes all the elements of character and decides their qualities. It is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of being; it is a moral analyst to test the quality of every thought, affection, and deed; a moral gauge to measure the height, breadth, depth, of all. Supreme sympathy with the supremely good is the Law. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," etc. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity love, it profiteth me nothing." This is the "reed" to measure the moral temple of the soul and all its worshippers. Right here requires testing; so much passes for right that is wrong that a measuring line is necessary for testing.
II THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THIS EARTH HAS ITS MIGHTY DEFENDERS. "I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy." Who are the two witnesses? Moses and Elijah? Caleb and Joshua? John the Baptist and Christ? Enoch and Elijah? Peter and John? No one knows, although hundreds pretend to say. Did I believe that the chapter had a literal or historic meaning, I would accept the theory that they were the collective representatives of the Jewish and Gentile converts in preference to any other. I take them here to illustrate the mighty defenders of the cause of right in this world. The cause of right has ever required defenders, for in every age it has countless hosts of antagonists. It has had its Elijahs, and its Johns, and its Pauls, its Luthers, its Cromwells, its Garibaldis, etc., men who have stood up, spoken in thunder, and shed their blood for the right. The vision here suggests three things concerning these defenders of the right.
1. They do their work in sadness. "Clothed in sackcloth." To fight for the right has never been an easy work, and perhaps never will be. They fight not in radiant robes, but in sackcloth. It is not a light work to stand up against a corrupt world and struggle against an age grinning with selfishness, sensuality, and cupidity.
2. They contribute Divine light. "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks." Language borrowed from the Book of Ezekiel. The olive trees fed the lamp, and the candlesticks diffused the light. Were it not for the Divine defenders of the right, grand heroes in moral history, all the lamps of truth would go out, and the whole race would be mantled in midnight. They are the lights of the world.
3. They exert tremendous power. "If any man will desire to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt shall desire to hurt them, he must in this manner be killed," etc. (see vers. 5, 6). The true defenders of the right are invested with a terrible power. Their words flash devouring flames, so shake the corrupt moral firmament under which their contemporaries are living, that the very heavens seem shut up and the rolling streams of life seem turned into blood. It is said that Moses turned the Nile into blood, that Elijah prevented rain descending on the earth for the space of three years. The true defenders of the cause of right are the organs of Omnipotence; their words are mighty through God. To them is committed the work of causing the moral heavens to melt with fervent heat, and spreading out "a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
III THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THE EARTH HAS ITS TERRIBLE ANTAGONISTS. "When they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them," etc. (vers. 7-10).
1. The antagonists of the right are malignant. They not only murder, but they exult in their cruelty. They are "wild beasts" that fight and kill; they arise from the abyss of depravity. The spirit of persecution is an infernal virus that gallops through the veins of the intolerant persecutor, and physical violence is the weapon. Not only did their malignity destroy, but revelled in the cruelty and destruction: "shall rejoice over them, and make merry." Their feet are "swift to shed blood;" like savage beasts of prey, they revel in the tortures of their victims. Who can study martyrology without being astounded at the ruthless cruelty that runs in the blood of those that hate the right? They rent the heavens with the cry, "Away with him! away with him!
2. These antagonists of the right are ever frustrated. It is said, "After three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet," etc. (ver. 11). Observe:
(1) Their victims were divinely reanimated. If the bodies of the two which lay crushed upon the "street" were not reanimated, their spirit, which was Divine, appeared in others. The bodies of good men fall to the dust, but the spirit that animated them lives in others. The spirit of Elijah enters John the Baptist in the wilderness. The spirit of truth and goodness is a resurrection spirit; it enters those who are in the graves of sin, and they start to life and stand forth a mighty army to defend the right. Such a resurrection may well alarm the persecutors. "A great fear fell upon them which saw them.
(2) Their victims ascended to heaven. "And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud" (ver. 12). Heaven is ever open to welcome and receive the faithful defenders of the right. With their ascension terrible calamities befall the earth. "And the same that hour was there a great earthquake" (ver. 13). The eternal hour of retribution towards their persecutors moves on; the earth quakes, and thousands are engulfed in ruin. "Be sure your sin will find you out.
IV THAT THE CAUSE OF RIGHT ON THE EARTH IS DESTINED TO TRIUMPH. After the passing of the first two woes there is yet another to come, and after the close of the sixth trumpet the blast of the seventh is heard. "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were followed great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms kingdom of this the world are is become the kingdoms kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever" (ver. 15). Two things seem now to occur.
1. The rapture and adoration of the good. Sainted men and angels are represented rising from their seats, falling on their faces and worshipping, and the reason of their worship is that the kingdoms of this world have passed into the actual possession of Christ. "The kingdoms of this world." What have they been? What are they now? Hellish mimicries of eternal right and power. Like muddy bubbles on the great stream of life, they have broken into the clear and fathomless river of rectitude, and will appear no more, and this will continue "forever and ever the ages of the ages." Well, then, might the righteous worship and thank God. "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come," etc. (ver. 17).
2. The increased accessibility of heaven. "And the temple of God was opened in heaven" (ver. 19). When right shall become universally triumphant, heaven will come near to man. The holy Jerusalem will come down from heaven; heaven and earth will become one.
CONCLUSION. Suspect not the failure of right; have faith in its winning power. It has life in it, indestructible life, life that will germinate in every land, which will multiply and cover all parts of this globe. "The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord." "There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall stroke like Lebanon and they of the city shall flourish like gross of the earth. D. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Rise, and measure the temple of God.
Rev_11:1-19
Rise, and measure the temple of God.
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The living temple of Christs Church and the two witnesses of the Word written and the sacraments
The temple and altar, and them that worshipped therein, were capable of measurement. They were not like the unorganised multitude, formless, creedless, undisciplined, without the court. The temple, the altar, and its priesthood and the worshippers, have strength of form and organisation, and the beauty of order. So the apostles organise the Church, set in order its worship, establish its discipline. Standing before the Incarnate Son of God, who in the spiritual organism of His temple, the Church, reveals Himself, and bearing their corroborating testimony to the faith are the two witnesses of the sacraments and the written Word.
1. Consider first the witness of the sacraments.
(1) They are the instrumental life-givers. For Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, is to the new creation what God, Creations secret force, is to the old.
(2) So likewise the sacraments enlighten. Baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, declares the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity as the fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It manifests our sinful condition and the need of a washing away of sin.
(3) The sacraments are witnesses. The Church, filled with sacramental life, bears witness to the world.
2. Turn we next to the other great witness, the written Word. The written Word self-evidences its own inspiration. (Bp. Grafton.)
The extent and limit of the true Church of God
At the time of this prophecy the literal temple was no more. The once-holy city was defiled by the abomination of desolation. Then the true temple, the true holy city, existed in the Church of the living God. The outer enclosure is not to be reckoned as a part of the temple in this Divinely appointed remeasurement. All this most impressively sets forth the fact that Zions external buildings cover a much wider space than the real heartworshippers whom God will own. There may be, and there are, large masses of people at the outer fringe of our Christian services. But ii now a heavenly messenger were to come among us who was appointed to measure the real living temple of God, would it not turn out that, of a very large part of our surroundings, the order would be, Measure it not? This measurement from on high is ever going on. And if the great Lord of the Church saw fit to show us in a vision who are in His Church and who are not, many would be without whom we thought were in, and many within whom we thought were out. But not by any human hands can the true temple of God be built; nor yet by any human eye can its limits be discerned. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
The measuring of the temple
I. The measuring. But as in those other representations we cannot think that material earthly buildings are meant, or any literal measurements whether of city or temple, so here we regard the temple as telling of that glorious spiritual fabric of which we so often read under like imagery in the Epistles of St. Paul, and the measuring is a metaphor to signify that careful investigation and scrutiny whereby true knowledge is gained.
1. God has an ideal for everything, a standard to which He would have it conform. He had in the creation of the world. And He looks down from heaven--so we are told--to see what is done upon the earth; He taketh account of all that men do.
2. Christ is the ideal Man, and therefore called the Son of Man. He did in all things so answer to His Fathers intent that He was the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased.
3. And this measuring is continually going on. There is an inward monitor as well as an outward one.
4. How grateful we should be for this! Lord, with what care Thou hast begirt us round! so sings holy George Herbert; and one evidence of this care is in the constant bringing before our consciences the rigid rule of right.
II. The measured that are spoken of here. The temple, the altar, and the people.
1. The temple of God. It was a symbol and type of all Israel, if not of the whole Church of God (St. Paul, In whom the whole building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple unto the Lord) Therefore we may take the temple of God as representing the Church in its outward form. Now, God has His ideal for this. What is it? By this supreme test will all our Church organisations be tried. What fruit have they borne in that which is the end of all religion? No antiquity, orthodoxy, catholicity, popularity, beauty, wealth, or any other such plea will stand if Gods standard be not answered to, and His demand for good fruit be not met. The axe will fall, and the tree will go down.
2. The altar. This also was to be measured. We may take the altar as the symbol of the worship of the Church. Is our worship fervent? On that altar was an ever-burning fire. Is it spiritual? Does it ascend up to God as the smoke of the sacrifice mounted up into the heavens--symbol, beautiful, striking, appropriate, of that uplifting of the heart, that real outgoing of the soul after God, which belongs to all true worship? And, above all, is it sacrificial? The altar was for sacrifice. Worship that has not this element in it will be rejected when that measurement of the altar told of here takes place. Sacrifice means giving up something which we should like to keep. Was not Christs sacrifice such? Is not all sacrifice such?
3. The people. Them that worship therein--so we read. Now, the Divine ideal for these may be learnt by noting what was not to be measured. And we are told in Rev_11:2 that the court which is without the temple … measure it not. It was to be cast out, left out of the reckoning altogether. Now, the outer court of the temple was the addition of Herod; he was given to erecting magnificent buildings, and the addition of this outer court did undoubtedly add much to the splendour of the whole fabric. But such court had no place in the tabernacle nor in the temple of Solomon or that of Zerubbabel. But Herod had made this outer court in the temple at Jerusalem. It was thronged by all manner of people. There it was the money-changers had their tables, and they who bought and sold doves. The Gentiles might come there, though they might not pass into what was especially the temple, and which was sacred to Israelites only. And so it represented all those outer-court worshippers, those mixed multitudes which are found associated with Gods true people everywhere--of them, but not truly belonging to them.
III. The meaning of all this. It was because a time of sore trial was imminent, close at hand. God ever has, even in the worst of times, a remnant. And He takes notice of them, and will keep them securely, whilst those who are not as they are subjected to His sore judgments. The measuring means preservation for the faithful, judgment for all else. (S. Conway, B. A.)
The cause of right on earth
I. The cause of right on this earth has its measuring rule (Rev_11:1-2).
1. In the human world there is right and wrong. There is the temple of God, etc. At the same time there is the court that is outside--a sphere discarded by the right and trampling on the holy. This, however, is only for a time.
2. Right here has its measuring line. Take the temple here as the emblem of right on the earth, and the reed as that of the moral law of God--the law that measures moral character. It is a plummet that sounds the deepest depths of being: it is a moral analyst to test the quality of every thought, affection, and deed.
II. The cause of right on this earth has its mighty defenders (Rev_11:3-6).
1. They do their work in sadness. Clothed in sackcloth. It is not a light work to stand up against a corrupt world and struggle against an age grinning with selfishness, sensuality, and cupidity.
2. They contribute Divine light. The olive trees fed the lamps and the candlesticks reflected the light. Were it not for the Divine defenders of the right, grand heroes in moral history, all the lamps of truth would go out, and the whole race would be mantled in midnight.
3. They exert tremendous power (Rev_11:5). Their words flash devouring flames, so shake the corrupt moral firmament under which their contemporaries are living, that the very heavens seem shut up and the rolling streams of life seem turned into blood.
III. The cause of right on the earth has its terrible antagonists (Rev_11:7-13).
1. The antagonists of the right are malignant; they not only murder, but they exult in their cruelty. The spirit of persecution is an infernal virus that gallops through the veins of the intolerant persecutor, and physical violence is the weapon.
2. The antagonists of the right are ever frustrated.
(1) Their victims were Divinely reanimated.
(2) Their victims ascended to heaven.
(3) With their ascension terrible calamities befall the earth.
IV. The cause of right on the earth is destined to triumph (Rev_11:14-19).
1. The rapture and adoration of the good. The kingdoms of this world. What have they been? What are they now? Hellish mimicries of eternal right and power. Like muddy bubbles on the great stream of life, they have broken into the clear and fathomless river of rectitude and will appear no more, and this will continue for ever and ever. Well, then, might the righteous Worship and thank God.
2. The increased accessibility of heaven. The temple of God was opened. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The temple of God
I. Its peculiarity. By the temple of God, which John is commanded to measure, understand the true Church of Christ. The altar of incense is named, to denote the militant state of the Church, whose employment is prayer; in distinction from that of the Church triumphant, which is praise. The censer is in the hand of the kings and priests unto God below, the harp is in the hands of those above. That the measurement is to be confined to the altar and worshippers within the temple is obvious also from the refusal of its extension to the court; But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not. If whatever is without the temple be precluded from the measurement, all that to which it applies must of course be considered within.
II. Its measurement. Rise and see how far we have proceeded with the prophecies. Observe in what state we left the Church l Let a correct measurement be taken before we proceed further. Measure how far the building is advanced, and see what remains to bring it to perfection. See what injuries the temple of God has sustained from fierce and sanguinary attacks. It has suffered much, but behold it still abides. See now what the work is, after weathering its storms. Rise and measure the temple of God. Measure too the altar. Take the dimensions of the altar of incense which has been reared for prayer and praise. Take the degree of faith in the everliving Intercessor. Measure the devotions of the sanctuary. Mark the plenitude and purity of the incense rising before the throne. Measure too the worshippers. Observe the number of professing Christians. Measure the spiritual stature, and gauge the heart of each one. Measure them that worship therein. There must be a certain breadth, and length, and depth, and height of character. There must be a certain depth of humility and self-renunciation, a certain height of faith and devotion, a certain length of integrity and zeal. View them as worshippers, and there is a certain height to which they must attain, in feeble imitation of the dignity of Him that sits upon the throne. The breadth of the believers principles, the depth of his emotions, a certain breadth of sincerity and charity, the length of his hopes, the height of his joys, are far beyond the narrow bounds within which his whole being was formerly confined. His soul is enlarged. He is created anew in Christ Jesus. He has risen above this earth, and has attained a spiritual stature that brings him into fellowship with the Father, and with His son Jesus Christ. His conversation is in heaven.
III. The desecration of the court by the Gentiles is the remaining particular in relation to this temple. This court is nominal Christianity, which now, for the first time, began to assume a distinct character. It was the necessary consequence of an alliance between the Church and the world, it has been far more prejudicial to the real interests of the Church than the most virulent persecution. This court is further said to be given unto the Gentiles. It remains only to speak of the court being given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city to be trodden under foot. I will give power, it is afterwards said, unto My two witnesses and they shall prophesy clothed in sackcloth. It brings before us the permission of the awful reign of anti-christian darkness, for the development of the whole principles of evil in contrast with good. It coincides with the surrender of the Church by God, to that ardent desire for worldly conformity which the severest chastisements had failed to repress. They would not retain the gospel in its simplicity, but would rely upon an arm of flesh; therefore God suffered them to be spoiled by thieves and robbers, who entered not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbed up some other way. (G. Rogers.)
The right temple
Jesus Christ in what He has done as the way in which God dwells with us, and we with God, is the temple that we are thus to measure.
I. First, this is a temple that endureth for ever; a temple of eternity, a house, as the apostle calls it, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Blessed are they that dwell in this temple. And who are they that take such account of it as to understand the eternity of it, the certainty of it, that Christ is indeed a house not made with hands, that He is indeed eternal in the heavens.
II. A temple of plenty. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple. Ah, God the Father is well pleased, Christ is satisfied with the travail of His soul; and we, poor sinners saved by mercy, brought out of eternal privation into this eternal plenty, shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple; a temple from which sin and death are for ever excluded; a temple into which sin and death cannot enter.
III. A temple of government, as you may see in the last verse of this chapter: The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament. Now heaven here means the New Testament dispensation, and there will never be another dispensation after the one we have now. But will there not be glorification? That will not be another dispensation; that will only be a continuation of the present. It is true preaching will end, the ordinances of the present dispensation will end; but we shall always have the same Jesus Christ, and the same God, and the same covenant, and the same life, and the same sanctification. Christs kingdom shall reign through all ages, and never be moved; and everything must be subservient to the government of Christs kingdom. And hence it is said that when this temple was opened there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and a great hail. What are the lightnings? Why, Gods Word. His arrows shall go forth as lightning, whether it be to strike an Ananias and Sapphira dead, or to pierce the hearts of three thousand sinners, and make them cry, Men and brethren, what shall we do? whether it be for judgment or for mercy. These lightnings are Gods Word; and when the temple is opened, that is when Christ is revealed, then these lightnings come. And there were voices. There is the voice of salvation: there is the voice of I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. There is the voice of the deep soul trouble; there are the various voices of all the experiences of the people of God: glorious voices of exaltation, triumph, victory, and satisfaction. And then there are thunderings: and what are they? Why, Gods Word. The child of God sometimes gets rather sleepy, some thundering Scripture will come into his mind, create fears, and doubts, and tremblings. This is what one calls being called into the secret place of thunder--but it does the soul good. And an earthquake. Why, regeneration is an earthquake. It swallows up what you were before; swallows up your former hope, and makes you feel that you yourself will be swallowed up in hell. Many a sinner, when God begins His work in this earthquake-like way, has exclaimed with the Psalmist, Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. And a great hail. What is that? Storms of persecution and tribulation. If the lightning seem to be against you, yet your God holds the lightnings in His hand, and though the thunderings may seem to be against you, yet the Lord governs those thunderings, and though revolutions alarm you, yet the Lord governs these changes, and though you may be persecuted, and storms and persecutions may fall upon you, yet the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. (James Wells.)
The holy city shall they tread under foot.--
The true Church reduced
The Church of God will be greatly reduced in its apparent numbers by the open desertion of the powers of the world. This desertion will begin in a professed indifference to any particular form of Christianity, under the pretence of universal toleration; which toleration will proceed from no true spirit of charity The pretended toleration will go far beyond a just toleration, even as it regards the different sects of Christians. For governments will pretend an indifference to all, and will give a protection in preference to none. All establishments will be set aside. From the toleration of the most pestilent heresies, they will proceed to the toleration of Mahometanism, atheism, and at last proceed to the positive persecution of the truth of Christianity. In these times the temple of God will be reduced almost to the holy place, i.e., to the small number of real Christians who worship the Father in spirit, and regulate their doctrine, and their worship, and their whole conduct strictly by the Word of God. The merely nominal Christians will all desert the profession of the truth when the powers of the world desert it. And this tragic event I take to be typified by the order to St. John to measure the temple and the altar, etc. (Bp. Horsley.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain
CHAPTER V I I I.
SECOND CONSOLATORY VISION AND THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.
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Rev_11:1-19.
FROM the first consolatory vision we proceed to the second: -
"And there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple cast without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months (Rev_11:1-2)."
Various points connected with these verses demand examination before any attempt can be made to gather the meaning of the vision as a whole.
1. What is meant by the measuring of the Temple? As in so many other instances, the figure is taken from the Old Testament. In the prophet Zechariah we read, "I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof."1 To the same effect, but still more particularly, the prophet Ezekiel speaks: "In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. And He brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. . . . And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an handbreadth, so he measured,"2 whereupon follows a minute and lengthened description of the measuring of all the parts of that Temple which was to be the glory of Gods people in the latter days. From these passages we not only learn whence the idea of the "measuring" was taken, but what the meaning of it was. The account given by Ezekiel distinctly shows that thus to measure expresses the thought of preservation, not of destruction. That the same thought is intended by Zechariah is clear from the words immediately following the instruction given him to measure: "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her;"3 while, if further proof upon this point were needed, it is found in the fact that the measuring of this passage does not stand alone in the Apocalypse. The new Jerusalem is also measured: "And he that spake with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel."4 When God therefore measures, He measures, not in indignation, but that the object measured may be in a deeper than ordinary sense the habitation of His glory. (1 Zec_2:1-2; 2 Eze_40:2-5; 3 Zec_2:5; 4 Rev_21:15; Rev_21:17)
2. What is meant by the temple, the altar, and the casting without of the court which is without the temple? In other words, are we to interpret these objects and the action taken with the latter literally or figuratively? Are we to think of the things themselves, or of certain spiritual ideas which they are used to represent? The first view is not only that of many eminent commentators; it even forms one of the chief grounds upon which they urge that the Herodian temple upon Mount Moriah was still in existence when the Apocalyptist wrote. He could not, it is alleged, have been instructed to "measure" the Temple if that building had been already thrown down, and not one stone left upon another. Yet, when we attend to the words, it would seem as if this view must be set aside in favor of a figurative interpretation. For -
(1) The word "temple" misleads. The term employed in the original does not mean the Temple-buildings as a whole, but only their innermost shrine or sanctuary, that part known as the "Holy of holies," which was separated from every other part of the sacred structure by the second veil. No doubt, so far as the simple act of measuring was concerned, a part might have been as easily measured as the whole. But closer attention to what was in the Seer s mind will show that when he thus speaks of the naos or shrine he is not thinking of the Temple at Jerusalem at all, but of the Tabernacle in the wilderness upon which the Temple was moulded. The nineteenth verse of the chapter makes this clear. In that verse we find him saying, "And there was opened the temple" (the naos) "of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple" (His naos) "the ark of His covenant." We know, however, that the ark of the covenant never had a place in the Temple which existed in the days of Christ. It had disappeared at the destruction of the first Temple, long before that date. The Temple spoken of in the nineteenth verse is indeed said to be "in heaven;" and it may be thought that the ark, though not on earth, might have been seen there. But no reader of the Revelation of St. John can doubt that to him the sanctuary of God on earth was an exact representation of the heavenly sanctuary, that what God had given in material form to men was a faithful copy of the ideas of His spiritual and eternal kingdom. He could not therefore have placed in the original what, if he had before his mind the Temple at Jerusalem, he knew had no existence within its precincts; and the conclusion is irresistible that when he speaks of a naos that was to be measured he had turned his thoughts, not to the stone building upon Mount Moriah, but to its ancient prototype. On this ground alone then, even could no other be adduced, we seem entitled to maintain that a literal interpretation of the word "temple" is here impossible.
(2) Even should it be allowed that the sanctuary and the altar might be measured, the injunction is altogether inapplicable to the next following clause: them that worship therein. And it is peculiarly so if we adopt the natural construction, by which the word "therein" is connected with the word "altar." We cannot literally speak of persons worshipping "in" an altar. Nay, even though we connect "therein" with "the temple," the idea of measuring persons with a rod is at variance with the realities of life and the ordinary use of human language. A figurative element is thus introduced into the very heart of the clause the meaning of which is in dispute.
(3) A similar observation may be made with regard to the words cast without in Rev_11:2. The injunction has reference to the outer court of the Temple, and the thought of "casting out" such an extensive space is clearly inadmissible. So much have translators felt this that both in the Authorized and Revised Versions they have replaced the words "cast without" by the words "leave without." The outer court of the Temple could not be "cast out;" therefore it must be "left out." The interpretation thus given, however, fails to do justice to the original, for, though the word employed does not always include actual violence, it certainly implies action of a more positive kind than mere letting alone or passing by. More than this. We are under a special obligation in the present instance not to strip the word used by the Apostle of its proper force, for we shall immediately see that, rightly interpreted, it is one of the most interesting expressions of his book, and of the greatest value in helping us to determine the precise nature of his thought In the meanwhile it is enough to say that the employment of the term in the connection in which it here occurs is at variance with a simply literal interpretation.
(4) It cannot be denied that almost every other expression in the subsequent verses of the vision is figurative or metaphorical. If we are to interpret this part literally, it will be impossible to apply the same rule to other parts; and we shall have such a mixture of the literal and metaphorical as will completely baffle our efforts to comprehend the meaning of the Seer.
(5) We have the statement from the writers own lips that, at least hi speaking of Jerusalem, he is not to be literally understood. In Rev_11:8 he refers to "the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." The hint thus given as to one point of his description may be accepted as applicable to it all.
We conclude, therefore, that the "measuring," the "temple" or naos, the "altar," the "court which is without," and the "casting without" of the latter are to be regarded as figurative.
3. Our third point of inquiry is, What is the meaning of the figure? There need be no hesitation as to the things first spoken of: "the temple, the altar, and them that worship therein." These, the most sacred parts of the Temple-buildings, can only denote the most sacred portion of the true Israel of God. They are those disciples of Christ who constitute His shrine, His golden altar of incense whence their prayers rise up continually before Him, His worshippers in spirit and in truth. These, as we have already often had occasion to see, shall be preserved safe amidst the troubles of the Church and of the world. In one passage we have been told that they are numbered*; now we are further informed that they are measured. (* Joh_7:4)
It is more difficult to explain who are meant by "the court which is without the temple." But three things are clear. First, they are a part of the Temple-buildings, although not of its inner shrine. Secondly, they belong to Jerusalem; and Jerusalem, notwithstanding its degenerate condition, was still the city of God, standing to Him in a relation different from that of the "nations," even when it had sunk beneath them and had done more to merit His displeasure. Thirdly, they cannot be the Gentiles, for from them they are manifestly distinguished when it is said that the outer court "hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."1 One conclusion alone remains. The "court that is without" must symbolize the faithless portion of the Christian Church, such as tread the courts of the house of God, but to whom He speaks as He spoke to Jerusalem of old: "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hateth: they are a trouble unto Me; I am weary to bear them."2 (1 Rev_11:2; 2 Isa_1:13-14)
The correctness of the sense thus assigned to this part of the vision is powerfully confirmed by what appears to be the true foundation of the singular expression already so far spoken of, "cast without." Something must lie at the bottom of the figure; and nothing seems so probable as this: that it is the "casting out" which took place in the case of the man blind from his birth, and the opening of whose eyes by Jesus is related in the fourth Gospel. Of that man we are told that when the Jews could no longer answer him "they cast him out."1 The word is the same as that now employed, and the thought is most probably the same also. Excommunication from the synagogue is in the Seer s mind, not a temporal punishment, not a mere worldly doom, but a spiritual sentence depriving of spiritual privileges misunderstood and abused. Such a casting out, however, can apply only to those who had been once within the courts of the Lords house or to the faithless members of the Christian Church. They, like the Jews of old, would "cast out" the humble disciples whom Jesus "found";2 and He cast them out. (1 Joh_9:34; 2 Joh_9:35)
If the explanation now given of the opening verses of this chapter be correct, we have reached a very remarkable stage in these apocalyptic visions. For the first time, except in the letters to the churches,1 we have a clear line of distinction drawn between the professing and the true portions of the Church of Christ, or, as it may be otherwise expressed, between the "called" and the "chosen."2 How far the same distinction will meet us in later visions of this book we have yet to see. For the present it may be enough to say that the drawing of such a distinction corresponds exactly with what we might have been prepared to expect. Nothing can be more certain than that in the things actually around him St. John beheld the mould and type of the things that were to come. Now Jerusalem, the Church of God in Israel, contained two classes within its walls: those who were accomplishing their high destiny and those by whom that destiny was misunderstood, despised, and cast away. Has it not always been the same in the Christian Church? If the world entered into the one, has it not entered as disastrously into the other? That field which is "the kingdom of heaven" upon earth has never wanted tares as well as wheat. They grow together, and no man may separate them. When the appropriate moment comes, God Himself will give the word; angels will carry off the tares, and the great Husbandman will gather the wheat into His garner. (1 Rev_2:24; Rev_3:1; Rev_3:4; 2 Comp. Mat_22:14)
4. One question still remains: What is the meaning of the forty and two months during which the holy city is to be trodden under foot of the nations? The same expression meets us in Rev_13:5, where it is said that "there was given to the beast authority to continue forty and two months." But forty and two months is also three and a half years, the Jewish year having consisted of twelve months, except when an intercalary month was inserted among the twelve in order to preserve harmony between the seasons and the rotation of time. The same period is therefore again alluded to in Rev_12:14, when it is said of the woman who fled into the wilderness that she is there nourished for "a time, and times, and half a time." Once more, we read in Rev_11:3 and in Rev_12:6 of a period denoted by "a thousand two hundred and threescore days;" and a comparison of this last passage with Rev_11:14 of the same chapter distinctly shows that it is equivalent to the three and a half times or years. Three and a half multiplied by three hundred and sixty, the number of days in the Jewish year, gives us exactly the twelve hundred and sixty days. These three periods, therefore, are the same. Why the different designations should be adopted is another question, to which, so far as we are aware, no satisfactory reply has yet been given, although it may be that, for some occult reason, the Seer beholds in "months" a suitable expression for the dominion of evil, in "days" one appropriate to the sufferings of the good.
The ground of this method of looking at the Churchs history is found in the book of Daniel, where we read of the fourth beast, or the fourth kingdom, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given Into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."1 The same book helps us also to answer the question as to the particular period of the Churchs history denoted by the days, or months, or years referred to, for in another passage the prophet says, "And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease."2 The three and a half years therefore, or the half of seven years, denote the whole period extending from the cessation of the sacrifice and oblation. In other words, they denote the Christian era from its beginning to its close, and that more especially on the side of its disturbed and broken character, of the power exercised in it by what is evil, of the troubles and sufferings of the good. During it the disciples of the Saviour do not reach the completeness of their rest; their victory is not won. Ideally it is so; it always has been so since Jesus overcame: but it is not yet won in the actual realities of the case; and, though in one sense every heavenly privilege is theirs, their difficulties are so great, and their opponents so numerous and powerful, that the true expression for their state is a broken seven years, or three years and a half. During this time, accordingly, the holy city is represented as trodden under foot by the nations. They who are at ease in Zion may not feel it; but to the true disciples of Jesus their Masters prophecy is fulfilled, "In the world ye shall have tribulation."* (1 Dan_7:25; 2 Dan_9:27; 3 Joh_16:33)
The vision now proceeds:
"And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And their dead body lies in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead body three days and an half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry: and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and an half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which beheld them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven (Rev_11:3-13)."
The figures of this part of the vision, like those of the first part, are drawn from the Old Testament. That the language is not to be literally understood hardly admits of dispute, for, whatever might have been thought of the " two witnesses " had we read only of them, the description given of their persons, or of their person (for in Rev_11:8, where mention is made of their dead body - not "bodies" - they are treated as one), of their work, of their death, and of their resurrection and ascension, is so obviously figurative as to render it necessary to view the whole passage in that light. The main elements of the figure are supplied by the prophet Zechariah. "And the angel that talked with me," says the prophet, "came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of sleep, and said unto me; What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? . . . Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. ... Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil put of themselves? And he answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."1 In these words indeed we read only of one golden candlestick, while now we read of two. But we have already found that the Seer of the Apocalypse, in using the figures to which he had been accustomed, does not bind himself to all their details; and the only inference to be drawn from this difference, as well as from the circumstance already noted in Rev_11:8, is that the number "two" is to be regarded less in itself than as a strengthening of the idea of the number one. This circumstance further shows that the two witnesses cannot be divided between the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, as if the one witness were the former and the other the latter. Both taken together express the idea of witnessing, and to the full elucidation of that idea belong also the olive tree and the candlestick. The witnessing is fed by perpetual streams of that heavenly oil, of that unction of the Spirit, which is represented by the olive tree; and it sheds light around like the candlestick. The two witnesses, therefore, are not two individuals to be raised up during the course of the Churchs history, that they may bear testimony to the facts and principles of the Christian faith. The Seer indeed may have remembered that it had been Gods plan in the past to commission His servants, not singly, but in pairs. He may have called to mind Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, or he may have thought of the fact that our Lord sent forth His disciples two by two. The probability, however, is that, as he speaks of "witnessing," he thought mainly of that precept of the law which required the testimony of two witnesses to confirm a statement. Yet he does not confine himself to the thought of two individual witnesses, however eminent, who shall in faithful work fill up their own short span of human life and die. The witness he has in view is that to be borne by all Christs people, everywhere, and throughout the whole Christian age. From the first to the last moment of the Churchs history in this world there shall be those raised up who shall never fail to prophesy, or, in other words, to testify to the truth of God as it is in Jesus. The task will be hard, but they will not shrink from it. They shall be clothed in sackcloth, but they shall count their robes of shame to be robes of honor. They shall occupy the position of Him who, in the days of His humiliation, was the "faithful and true Witness." Nourished by the Spirit that was in Him, they shall, like Him, be the light of the world,2 so that God shall never be left without some at least to witness for Him. (1Zech. 4; 2 Joh_8:12. Comp. Mat_5:14)
Having spoken of the persons of the two witnesses, St. John next proceeds to describe the power with which, amidst their seeming weakness, their testimony is borne; and once more he finds in the most striking histories of the Old Testament the materials with which his glowing imagination builds.
In the first place, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies, so that these enemies are killed by the manifest judgment of God, and even, in His righteous retribution, by the very instrument of destruction they would have themselves employed. Elijah and the three companions of Daniel are before us, when at the word of Elijah fire descended out of heaven, and consumed the two captains and their fifties,1 and when the companions of Daniel were not only left unharmed amidst the flames, but when the fire leaped out upon and slew the men by whom they had been cast into the furnace.2 This fire proceeding out of the mouth of the two witnesses is like the sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of the mouth of the Son of man in the first vision of the book.3 In the second place, the witnesses have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy. Elijah is again before us when he exclaimed in the presence of Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word," and when "it rained not on the earth for three years and six months."4 Finally, when we are told that the witnesses have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire, we are reminded of Moses and of the plagues inflicted through him upon the oppressors of Israel in Egypt. (1 2Ki_1:10; 2Ki_1:12; 2 Dan_3:22; 3 Rev_1:16; 4 1Ki_17:1; Jam_5:17)
The three figures teach the same lesson. No deliverance has been effected by the Almighty for His people in the past which He is not ready to repeat. The God of Moses, and Elijah, and Daniel is the unchangeable Jehovah. He has made with His Church an everlasting covenant; and the most striking manifestations of His power in bygone times "happened by way of example, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come."* (* 1Co_10:11)
Hence, accordingly, the Church finishes her testimony.1 So was it with our Lord in His high-priestly prayer and on the Cross: "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do;" "It is finished."2 But this "finishing" of their testimony on the part of the two witnesses points to more than the end of the three and a half years viewed simply as a period of time. Not the thought of time alone, but of the completion of testimony, is present to the Seers mind. At every moment in the history of Christs true disciples that completion is reached by some or others of their number. Through all the three and a half years their testimony is borne with power, and is finished with triumph, so that the world is always without excuse. (1 Rev_11:7; 2 Joh_17:4; Joh_19:30)
Having spoken of the power of the witnesses, St. John next turns to the thought of their evil fate. The beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. This "beast" has not yet been described; but it is a characteristic of the Apostle, both in the fourth Gospel and in the Apocalypse, to anticipate at times what is to come, and to introduce persons to our notice whom we shall only learn to know fully at a later point in his narrative. That is the case here. This beast will again meet us in chap. 13 and chap. 17, where we shall see that it is the concentrated power of a world material and visible in its opposition to a world spiritual and invisible. It may be well to remark, too, that the representation given of the beast presents us with one of the most striking contrasts of St. John, and one that must be carefully remembered if we would understand his visions. Why speak of its "coming up out of the abyss"? Because the beast is the contrast of the risen Saviour. Only after His resurrection did our Lord enter upon His dominion as King, Head, and Guardian of His people. In like manner only after a resurrection mockingly attributed to it does this beast attain its full range of influence. Then, in the height of its rage and at the summit of its power, it sets itself in opposition to Christs witnesses. It cannot indeed prevent them from accomplishing their work; they shall finish their testimony in spite of it: but, when that is done, it shall gain an apparent triumph. As the Son of God was nailed to the Cross, and in that hour of His weakness seemed to be conquered by the world, so shall it be with them. They shall be overcome and killed.
Nor is that all, for their dead body (not dead bodies1) is treated with the utmost contumely. It lies in the broad open street of the great city, which the words where also their Lord was crucified show plainly to be Jerusalem. But Jerusalem! In what aspect is she here beheld? Not as "the holy city," "the beloved city," the Zion which God had desired for His habitation, and of which He had said, "This is My rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it,"2 but degenerate Jerusalem, Jerusalem become as Sodom for its wickedness, and as Egypt for its oppression of the Israel of God. The language is strong, so strong that many interpreters have deemed it impossible to apply it to Jerusalem in any sense, and have imagined that they had no alternative but to think of Rome. Yet it is not stronger than the language used many a time by the prophets of old: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. How is the faithful city become an harlot! . . . righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers."3 (1See Margin of R.V; 2 Psa_132:13-14; 3 Isa_1:10; Isa_1:21)
If, however, this city be Jerusalem, what does it represent? Surely, for reasons already stated, neither the true disciples of Jesus, nor the heathen nations of the world. We have the degenerate Church before us, the Church that has conformed to the world. That Church beholds the faithful witnesses for Christ the Crucified lie in the open way. Their wounds make no impression upon her heart, and draw no tear from her eyes. She even invites the world to the spectacle; and the world, always eager to hear the voice of a degenerate Church, responds to the invitation. It "looks," and obviously without commiseration, upon the prostrate, mangled form that has fallen in the strife. This it does for three days and a half, the half of seven, a broken period of trouble; and it will not suffer the dead body to be laid in a tomb. Nay, the world is not content even with its victory. After victory it must have its triumph; and that triumph is presented to us in one of the most wonderful pictures of the Apocalypse, when they that dwell on the earth - that is, the men of the world - from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations, having listened to the degenerate Churchs call, make high holiday at the thought of what they have done. They rejoice over the dead bodies, and make merry: and they send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. We are reminded of Herod and Pilate, who, when the Jewish governor sent Jesus to his heathen brother, "became friends that very day."1 But we are reminded of more. In the book of Nehemiah we find mention of that great feast of Tabernacles which was observed by the people when they heard again, after long silence, the book of the law, and when "there was very great gladness." In immediate connection with this feast, Nehemiah said to the people, "Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength"2; while it constituted a part also of the joyful ceremonial of the feast of the dedication of the Temple that the Jews made the days of the feast "days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor."3 Taking these passages into account, and remembering the general style and manner of St. John, we can have no hesitation in recognizing in the festival of these verses the worlds Feast of Tabernacles, the contrast and the counterpart of the Churchs feast already spoken of in the second consolatory vision of chap. 7. (1 Luk_23:12; 2 Neh_8:10; 3 Est_9:22)
If so, what a picture does it present! - the degenerate Church inviting the world to celebrate a feast over the dead bodies of the witnesses for Christ, and the world accepting the invitation; the former accommodating herself to the ways of the latter, and the latter welcoming the accommodation; the one proclaiming no unpleasant doctrines and demanding no painful sacrifices, the other hailing with satisfaction the prospect of an easy yoke and of a cheap purchase of eternity as well as time. The picture may seem too terrible to be true. But let us first remember that, like all the pictures of the Apocalypse, it is ideal, showing us the operation of principles in their last, not their first, effect; and then let us ask whether we have never read of, or ourselves seen, such a state of things actually realized. Has the Church never become the world, on the plea that she would gain the world? Has she never uttered smooth things or prophesied deceits in order that she might attract those who will not endure the thought of hardness in religious service, and would rather embrace what in their inward hearts they know to be a lie than bitter truth? Such a spectacle has been often witnessed, and is yet witnessed every day, when those who ought to be witnesses for a living and present Lord gloze over the peculiar doctrines of the Christian faith, draw as close as possible the bonds of their fellowship with unchristian men, and treat with scorn the thought of a heavenly life to be led even amidst the things of time. One can understand the worlds own ways, and, even when lamenting that its motives are not higher, can love its citizens and respect their virtues. But a far lower step in declension is reached when the Churchs silver becomes dross, when her wine is mixed with water, and when her voice no longer convicts, no longer " torments them that dwell on the earth."
In the midst of all their tribulation, however, the faithful portion of the Church have a glorious reward. They have suffered with Christ, but they shall also reign with Him. After all their trials in life, after their death, and after the limited time during which even when dead they have been dishonored, they live again. The breath of life from God entered into them. Following Him who is the first-fruits of them that sleep, they stood upon their feet.1 They heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. They went up into heaven in the cloud; and there they sit down with the conquering Redeemer in His throne, even as He overcame and sat down with His Father in His throne.2 All this, too, takes place in the very presence of their enemies, upon whom great fear fell. Even nature sympathizes with them. Having waited for the revealing of the sons of God, and in hope that she also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God,3 she hails their final triumph. There was a great earth quake, the tenth part of the city (that is, of Jerusalem) fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons. It is unnecessary to say that the words are figurative and symbolical, denoting in all probability simply judgment, but judgment restrained. (1Comp. Rev_5:6; 2 Rev_3:21; 3 Rom_8:19; Rom_8:21)
The last words of the vision alone demand more particular attention: The rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The thought is the same as that which met us when we were told at the close of the sixth Trumpet that "the rest of mankind which were not killed with these plagues repented not."* There is no repentance, no conversion. There is terror; there is alarm; there is a tribute of awe to the God of heaven who has so signally vindicated His own cause; but there is nothing more. Nor are we told what may or may not follow in some future scene. For the Seer the final triumph of good and the final overthrow of evil are enough. He can be patient, and, so far as persons are concerned, can leave the issue in the hands of God. (* Rev_9:20)
The two consolatory visions interposed between the sixth and seventh Trumpets are now over, and we cannot fail to see how great an advance they are upon die two visions of a similar kind interposed between the sixth and seventh Seals. The whole action has made progress. At the earlier stage the Church may be said to have been hidden in the hollow of the Almighty s hand. In the thought of the "great tribulation" awaiting her she has been sealed, while the peace and joy of her new condition have been set before us, as she neither hungers nor thirsts, but is guided by her Divine Shepherd to green pastures and to fountains of the waters of life. At this later stage she is in the midst of her conflict and her sufferings. She is in the heat of her warfare, in the extremity of her persecuted state. From the height on which we stand we do not look over a quiet and peaceful plain, with flocks of sheep resting in its meadows; we look over a field where armed men have met in the shock of battle. There is the stir, the excitement, the tumult of deadly strife for higher than earthly freedom, for dearer than earthly homes. There may be temporary repulse and momentary yielding even on the side of the good, but they still press on. The Captain of their salvation is at their head; and foot by foot fresh ground is won, until at last the victory is sounded, and we are ready for the seventh Trumpet.
Before it sounds there is a warning similar to that which preceded the sounding of the fifth and sixth*: (* Rev_8:13; Rev_9:12) -
"The second Woe is past; behold, the third Woe cometh quickly (Rev_11:14)."
These words are to be connected with the close of chap, 9, all that is contained in chaps. 10 and 11:1-13 being, as we have seen, episodical.
The seventh Trumpet is now sounded: -
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever, And the four-and-twenty elders, which sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord, God, the Almighty, which art and which wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were roused to wrath, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, both the saints and them that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant: and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail (Rev_11:15-19)."
1. By the kingdom of the world here spoken of is meant, that dominion over the world as a whole has become the possession of our Lord and of His Christ; and it is to be His forever and ever. There is no contradiction between this statement of St. John and that of St. Paul when, speaking of the Son, the latter Apostle says, "And when all things have been subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subjected to Him that did subject all things unto Him, that God may be all in all."1 The "kingdom" thus spoken of by St. Paul is that exercised by our Lord in subduing His enemies, and it must necessarily come to an end when there are no more enemies to subdue. The kingdom here referred to is Christs dominion as Head and King of His Church, and of that dominion there is no end. Of more consequence perhaps is it to observe that when it is said in the words before us, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, there is nothing to lead to the supposition that this "kingdom" becomes Christ s by the conversion of the world. The meaning simply is that evil has been finally and for ever put down, that good is finally and forever triumphant. No inference can be drawn as to the fate of wicked persons further than this: that they shall not be found in "the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."2 Were additional proof needed upon this point, it would be supplied by the fact that in almost the next following words we read of the nations being roused to wrath. These are the wicked upon whom judgment falls; and, instead of being converted, they are roused to the last and highest outburst of the wickedness which springs from despair. (1 1Co_15:28; 2 2Pe_3:13)
2. The song of the four-and-twenty elders. We have already had occasion to notice that song of the representatives of redeemed creation in which the four living creatures celebrated "the Lord, God, the Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come."* The song now before us, sung by the representatives of the glorified Church, is cast in precisely the same mould of three ascriptions of praise to the Lord. But in the third member there is an important difference, the words "and which is to come" being omitted. The explanation is that the Lord is come. The present dispensation is at its close. (* Rev_4:8)
3. The events of the close are next described. It is the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give reward to Gods faithful servants, to whatever part of mankind they have belonged, and whatever the position they have filled in life. The whole family of man is divided into two great classes, and for the one there is judgment, for the other reward.
4. Before passing on it may be well to call attention to one or two particulars in these verses which, though not specially connected with that general meaning of the passage which it is the main object of this commentary to elicit, may help to throw light upon the style of the Apostle and the structure of his work.
(l) Thus it is important to observe his use of the word prophets. The persons spoken of are obviously in contrast with "the nations" and "the dead to be judged," and they must include all who are faithful unto death. Already we have seen that every true follower of Christ is in St. Johns eyes a martyr, and that when he thinks of the martyrs of the Church he has a far wider circle in view than that of those who meet death by the sword or at the stake. To his ideal conceptions of things the martyr spirit makes the martyr, and the martyr spirit must rule in every disciple of the Crucified. In like manner the prophetic spirit makes the prophet, and of that spirit no true follower of Him in whom prophecy culminated can be devoid. In this very chapter we have read of " prophesying " as the work of the two witnesses who are a symbol of the whole Christian Church, and who prophesy through the thousand two hundred and threescore days of her pilgrimage. We are not therefore to suppose that those here called "prophets" are either prophets in the stricter sense of the word, or commissioned ministers of Christ. All Christs people are His "servants the prophets," and the idealism of St. John distinctly appears in the designation given them.
(2) The next following clause, which we have translated in a manner slightly different from that of both the Authorized and the Revised Versions, is not less important: both the saints and them that fear Thy name, instead of "and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name." It is the manner of St. John to dwell in the first instance upon one characteristic of the object of which he speaks, and then to add other characteristics belonging to it, equally important, it may be, in themselves, but not occupying so prominent a place in the line of thought which he happens to be pursuing at the moment. An illustration of this is afforded in Joh_14:6, where the words of Jesus are given in the form, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." The context shows that the emphasis rests wholly on Jesus as "the Way," and that the addition of the words "the Truth, and the Life," is only made to enhance and complete the thought. Here in like manner the contents of what is involved in the term "the prophets" are completed by a further statement of what the prophets are. They are "the saints and they that fear Gods name." The twofold structure of this statement, however, again illustrates the manner of St. John. "The saints" is, properly speaking, a Jewish epithet, while every reader of the Acts of the Apostles is familiar with the fact that "they that fear God" was a term applied to Gentile proselytes to Judaism. We have thus an instance of St. Johns method of regarding the topic with which he deals from a double point of view, the first Jewish, the second Gentile. He is not thinking of two divisions of the Church, The Church is one; all her members constitute one Body in Christ. But looked at from the Jewish standpoint, they are "the saints;" from the Gentile, they are those that "fear Thy name."
(3) The verses under consideration afford a marked illustration of St. Johns love of presenting judgment under the form of the lex talionis. The nations were "roused to wrath," and upon them Gods "wrath came." They had "destroyed the earth," and God would "destroy" them. In studying the Apocalypse, all peculiarities of style or structure ought to be present to the mind. They are not unfrequently valuable guides to interpretation.
The seventh Trumpet has sounded, and the end has come. A glorious moment has been reached in the development of the Almightys plan; and the mind of the Seer is exalted and ravished by the prospect. Yet he beholds no passing away of the present earth and heavens, no translation of the reign of good to an unseen spiritual and hitherto unvisited region of the universe. It would be out of keeping with the usual phraseology of his book to understand by heaven, in which he sees the ark of God s covenant, a locality, a place "beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb." His employment of the contrasted words "earth" and "heaven" throughout his whole series of visions rather leads to the supposition that by the latter we are to understand that region, wherever it may be, in which spiritual principles alone bear sway. It may be here; it may be elsewhere; it seems hardly possible to say: but the more the reader enters into the spirit of this book, the more difficult will he find it to resist the impression that St. John thinks of this present world as not only the scene of the great struggle between good and evil, but also, when it has been cleansed and purified, as the seat of everlasting righteousness. These in the present instance are striking words: "to destroy them that destroy the earth." Why not destroy the earth itself if it is only to be burned up? Why speak of it in such terms as lead almost directly to the supposition that it shall be preserved though its destroyers perish? While, on the other hand, if God at first pronounced it to be "very good;" if it may be a home of truth, and purity, and holiness; and if it shall be the scene of Christs future and glorious reign, then may we justly say, Woe to them that destroy the habitation, the palace, now preparing for the Prince of peace.
However this may be, it was a fitting close to the judgments of the seven Trumpets that the "temple" of God that - is, the innermost shrine or sanctuary of His temple - should be opened. There was no need now that God should be "a God that hideth Himself."1 When earth had in it none but the pure in heart, why should they not see Him?2 He would dwell in them and walk in them.3 The Tabernacle of the Lord would be again with men.4 (1 Isa_45:15; 2 Mat_5:8; 3 2Co_6:16; 4 Rev_21:3)
When too the shrine was opened, what more appropriate spectacle could be seen than "the ark of His covenant," the symbol of His faithfulness, the pledge of that love of His which remains unchanged when the mountains depart and the hills are removed? The covenant-keeping God! No promise of the past had failed, and the past was the earnest of the future.
Nor need we wonder at the lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and the earthquake, and the great hail that followed. For God had "promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which are not shaken may remain."* (* Heb_12:26-27)
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 1, 2. There was given me a reed like…
1, 2. There was given me a reed like unto a rod. There are several points that must be noticed: 1. Who measures? 2. The measure used. 3. What is measured? (1) A reed is given to John to be used as a measure. It is not an angel who measures, but an apostle, the sole representative of the apostles then living. The apostle is a representative of the apostolic body. It is the apostles who are to measure. (2) The measure is not a human one. John did not make it, nor did any other apostle, nor any man, or body of men. The reed was given to him. It is a divine measure. Whatever is measured is to be compared with a divine standard. There is a divine standard for measurement which was given by our Lord to the apostles. This is the New Testament of Jesus Christ. (3) Measure the temple of God. This cannot mean the literal temple. It was not in the part of the world where John was, if it had been standing; nor was it then standing. What is meant is that of which the temple was a symbol; viz., the Church. See notes on 1 Cor. 3:16. And the altar. In the Jewish temple the altar was the place where the worship centered. Without the altar worship was impossible, and the altar is taken as a symbol of the worship. The sacrifices of the altar were all typical of Christ's atonement. Hence, the measurement has a relation to the death of Christ. And them that worship therein. The measure shall be applied to those who profess to be Christians. It will be seen whether they come up to the standard.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain THE paragraph, Rev_11:1-13, gives the contents of the “little…
THE FATE OF JERUSALEM AND ITS TEMPLE
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
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THE paragraph, Rev_11:1-13, gives the contents of the “little book,” which are in part joyful and in part bitter. The marking off of a portion of the temple answers to the sealing of the hundred and forty-four thousand in chap. 7. Here there is a symbolical reserve of a portion of the temple from impending evils, as there a reserve of an elect portion of God’s people. “Just as those were sealed to mark them for ever as the heritage of God, so is the temple measured as destined to remain His domain for ever. The temple, together with the court, is here the emblem of the Jewish nation, one part of which will remain faithful to its God—that represented by the temple measured by the angel, with the altar and its worshippers; and the other part, carnal Israel, will give itself up to the spirit of apostasy which will carry captive the Gentiles.”
Rev_11:1. Reed.—Canon: the word may mean staff, pen, or light measuring rod (Eze_40:3; Rev_21:15). Angel stood.—Omit; but assume the speaker to be he who gave the rod. Temple, etc.—Treat as symbols of the people of God within the Jewish people. Temple with all its courts symbolises the whole Jewish people. The measuring was for the reserving of this portion.
Rev_11:2. Without.—Outside, or beyond. Here the ordinary worshippers assembled. Leave out.—Despise, neglect, take no trouble with. Gentiles.—Probably alluding to Romans. Tread under foot.—Luk_21:24. Forty and two months.—See Rev_11:3, Rev_12:14; and compare Dan_7:25; Dan_12:7; Dan_12:11. Not an exact, or literal period; to be treated typically, of a prolonged, but strictly limited, time. “It is the pilgrimage period of the Church, the period of the world’s power, during which it seems to triumph.”
Rev_11:3. Bishop Boyd Carpenter thus explains the aim of the present vision: “It explains that in the great progress towards victory the Church itself will suffer, through corruptions and worldliness, but the true temple—the kernel, so to speak, of the Church—will be unharmed and kept safe in her Master’s hands. But the position of this hidden and enshrined Church will not be one of idle security. In that temple will be reared those who will witness, undaunted and undefiled, for their Lord; throughout the whole of that chequered period of profanation and pain there will never be wanting true witnesses for righteousness and faith.” Two witnesses—Not to be regarded as actual persons; compare Zec_4:6-7. The idea is that there should always be some, even in a decaying, imperilled Church, who, in the special power of Divine grace, should witness against prevailing evils. In every age God has His specially appointed and sustained witnesses. “As God raised up prophets in the ancient Church, to witness against the idolatrous corruptions of religion, so there should be some in every age to testify against the iniquity and idolatry of their times.
Rev_11:4. Candlesticks.—Lamp-stands, to hold up the light of God’s claims and truth.
Rev_11:5. Will.—I.e,. wishes to. Fire.—Compare Jer_5:14; 2Ki_1:10. Evidently Old-Testament individuals and narratives suggest these figures.
Rev_11:6. Shut heaven.—As Elijah. Power over waters, etc.—As Moses.
Rev_11:7. Beast.—A familiar symbol for any noxious, powerful, and dangerous enemy. “A beast-spirit, which is in utter hostility to the Christ-spirit” (see Daniel 7). Kill them—This typities the temporary triumph of worldliness over the witnesses to high spiritual life. “Men can silence, can conquer, can slay the witness for a higher, purer, nobler life. They have done so.” But men may always reckon upon the resurrection of God’s witnesses. He never leaves Himself without a witness.
Rev_11:8. Great city.—Jerusalem. See Isa_1:10; Jer_46:16; Eze_23:8.
Rev_11:11. Stood upon their feet.—Compare Ezekiel’s vision of the “valley of dry bones.”
Rev_11:15. Seventh angel sounded.—The angel who will sound the trumpet of Christ’s final triumph, or the trump of doom. This trumpet, or third woe, has reference to the appearing of the Antichrist. Rev_11:14 takes up the thread of the general vision. Godet says: “We shall see that it is the reign of Antichrist which brings upon men the last calamities, represented by the seven vials; hence it follows that these latter are included in the seventh trumpet, just as the seven trumpets formed the contents of the seventh seal. There is great art in this way of picturing history as a series of periods, each of which arises out of the last term of the period which precedes it. In this simple image is expressed one of the profoundest laws of the progress of the world.”
In Rev_11:15-18 the end of the great struggle is anticipated, and the mingled rejoicing in heaven, and woe on earth, is indicated. With this assurance of final victory we are prepared for all the terrible scenes that make up the sublime conflict of the ages. It must be constantly kept in view that the one aim of St. John is the comfort and assurance of God’s people in their persecution, peril, and fear; therefore it is that these recurring visions of the triumph of some, and the final triumph of all, are given.
Rev_11:15. His Christ.—Compare “Lord’s anointed” (Luk_2:26).
Rev_11:16. Sat before God.—Better, “which are before God, sitting upon their thrones.”
Rev_11:17. Omit here “art to come.”
Rev_11:19. Ark of His Testament.—It is almost always better to read “covenant.” The third woe brought on the inhabitants of the earth is the ruin and downfall of the Antichristian kingdom; but this is only a woe from the earthly point of view. It is a cause of rejoicing in the heavenly spheres.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rev_11:1-19
The Prophecy of the Two Witnesses.—Here comes in another interposition—viz., that in respect to saving a part of the temple, like to that in chap. 7, with respect to saving Christians from impending evils. Christians, indeed, have already been made secure in the case before us. But the close of the Jewish or Mosaic institutions is near at hand. Shall all which pertained to these now go to ruin? Or is there not something that constitutes the essential unity of religion under both dispensations which is worthy of preservation, and which, therefore, must be preserved? If the ground taken by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews is correct (which we may well believe) then the basis of Judaism and Christianity is the same. The introduction of the two witnesses has been the occasion of much controversy, chiefly because effort has been made to identify the persons referred to, and because the symbolical use of the number two has not been recognised. Stuart explains this chapter, and the meaning of these witnesses, in the following way: “In Rev_6:11, the martyrs, supplicating for retribution upon the enemies and persecutors of the Church, are told that they must wait for awhile, until the number of martyrs becomes augmented, and the iniquity of their persecutors comes to its full completion. Against the judgments of heaven which are to overtake the latter, Christians in general are secured by the seal of God impressed upon their foreheads (chap. 7). Here, in chap. 11, which brings us to the close of the first catastrophe, we have a picture of the renewed and bitter efforts of the enemies of the Church to destroy it, even at the period when destruction was impending over themselves. In this way the reader is prepared to acquiesce in the doom which awaits them on the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet. Nor is this all. The long-suffering of God is thus displayed towards His once beloved people. They are exhorted to repentance while destruction is impending, in order that they may escape. Prophets, furnished with miraculous powers, like those of Moses and Elijah, so as to give full proof of their Divine mission, are sent to them. But they will not hear. When the time fixed by heaven for their probation is past, those prophets are given up to the persecuting fury of their enemies, and they fall a sacrifice. Yet the cause which they advocated is not rendered hopeless by this. It is not even weakened; for the martyrs are raised from the dead, and ascend in triumph to heaven. In other words, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,’ for the Church becomes victorious by the deadly assaults made upon it. The enemies of religion may, indeed, bring upon themselves swift destruction by their malignity; they do so. But the Church will rise and triumph, and enjoy continued Divine protection and favour amid all the trials to which it can be subjected. That literally two, and only two witnesses were to appear in these times of peculiar wickedness; that they were to be literally raised from the dead, and ascend to heaven, etc.;—we need not strive to disprove in commenting on such a book as the Apocalypse. But why are there two witnesses mentioned. Partly, because two are a competent number to establish any matter (see Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15; Num_35:30; Joh_5:30-33; Mat_18:16). The apostles and disciples were sent out in pairs. Compare also the combinations, Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, Peter and John. The meaning is that a competent number of Divinely commissioned and faithful Christian witnesses, endowed with miraculous powers, should bear testimony against the corrupt Jews, during the last days of their commonwealth, respecting their sins. All beyond this is mere costume and symbol.” Godet’s explanation runs along the same lines, but brings out some fresh and suggestive homiletic points. “The last signal—that of the seventh trumpet—is preceded, as the opening of the seventh seal had been, by a scene of an encouraging tendency—that of the two witnesses. This episode refers, as did the former of the two which prepared for the seventh seal, to the destinies of the Jewish people. This subject is so important that it is treated here in a little book, which forms, as it were, a parenthesis in the great book. It is the announcement (already anticipated in the prophetic vision itself) of the conversion of Israel. The faithful Jews, together with the hundred and forty-four thousand (chap. 7) are seen prostrated in the holy place before the golden altar (the symbol of Judaism) in an ideal temple; for the material temple is no longer in existence. They are awaiting the new revelation, which is to carry them on a step farther, into the most holy place. The mass of the people are given up to the Gentiles, who tread them under foot. The author here reproduces the exact words of Jesus: ‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’ John does not, any more than Jesus, use the expression, ‘to tread under foot,’ in a literal sense. The subject in his mind is that of the moral domination of the Gentiles over Israel, and of the apostasy, becoming ever more and more general, of that ancient elect people, in abjuring the Divine principle of their national existence, and basely seeking to identify themselves with the heathen nations amongst whom they were scattered. Thus, whilst the elect part of the nation, by their unshaken fidelity, prepare themselves for a sacred mission, the mass of the people—that constitute the outer court given up to the Gentiles—degrade and materialise themselves more and more to the level of the heathen. In the midst of this defection appear—as did in ancient times Enoch in the midst of the degenerate children of Seth, Moses before Israel corrupted by Egyptian idolatry, Elijah amongst the ten tribes who had become almost completely Paganised—the two witnesses, whose preaching, as well as their dress and acts of power, preach repentance to Israel. But—and this is surprising—the beast now appears upon the scene, though his coming has not yet been described. The reason is that the contents of the little book constitute a special prophecy within the great one. We shall see later on why the Antichrist thinks it expedient to leave Rome, his capital, and to take up his abode at Jerusalem. The two witnesses are killed by him, but they come to life again miraculously. The city is smitten with an earthquake, and one part of the inhabitants are swallowed up by it. The remainder of the people, and particularly those who have been specially reserved for these supreme moments, give glory to God, and are converted to Him. Accordingly, we shall find, in chap. 14, the hundred and forty-four thousand surrounding the Lamb between the time of the Advent and that of the destruction of the Antichrist. This picture is well adapted to encourage the Church in presence of the terrible conflict she is about to be called on to sustain. She knows now beforehand that she will have within humanity itself a powerful ally—that is, the people of peoples, of which the elect part will occupy a central place in the Christian army, and form a kind of bodyguard of the Lamb.”
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev_11:15. Christ’s Final Triumph.—The book of Revelation is difficult to interpret. No principle of interpretation has yet gained universal acceptance. Some see in it mere history—blended human and Church history. Some would have us find chiefly the history of the Church, and only indirect references to nations or individuals. Some regard it as a story that is past. Others regard it as even now in its unfolding. And some treat it as the history of spiritual truth in its contact and conflict with error. Our difficulties arise from the fact that we have no wide and comprehensive view of God’s administration of the world, and purpose concerning it. We do not enter into God’s thought in guiding His world on its course through so many ages, sustaining it through so many changes, and peopling it with such an ever-teeming multitude of living beings. There must be some sublime end towards which God, by processes which we call slow, is ever moving. As surely as geological science unfolds the story of a series of material changes, running on through uncounted ages, preparing the earth for the abode of man, so surely is the history of our earth the story of great moral and spiritual changes and progressions, preparing man for some higher and sublimer destiny. And as we stand wondering over that record of geological eras, amazed that God should take so long to prepare the earth for man, so do we stand wondering over these moral and spiritual ages, these succeeding “dispensations”; this apparent ebb and flow, these triumphs and failures, these boundings, and walkings, and creepings, out of all which God is preparing man for the glory which is to be. The great end can never be lost out of God’s thought. So far as we can discern it, reading it under the symbol and imagery that veil, while they disclose, its mystery, it is this: the full restoration of the whole moral world to harmony with Himself. He is working to secure that all the wills of all moral beings should freely choose to be in accordance with, and submission to, His Divine Will. All humanity is to repeat after the Christ-man, “Thy will be done.” All the changes of the world’s history have been working towards this sublime end. Patriarchal simplicity, Jewish ceremonial, Pagan idolatry, civilised learning, unities of commerce, warrings of nations, blendings of races, emigration of surplus populations, and the special forces of Christianity and the Christian civilisation—all these things may be thought of as winds from various quarters, blowing at various times, and in various degrees, pressing on the sails of the great vessel of humanity, and bearing it forward towards the love and service of the One Living God. If we are to get full possession of this great thought of God concerning humanity, we must first see that all—every one—of God’s human creaturos must be a subject of interest to Him. You may say, “But surely no one ever doubts that God ‘maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust?’ ” We readily admit it as a general interest to create, preserve, feed, and clothe; but what many of us have yet to see is, that God has a saving interest in every human creature He has made—an interest of grace. He “willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he turn from his wickedness and live.” We gain new views of God’s dealing with the world when, emancipated from old prejudices, we can say, with St. Peter, “Now I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but, in every nation, he that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of Him”; or with Paul, who could stand before a company of Pagan Greeks, and argue with them on the ground of the universal Fatherhood. “God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.… He hath made of one blood all nations of the earth, … hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us; for in Him we live, and move, and have our being—as certain, also, of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ ” Which of us is so fully in fellowship with God’s great purpose that he could stand before the superstitious Hindoo, the degraded savage from the islands of the seas, the wretched African from whom well-nigh the semblance of humanity itself has passed, and, without a faltering in his voice, assure them all that they were gathered up into the kindly thought of God, objects of the saving will of the great God that made them. Brethren in the one Divine creation, God wills them to be brethren too in the one Divine redemption. Till we can do that, without a question or a doubt, we prove that we are as yet out of sympathy with God’s thought for humanity. This world becomes a new world, this life a new life, moral influences new powers, when we can stand beside God and, as He does, take humanity itself into the great grasp of our love. “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord of Hosts, and not that he should return from his ways and live?” But if it is God’s will, God’s purpose, to bring the world into fellowship with Himself, the means employed must be such—wholly such, and only such—as He Himself is pleased to choose. Those means may be, to a large extent, beyond our full comprehension. Some we may have to use; some we may a little understand; the whole will be beyond us. We are sometimes found foolish enough even to test God’s ways by our ideas concerning the best ways. We say, “These cannot be God’s ways, because they are not such as we should have taken.” We even venture to test God’s plans by their seeming results, and say, “These cannot be God’s ways, because they do not seem successful.” Some say, “At the present rate of conversions, how long will it take to convert the world?” Men will try and prove to us that the increase of conversions is not equal to the increase of population, and therefore the present means, the preaching of the gospel, cannot be God’s means for converting the world. The answer to such strange calculations is very simple. We are only servants; we are not let into the secrets that belong to the Master. Servants have nothing to do with results and issues of work, only with faithfulness to duty. Moreover, we cannot measure results as God can. We could not make any true or trustworthy sum upon such a subject. And the uttermost apparent failure would not blot out one word of that command which ever animates God’s servants to consecrated toil, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature: he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be condemned.” God might, conceivably, have healed up the wounds of humanity by one touch of His mighty hand; He might have restored to harmony all the notes of creation, set ajar by sin, as in a moment; He might have pieced up again, set in order, all the broken fragments of the moral creation by one sublime exertion of His power. Did an evil force enter our social system, and disturb the relations of the planets, God’s flats could, in a moment of time, destroy that force, and restore the perfections of movement and of place. But God has no occasion for doing even that. He works in nature in accordance with the laws He has Himself impressed upon the creatures He has made. Instead of making a home for man in a week of seven days, He guided the working of the laws he had fixed in the original elements, and wrought a final witness as the issue of the conflicts and the unfoldings of ages. It may be conceivable that God could have forced our moral nature into a complete subjection to His will (I cannot conceive it, but perhaps some persons can); God could have driven sin away from His world with a breath. He has not, however, done so. He has been pleased persistently to act in the line of those laws according to which He created man, and especially in the line of that law, of personal liberty—free will, we call it—which He made man’s supreme dignity. So far as we can read the purpose of God in dealing with our world, He intends to bring men back to His love and favour entirely by the use of moral motives, moral influences. He means to move the heart of man by such exhibitions of Himself, and of His gracious relations, that the very heart of the world shall be won to Him. That is the meaning of the fact that all the moral influences affecting man for God seem to be gathered up into the one manifestation of God in Christ to the world. Moral force reaches its climax, its supreme development, in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. By that cross God touches the very inmost of the human heart. He speaks therein to man by the mightiest power that can reach him, the power of a self-sacrificing love. Jesus declared the sublime moral power that streams forth from Calvary when He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.” Now, if that is God’s highest power to move human hearts, and to draw men unto Himself; if God has, as it were, gone beyond Himself in the sacrifice of His Son; if that is His sublime Evangel, His gospel for the world, His way for winning souls;—surely we cannot be wrong in preaching Christ the wide world over; we cannot be wrong in telling every human brother of the Lamb God has provided for a sin-offering. We cannot be wrong in sending out heralds to the most distant and most degraded places of the earth, to lift up, in sight of men everywhere, the cross of Jesus. Result or no result, success or no success, God surely knows the wisdom and grace of His own plan; it is enough for us, if, swayed ourselves by the moral power of the cross of Calvary, we give, we labour, we pray, that the whole world may one day be uplifted in the eternal light and love of that cross. The day is coming—certainly coming—towards it all holy living and all holy toiling are most positively tending—when the magnificent song of our text shall be sung by a ransomed and redeemed universe—“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” This glorious hope has always been held before the Church, and it has exercised a most important influence on all its life and labour. That gospel which is the highest form of moral influence, gathers into itself, and uses up, all kinds of moral influence. It sways by the force of gratitude, deepening ever the service to which it calls by the thought of redemption, and ransom, and purchase by precious blood. It moves by personal affection; constraining by the force of our love to One whom we increasingly esteem as “the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely.” It excites the holiest ambitions; holds forth as inspiration the possibility of the noblest achievements; offers work of the highest character, and bids us aim at the spiritual conquest of the whole world. It touches our faculty of hope, paints for us a final victory in comparison with which the victories of all earth’s battle-fields are but as children’s soldier table-play—a victory so sublime in its character, and so far-reaching in its issues, as shall make reasonable to our view all the years of waiting, all the faintings of hope deferred. The Church of Christ has found the blessing of this great hope for herself, for the nourishment of her own spirit, and the strengthening of her own faith. So far as the Church has been a living Church, it has found the value of this great hope. The more the Church rejoices in its privileges, the more does it long that its King should receive His full royal rights. When the Church has been flagging and failing, its renewal has come in visions of the glory of the day that is coming. Dimmed by the foul breath of the evil rife in an age covered over with crowding life-cares, the Church has known the dimness pass, and the covering be lifted off, when it caught sight again of the glory of that day when “the kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.” The Church has found the blessing of this hope in its times of decay and persecution. That is, whenever it has been a suffering Church. The story of Christ’s Church has been no even tale, no simple on-moving, and ever-growing towards its end. Sometimes the river has overflowed its banks, and hurried along with the swift current of revival and holy zeal; sometimes the waters have lain very low in the bed, and seemed scarcely to care to move onwards. Those were days of sluggishness and decline. Sometimes the full stream has moved slowly, noiselessly along, exhaling on either side its fertilising moistures. At times the kings of the earth have favoured Christianity, and it has had its days of prosperity and world-triumph. And, yet again, it has been a despised thing; it has known the holier days of trial and sorrow, of martyr fires, and wearying prison, and torturing rack. What has kept alive the faith, the fervour, the steadfastness of holy men and women in those suffering days? Surely it was their vision of the Lamb, who goeth forth conquering and to conquer. And not in her times of persecution only; in those other times of suffering, when the tides of evil rose high, and were driven on with fierce winds, when the Church seemed helpless to resist the desolating encroachments, and could only, with an infinite sadness, watch the sight—humanity drifting away into error, and superstition, and pride, and woe. Those are the most trying times for Christ’s Church. Then its faith is most severely tested. What holds the Church to its allegiance, save its persistent hoping for the day when the “kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ”? Who that knows those wonderful letters written with such overflowing emotion by Samuel Rutherford but will remember how, in the shadows of his prison-house, his very soul thrilled within him in longing for the full royal rights of that King whom he so quaintly, but so tenderly, calls “his sweet Lord Jesus”? The Church has found the blessing of this hope in its days of toil and sacrifice. That is, whenever it has been a labouring Church. It has, indeed, always been a labouring and an aggressive Church. They would have us believe, in these days, that our forefathers were wrong in expecting the world would be converted through their sanctified labours. If they were wrong, it was a strange sort of wrong, for it exercised a most ennobling influence upon them. They are a good company. We may well join them. There is Paul, not counting his life dear if only he can get opportunities for lifting up Christ. Peter declaring he cannot but speak out the things he has seen and heard. Austin visiting the then benighted isle of Britain, so that he might lift up Christ to our forefathers. Luther, braving the opposition of those in authority, in rendering his testimony for Christ. But time would fail if I tried to speak of Huss, and Wickliffe, and Savonarola, and Bernard, and Whitefield, and Wesley, and Haldane, and Hill, and Moody, and all the host of devoted missionaries, who have gone forth, consecrating all life, all powers, to the service of their redeeming Christ. Witnesses for Christ when the witness was denied. Preachers of Christ when the Word fell on stopped ears. What was it sustained them in thus labouring, and ceasing their labour only with their life? It was the hope of that coming day—always coming—when the “kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” Do you think that we, in these latter days, can afford to lose out of our lives the force, the impulse, the thrill, of this Divinely assured hope? Are we so strong that we can live our Christian lives, and render our Christian witness, well without it? In this cold, calculating, business age of ours, can our Christian life be vigorous and bright, and pure, without the passion of love and anticipation kindled by such a hope? In these days, when really devout and spiritual living is half scorned, can we be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,” without the cheering of this hope? Longing to take our places among the Lord’s labourers; to be co-workers together with God in His redemptive scheme, light-holders for God; Safed cities crowning hill-tops, and guiding ever pilgrim spirits home to God. Longing to be among those who would have all men know the royal claims of Him whom we call “Lord of lambs, the lowly; King of saints, the holy”; among those who would lift up the cross in sight of a dying world; how shall we renew our zeal, refuse to be weary in our well-doing, lay ever more talent, more money, more time, more prayer, upon the altar of service, save by keeping ever in view the glory of that time when the “kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” We cannot do without these rapturous visions of the latter-day glory. The intensity, the holy passion, the consecrated zeal of a Christian life, fade out if we lose sight of that future. God has given us wonderful pictures of the scenes that are to be. Pearly gates, golden streets, waving palms, white-robed hosts; and then, reaching up beyond sensible figures into higher moral suggestions, God gives us the song of the days that are to be, when the “kingdoms of this world shall have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.” Perhaps these are the last days. The world’s coronation of Jesus may be nearer than we think. And what a day that will be! What a day for toilers, and for givers, and for men of prayer! What a day for the martyrs who have died for Christ! What a day for the missionaries, who have given their lives to witnessing for Christ! What a day for those who have been looking for its appearing in the only true way of looking, by earnest and faithful discharge of present duty for Christ’s sake! Sung by the chorus in the great oratorio, the words of our text have thrilled our hearts. But what shall be the chorus of the ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands? What will be the blended harmony of prophets and kings, and magi, and millions of the unlettered from east and west and north and south! Will you have a place in that great coronation of Jesus? Will you have a believer’s place? Will you have a worker’s place? Will you have a song of your own? Will you have a band round you of those whom you led to Christ? The day is coming. The glints of the dawning are already in the east. Soon the cry will go up, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain THE reader must remember we are still in the…
THE reader must remember we are still in the period of the sixth trumpet.
1-3. Here we have the period of Jerusalem’s desolation and pollution, given in the phraseology, forty two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days, which are synonymous. Jerusalem was captured by the Mohammedans, A.D. 637; 1897 minus 637 leaves 1260. You see, from this calculation, that the Turks have but one more year in the Holy Land.
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While these numbers are God’s invaluable lights hung out from the skies to illume the dark night of Satan’s reign on the earth, yet you must not be a numerical stickler, and permit your faith to be jostled if they are not literally fulfilled, since we do not know the exact chronology; but we certainly know it sufficiently for all practical purposes. I shall certainly look for the fall of the Turkish power in the Holy Laud in 1897. It may come sooner, or perhaps later; but rest assured, it will not long delay. No wonder the Church prophesies (i.e., preaches) clothed in sackcloth (i.e., amid great discouragements) while antichrist reigns.
4, 6. The two witnesses are regeneration and sanctification, wrought by the Holy Ghost in the heart. The tame olive tree (Jeremiah 11;
Romans 11) is the Jewish Church — the Old Dispensation, on the basis of justification. The wild olive tree, grafted into the good olive tree, typifies the converted Gentiles, and represents the Pentecostal Dispensation, which is sanctification. The two candlesticks represent the two departments of the temple-the sanctuary, which is regeneration, and the sanctum-sanctorum, which is entire sanctification. Hence you see these two witnesses are God’s work in the heart — i.e., regeneration and sanctification.
5. “If any one wishes to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouth, and burns up their enemies.” This statement of the Holy Ghost is profoundly significant of the utter irresistibility of Christian testimony. If you get a real sky- blue regeneration and a red-hot sanctification, you have nothing to do but open your mouth and testify. Your enemies will quail and skedaddle before you. History says the testimony of dying martyrs frequently converted their executioners, who, in turn, surrendered and likewise suffered martyrdom. This is the hope of the Holiness movement, to burn its way through the icebergy Churches, and conquer this wicked world for Christ. If the Holiness people are true, get the genuine experience, and keep full of love and fire, victory has come to stay. God’s people, though driven by their persecutors into mountains and caverns, still have the power to lock up the heavens by their prayers, and bring famine on the earth. Last summer it was my privilege to visit the deep, dark cavern beside the brook Cherith, where Elijah locked the heavens three years by his prayer. Responsive to the prayer of Moses, the waters of Egypt were turned into blood.
7. The beast coming up out of the bottomless pit is theerion. It means a ferocious, bloodthirsty wild beast. It is constantly in these prophecies used with reference to the papacy and the secular powers — i.e., human governments — all of which are symbolized by wild beasts. “And he shall make war with the saints, and kill them.” This has been abundantly fulfilled in case of both pagan and papal Rome, each having slain one hundred millions of martyrs. These two witnesses are God’s saints on the earth, testifying to His works wrought in them — i.e., regeneration and sanctification. It is highly probable that these prophecies have their preliminary fulfillments at different epochs. As we approach the final culmination I see at least a preliminary verification of the prophecies relative to the witnesses in the French Revolution. Paris, the most debauched and fantastical city on the globe, is appropriately symbolized by Sodom, Egypt, and fallen Jerusalem when she murdered her Savior. During the French Revolution, which broke out in 1789, and finally terminated in Napoleon’s conquest, when the infidels got the political power and became the sole custodians of the imperial government, actuated by the writings and personal influence of Tom Paine, Voltaire, and Rousseau, they repudiated the Bible, interdicted all religions service, closed all the Churches against the worshipping congregations, and used them for club-meetings and other secular purposes; abolished the Sabbath, and proclaimed every tenth day for recreation and rest; sent men throughout the empire to superscribe over the gate leading into every graveyard, “Death is an eternal sleep.” This audacious infidel government swiftly culminated in the “Reign of Terror.” Men, women, and children, on the merest suspicion, were beheaded by the guillotine. The land flowed with innocent blood. A million of the best people were brutally murdered. Danton, Murat, and Robespierre, the terrorists, became absolutely intolerable. The people arose en masse, slew the tyrants, threw off the infidel government, reinstated the royal family, restored the Bible to the people, reopened the Churches, called back the surviving clergy from an exile of three years and a half, and restored the Sabbath, with all the institutions of the Christian religion. Here you see a fulfillment of this prophecy. During the “Reign of Terror,” three years and a half, God’s witnesses were slain; i.e., Christianity was utterly abolished and infidelity enthroned. At the expiration of three years and a half, infidelity was dethroned and Christianity restored; i.e., the witnesses were raised from the dead.
12. Here we see the witnesses ascend up to heaven in a cloud, responsive to the Divine voice calling them to mount up hither. There is at least a probability that the culminating fulfillment of this prophecy will take place at the rapture, when our Lord shall descend and receive his people; i.e., into the cloud. Remember that the two witnesses are regeneration and sanctification, which are God’s works in the heart, to which His people in all ages bear testimony. The Armenian Christians have the largest building in Jerusalem, their convent on Mt. Zion accommodating eight thousand pilgrims. I was in it, and many other Churches and edifices belonging to those people. Numerically and financially, they are the third Christian denomination in the Holy Land. In open violation of the Christian Toleration Treaty of 1844, the Turks have been murdering the Armenian Christians about eighteen months. Now perhaps these massacres will continue two years more, and then the Lord will descend and take up His murdered Armenian Christians, with His expectant bride, into the cloud. Will not that be a glorious fulfillment of this prophecy? It may have received its final fulfillment in the French Revolution, as above described; but I feel profoundly impressed that this fulfillment was only preliminary to the final and glorious verification which will take place at the rapture, when the Lord’s witnesses, who have been slain in all ages, will rise to meet Him in the clouds. And who knows but these Armenian massacres will continue till the Lord descends and takes them up, thus fulfilling this prophecy about the murdered witnesses who lay dead three years and a half!
13. Doubtless the latter days will be signally characterized by terrible earthquakes. Here we have the numbers ten and seven, both of which are sacred in these prophecies. Seven is symbolic of Christ, and ten is a multiple of God’s children. This is evidently a description of the rapture, when the Lord shall come in a cloud (1:7) and take up his people. Jesus says, in his sermon on the judgments (Matthew 24), that He will appear as the lightning shining around the world, and flashing into all eyes. No wonder this will produce a terrible and universal alarm, superinducing a mighty awakening!
We have now reached the terminus of the sixth trumpet and second woe. The current of Divine providence begins a tinkling rill. Augmented by innumerable tributaries, it soon becomes a swelling river. It then broadens out into a majestic arm of the sea; continues to widen and deepen, till it disembarks into the ocean. These seven trumpets proclaim the entire prophetic panorama. When we reach the fifth trumpet, Satan’s millennium is in full blast. Dark Age midnight fast culminated. The devil has shaken down every civil government on the globe, and so completely sidetracked the Apostolic Church as to get her literally turned around, so that she is running with all of her momentum straight down to hell. At this juncture Diabolus sends into the world his two favorite sons — i.e., Mahomet and the pope — dividing the world between them, giving to Mahomet the Eastern and to the pope the Western hemisphere. Oh, how the pandemonium rings with shouts upon the coronation of these two diabolical kings, as they sanguinely hoped, destined to rule the world forever, thus consummating Satan’s original scheme of augmenting the narrow limits of hell by the permanent accession of this world! In that case, there never would have been another civil government nor holy Church on the earth.
So momentous are the calamities transpiring in the fifth trumpet that it is denominated ‘the first woe. It embraces five months — i.e., one hundred and fifty years — culminating in the Saracen invasion of Europe, threatening to sweep Christianity, which they had already driven out of Asia and Africa and exiled in Europe (at that time the wild West), from the globe. The defeat of the Saracens at the battle of Tours, France, by Charles Martel, in A.D. 732, was a sunburst on the hopes of Christendom, and the first decisive defeat of the Moslem invaders. Then a number of centuries intervened, culminating in the Crusades, during which Christianity was frequently on the aggressive, but finally culminating in hopeless defeat, so far as the recovery of the Holy Land was concerned.
The second woe is to continue a year, a month, a day, and an hour; i.e., in prophetic time, four hundred years. This embraces the second great period of the Moslem conquest, during which they overran the great East and founded the Mogul Empire, which embraced the fairest portions of the known world, and stood two hundred years, ruled by Moslem princes. Meanwhile they continue to press the war with indefatigable perseverance against Christian Europe, perfectly sanguine in their anticipation of conquering the world. The Chaldean, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman Empires each in turn had conquered and ruled the world. Why shall not the Moslem warriors push the Islam conquest to the ends of the earth, unify the government of the nations under the broad pinions of the worldwide Turkish Empire, sweep idolatry from the globe, exterminate Christianity from the face of the earth, and concentrate all nations in the grand Monotheism of the Koran and its inimitable prophet? Exuberant with a thousand victories, their path strewn with laurels, golden scepters, crowns, from the Indian Ocean to the Baltic Sea, A.D. 1683, three hundred thousand panoplied Mussulmen lay siege to Vienna, the capital of Austria, and at that time the greatest city in Christendom. They coiled their innumerable host, like a huge boa-constrictor, around the city. Cutting off all possible ingress and egress, they propose to starve them into speedy capitulation. With the flight of the last hope, the Viennese dispatch a courier to John Sobieski, the world-renowned Polish Aero, who was then in the meridian of his military glory, and celebrated afar on account of his enthusiasm for the cause of Christ. He receives the message with unutterable gratitude to God for opening the door to serve His cause. He hastily rendezvouses seventy thousand Christian warriors, jubilant to march under the banner of the Cross to the relief of Vienna. But what shall they do with three hundred thousand Saracens? They outnumber them nearly five to one. Besides, they have everything possible in the way of arms and equipage; and last, though not least, they are flushed with a thousand victories, and feel certain of another, which will open all Europe to the Moslem conquest, and expedite the extermination of Christianity from the earth. The Poles are not only few in number and poorly armed, but the outstanding memory of four hundred years, in which the Crescent has triumphed and the Cross trailed in the dust, throws an ominous gloom over the forlorn hope of Vienna’s relief. They arrive at five o’clock P.M. on Sunday, October 12, 1683. Sobieski delivers them a powerful war speech, in which he asseverates his determination to whip the Moslems and relieve Vienna, or die on the battlefield. His men all imbibe the same spirit. He gives them the battle-cry, “Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thee, be the glory!” He leads the assault in person at a sweeping gallop, waving his sword in the air and shouting aloud, “Not unto us, O Lord, but unto Thee, be the glory!” Meanwhile, the seventy thousand Christian warriors follow, shouting that thrilling battle-cry at the top of their voices. The terrible impetuosity breaks the Moslem phalanx, generates confusion, which speedily culminates in wild disorder, incorrigible panic, general skedaddle, and an awful stampede for life. In the good providence of God, it was the time of a total lunar eclipse. The full Moon rises in all her effulgent beauty and glory. The sky is perfectly serene and cloudless. The total eclipse comes on, and she literally fades away from the Orient. When the superstitious Mussulmans, utterly ignorant of astronomy, see their banner fade from the sky, they give way to universal consternation and precipitate flight, screaming vociferously as they run for dear life: “God has forsaken us; do you not see our banner fading from the skies?” Thus in pell-mell confusion they run over one another in the universal stampede, leaving the earth groaning beneath the burdens they have abandoned in their trepidation. The finest war-horses, draft-animals, all sorts of vehicles, with immense spoils accumulated on a hundred battlefields, are all abandoned in the promiscuous flight for life. Then and there the tide of Saracen conquest, which had moved forward four hundred years, and bade fair to inundate the world, exterminating Christianity from the globe, began to roll back, and has been receding ever since. Within fifteen years from that signal and disastrous defeat, the Turkish Empire lost a dozen kingdoms, and has been going down with the velocity of an avalanche ever since. Rome possessed the whole world. Having ruled it a thousand years, it took her three hundred years to die. The Moslem power conquered the time-honored empires of the globe, possessed the fairest portions of the world, and ruled them a thousand years, before she met her fatal doom at. Vienna. Thus she has been dying two hundred years. She is now a political corpse, kept alive artificially by the jealousy of her neighbors. We are in daily anticipation of her long-expected collapse. The prophetical epoch of her fall is 1897. Making due allowances for chronological inaccuracies, we may rest assured the end is nigh. When Turkdom falls, the Holy Land passes into Christendom; the children of Abraham will be gathered home, and speedily converted to Christianity.
15. THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS HIS TRUMPET
“And there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
18. “And the Gentiles were enraged, and Thy wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be vindicated, and to give reward to Thy servants the prophets and saints, and to those who fear Thy name, small and great, and to destroy them that destroy the earth.” These prophetical scenes frequently overlap and run into each other. We have now reached the seventh trumpet, which will sound on till the Lord comes to reign. But remember, since the beginning of the ninth chapter, we have been in the Oriental hemisphere, among the followers of the false prophet. When we reach the papal prophecies, appertaining to the Occidental hemisphere, we will fall back to the fifth and sixth trumpets, which proclaim the first and second woes. As we found the second woe vastly greater than the first, so we will find the third woe infinitely climaxing all the preceding.
The momentous issues predicted in all the latter day prophecies belong to the third woe, and will take place during the seventh trumpet. You see unmistakably, from the above quotations, that every human government on the globe, both political and ecclesiastical, is to be turned over to the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to reign. Two hundred millions of martyrs have sealed their faith with their blood. All their prayers for deliverance, victory, and the triumph of truth and righteousness in the world, are going to be answered. They will be rewarded with a place in the first resurrection, and receive kingdoms and crowns as the faithful subordinates of the reigning Christ in the coming millennium. The popular idea that the wicked multitudes will be converted during the Gospel Age is unscriptural. They may be saved, if they will; but there is the trouble. They love sin too much to give it up. Jesus says “the saved are few,” while the multitude travel the broad road. In the Jerusalem Council the end for which the gospel is sent into the world is defined: “To gather out of all nations a people unto the Lord.”
The wonderful prophecies about a nation being born in a day belong to the millennial period. As above quoted, these people who reject the gospel, and destroy the prosperity and happiness of the earth by their wickedness, are not to be converted, but destroyed. The rulers of the world, political and ecclesiastical, with the millions who sycophantize them into office, would not let the Lord reign, if He were to come down today on His millennial throne. Therefore, when He comes and takes His blood-washed bride out of the world, the Ancient of Days will descend (Dan 7:9), encumber His castigatory judgment throne, and enter into righteous judgment with all the wicked nations and fallen Churches of the earth. He said to His Son: “Sit Thou on my right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.” Hence you see the invisible Father will descend and sit in judgment on all the powers of the earth, political and ecclesiastical, and administer to them the just reward of their rebellion, maladministration, high-handed iniquities vices, and crimes, till the sweeping catastrophes of the great tribulation shall remove from the earth the unsaveable, incorrigible population. Dan 7:13-14 reveals the “Son of Man” coming down on His millennial throne to take possession of this world, immediately after the Father has prepared the way by His pre- millennial judgments. The very fact that the Holy Spirit says that the Son of man shall come and reign on the earth forever beautifully corroborates Act 1:11 :
“This same Jesus whom you saw ascend up to heaven, will also come again in like manner as ye saw Him go into heaven.”
When Jesus gave us the commission, He said: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age.” Hence we see that the God-Christ is with us throughout the Gospel Age; but the man-Christ has not been on earth since his ascension from Mt. Olivet. Zec 14:4 says:
“His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.”
Hence, pursuant to these prophecies, we fondly anticipate the return of our Lord to this earth in His glorified humanity. Just so surely as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, He will come in on a cloud; so surely as He hung on the cross, will He sit on the throne. These Scriptures are plain and unmistakable, all theological tergiversations notwithstanding. Our Lord’s blood-washed bride in every nation under heaven now hears His voice, thrills with holy enthusiasm, and hastens to meet Him as He comes back to earth, not to suffer and to die, but to conquer and to reign. As Daniel and John, with many other inspired writers, constantly speak of His kingdom as everlasting,” a moment’s reflection will readily harmonize the eternity of His kingdom on earth with all other phases of revealed truth. While the Bible reveals that God the Father administers the retributive judgments which supervene during the Gospel Ages, the final judgment at the end of time, which is not castigatory, but revelatory and vindicatory of the unimpeachable integrity and immaculate purity of the Divine administration, will be the prerogative of the Son. Now, when you consider this fact in connection with the signal failure of Satan’s post- millennial invasion, you recognize at once the uninterrupted reign of Christ from the inauguration of the millennium, not only through the Millennial Ages, the post-millennial times, and final judgment, but on through all eternity, this earth having been sanctified by fire, and transformed by the creative presence of Omnipotence into a glorified celestial sphere.
HUMAN GOVERNMENT
Dan 2:31; Dan 2:35 : The chronological image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his prophetic dream reveals not only the entire panorama of Gentile governments, from the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587, to the end of the Gospel Age, but the stone emblematizes the millennial kingdom. Man has been a failure amid all environments and throughout all ages. He failed in Eden. He failed in the Antediluvian times, till the very mercy of God forced Him to destroy the wicked world and give humanity another chance. How speedily did wickedness flood the post-diluvian world! The people proved so wicked as to defeat the grace of God in the main in every dispensation, finally breaking down and exterminating the last vestige of the theocracy, when Nebuchadnezzar, having conquered the world, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the last remnant of the holy people into Babylonian captivity. Thus the Divine government having gone into eclipse, human rule prevails throughout the whole world.
The first form of human government which superseded the theocracy was the absolute monarchy represented by the golden head. This is the most powerful form of human government. It built the Egyptian pyramids, and many other monuments of autocratic power which this day bewilder a contemplative world.
The golden empire of Nebuchadnezzar is followed by the Medo-Persian, represented by the breast and arms of silver. This is conquered by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great, emblematized by the abdomen and thighs of brass, and bears rule over the whole earth.
Then mighty Rome, symbolized by the great iron legs, conquers all nations, and rules the world a thousand years. The two legs of the image represent the two great hemispheres of the Roman world, centralized at Rome and Constantinople. The ten toes of the image represent the ten grand divisions into which the Roman Empire was disintegrated when destroyed by the Goths, Huns, and Vandals, A.D. 476. You see the progressive depreciation from the pure gold of the Chaldean Empire down to the iron and the clay of modern democracies. Multitudes of concurrent prophecies, corroborated by all the signs of the times, force on us the conclusion that we are living in the toe stage of human government. The trend of the whole world, at the present day, is into democracies, which are fully exposed to all the whimsical caprices of the popular will, swayed by bribery, and inflamed by demagogues. There is but one step out of democracy into anarchy, which is no government at all. We are on the daily outlook for the fatal plunge of all nations into the unutterable horrors of anarchy, when every government on the globe will totter and fall. This will doubtless peculiarize the horrors of the great tribulations.
Thus we see that human government has run its race, from the golden head down to the dirty feet of the chronological image. Daniel says “they have the strength of the iron;” i.e., the great standing armies which this day belt the globe, eat up the substance, and impoverish the nations. They also have the weakness of the clay; i.e., internal factions, led on by thieves, who call themselves patriots. They are vampires in disguise, sucking from the nation the last drop of blood, and reducing her to a loathsome political corpse, which the vultures of revolution are eager to devour. Dan 2:34-35:
“Thou sawest till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”
Dan 2:44 :
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
Theologians have resorted to a thousand tergiversations to evade the plain, simple, and unsophisticated meaning of this prophecy. They have generally identified the kingdom with the gospel Church. This construction flatly contradicts Scripture chronology, as the Church was set up during the Roman Empire, and this kingdom at the terminus of the toe stage of human government.
LITERALIZATION AND SPIRITUALIZATION
A misconstruction along these two lines comprehends the greater part of all those unfortunate theological manipulations which have perverted, neutralized, futilized, and misconstrued God’s word in all ages, filling the Bible with contradictions antagonizing the warring sects, beclouding the inspired page, and discouraging the popular mind in all Biblical study. When I was preaching in Jacksonville, Florida, I had in my audience a Swedenborgian, who spiritualized the whole Bible, and soul-sleepers, who literalized it all. You will always find the truth midway between two errors. In all Biblical interpretation, you must fix your eye on Jesus, and, guided by the Holy Ghost, sail between the Scylla of literalizing the spiritual and the Charybdis of spiritualizing the literal. In the latter case, you will find yourself tangled up in the gloomy speculations of Swedenborgianism; in the former, you plunge into the dismal fogs of materialistic infidelity. The Bible is a plain book. It means what it says, says what it means. This wonderful kingdom, which Daniel saw cut out without human hands, and smite the image on the feet, utterly demolishing it into chaff, is homogeneous with all the preceding kingdoms represented by the image; i.e., the golden, Chaldean Empire; Medo-Persian, silver; the Grecian, brass; the Roman, iron; and the ten great powers of the earth at this day, represented by the toes of iron mixed with clay. Remember the governments of the present day are not the pure, strong iron of mighty Rome, which conquered all nations and ruled them a thousand years; but they are all iron mixed up with clay. The clay is not only symbolic of utter weakness, but the iron interpenetrated with clay is very brittle and weak, ready to fall into a thousand pieces when violently smitten by an external force. This stone kingdom is not only to utterly demolish and exterminate all the kingdoms of the earth, but become a great mountain, covering the entire globe, and stand forever. A thousand prophecies pour floods of light on the tenable conclusion as to the character and destiny of this kingdom.
It is the glorious kingdom for which Christendom has been praying for in the Lord’s Prayer the last eighteen hundred years. Of course we enter the spiritual kingdom in regeneration; but the construction of this, in a merely spiritual sense, would be irreconcilably heterogeneous to all these earthly kingdoms. You see this kingdom is to destroy and supersede all earthly governments, fill the world, and stand forever. It is the restoration of the theocracy in the Edenic splendor and glory, never again to be superseded by an alien power, human or Satanic. The Dark Ages of diabolical misrule, sin, and misery will pass into an eternal eclipse, forever superseded by the glorious kingdom of our triumphant Savior.
Luk 21:24 :
TIMES OF THE GENTILES
“Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Rom 11:25 :
“Blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles may come in.”
Dan 8:14 :
“And He said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
All the lights of prophecy, corroborated by history, force on us the conclusion that we are living in the end of the Gentile times. They began with the fall of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Jews by the Gentiles, B.C. 587. To this add 1896, which equals 2483. The Gentile time, in lunar chronology, is 354 multiplied by 7, which equals 2478; calendar, 360 multiplied by 7, which equals 2520; and solar, 365 multiplied by 7, which equals 2555. Now, 2483 minus 2478 leaves 5. Hence you see, according to lunar, the Gentile times are 5 years over. 2520 minus 2483 leaves 37. Calendar time gives us 37 years yet to elapse. 2555 minus 2483 leaves 72. Solar chronology gives us 72 years of Gentile time yet to come.
From these calculations the conclusion follows, with all of the infallibility of God’s mathematics, that we are living in the time of the end of the Gentile Age. Dan 8:14 calculates from Persian rule. The temple was rebuilt by Cyrus, B.C. 444. Add to this 1896, which equals 2340. It was 49 years in building. 2340 minus 49 leaves 2291, which, subtracted from 2300 (Dan 8:14), leaves 9. Hence you see it will be only nine years till the temple is cleansed from idolatry.
Jerusalem was taken by the Mahometans, A.D. 637, when the daily worship (not sacrifices, which is not in the Hebrew) closed. It is to be restored after a time, times, and a half-time (Dan 12:7). By calendar time 360 plus 720 plus 180 equals 1260 prophetic years. 1896 minus 637 leaves 1259.
Hence you see 1897 is the auspicious era of this glorious and long-prayed- for downfall of the Turkish power.
Rom 11:26 :
FINAL DESTINY OF THE JEWS
“So all Israel shall be saved, as has been written: A Deliverer shall come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
The glorified Jesus, returning to reign, is this great Deliverer. The valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37) teaches that the Jews will be gathered into Palestine, mainly in an unconverted state. All the prophecies inspire us, and the signs of the times abundantly corroborate the universal anticipation of Moslem’s speedy fall in the Holy Land, which will be quickly followed by the return of the Jews. Then all Christendom will unite for their conversion. It is highly probable that the Savior, when He comes to steal away His bride, will so reveal Himself to His consanguinity as to expedite their conversion. Zechariah 8 teaches wonderful things relative to the destiny of the Jews in the latter days. Having returned to Palestine and been converted to Christ, they will suffer terrible ordeals. During the great tribulations, a combination of nations will invade Palestine, besiege and capture Jerusalem, commit appalling depredations, slay two-thirds of the Jews, and carry half of the survivors into captivity. The surviving third will only be rescued from slaughter and captivity by the sudden descension of the glorious King.
Zec 14:4 :
“His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east and towards the west, a great valley...And the Lord my God shall come and all His saints with Thee.
Zec 14:8 :
And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea...
Zec 14:9 :
And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.”
From these prophecies we see that the Jews, during the tribulations, after their return to Palestine and their conversion to Christianity, will suffer these terrible and appalling catastrophes, which will utterly expurgate from them the dross and debris of the Gentile world, in which they have so long sojourned. Through these fiery ordeals and castigatory judgments they will be thoroughly sanctified, robed, and ready to meet the King of Glory, and come to the front of the millennial administration. Then will be verified that wonderful truth (Rom 11:26):
“All Israel shall be saved.”
Thus we see the Gentile period having wound to a close, their power, political and ecclesiastical, throughout the whole world, will come to an end; they will be relegated to the rear.
Meanwhile, the Gentile kingdoms are everywhere toppling to their doom. The Jews will be gathering home, getting converted, suffering bloody persecutions and deportations, eliminating the unsanctifiable elements, leaving the true and the tried, who, with the victories of persecutionary fires flashing from their eyes, will meet their descending King with shouts of welcome, and come to the front of the world again, as in the days of the patriarchs and prophets. This faithful, sanctified remnant will lead the way in the evangelization of the millennial world. “Then shall a nation be born in a day.”
THE WONDERFUL DESTINY OF JERUSALEM
There is a tradition that Adam and Eve were created on the spot where Jerusalem now stands. When I was in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, my guide showed me what was claimed to be Adam’s skull. Perhaps it is incredible; but I certainly saw a number of mummies in Cairo, Egypt, doubtless four thousand years old, and looking like they would last forever. If the flesh of an Egyptian mummy has lasted four thousand years, why not the solid bone of Adam’s skull five thousand? Hence Jerusalem, with her sacred and imperishable memories, is the place of all places on which the Son looks down; therefore, it is the representative of the world from creation through the sweep of ages, the coming kingdom, and eternal cycles. We are living in Satan’s period, denominated by the apostles “the night,” which is to be followed by the millennial day, whose glorious dawn now electrifies expectant saints.
The terrible degradation, desolation, and impoverishment to which the Holy Land is subjected during the long misrule of the Turkish pashas, vividly emblematizes the reign of sin, and the triumphs of Satan on the earth. Water is the element of physical life, and throughout the Bible symbolizes spiritual life. Jerusalem, five thousand feet above the Mediterranean Sea, is too high for wells and fountains. She is above the water-line, and dependent on the winter rains, which are diligently garnered in tanks and cisterns beneath their stone houses, and carefully preserved, to supply them through the long, dry, hot summer. The suffering for water at Jerusalem every year, especially among the poor, is distressing in the extreme. Hence we do not wonder that for all this burning thirst, which has wasted that land for ages, there will be a glorious remedy in the good time coming.
In the above prophecy, Zechariah positively certifies that when our Savior returns from the skies, His feet shall stand on Mt. Olivet. Though Jerusalem stands on four mountains — Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, and Acra — Olivet is two hundred feet higher than the mountains on which Jerusalem is built. How convenient is great Mt. Olivet for our Savior to split open from east to west, and fill the valley with sparkling waters, flowing westward to the Mediterranean and eastward to the Dead Sea, thus forever relieving the thirst of coming generations, both man and beast! So you see Jerusalem will not be dry and thirsty, as she has been during the weary centuries of sin and desolation but the city will have an inexhaustible supply of pure water, gushing copiously from the mighty strata of Mt. Olivet. This water-supply will be a sunburst of prosperity on Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Meanwhile, it gloriously symbolizes the water of life, which shall inundate the nations from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, when Satan and his myrmidons shall have been forever cast out, and the Prince of Glory enthroned, to reign forever and ever.
Jerusalem stands on the great Palestinian mountain table-lands, five thousand feet above the sea. The prophet says she is “beautiful for situation,” and in the good time coming will be the “joy of the whole earth.” Palestine has the finest climate and soil on the globe, producing exuberantly the wheat of the north and the fruits of the south. These great highlands consist of calcareous and bituminous strata, the finest building material and the richest soil on the globe. You have nothing to do but take all the materials- i.e., stone and cement of the earth, and build the most comfortable and durable house right on the spot, leaving your soil richer than when you began. Methinks, in the oncoming millennial years, Jerusalem will be built all over that great interior highland, become the greatest and most populous city on the globe, the capital and metropolis of all nations, and, truly, “the joy of the whole earth.”
The Jews are God’s earthly people — the original custodians of the theocracy. Though that theocracy went into eclipse at the fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 587, and has remained unseen to this day, it is destined to rise in the good time coming, and throw its benignant administration of peace, righteousness, and love over the nations lacerated for ages by the tread of sin. Glory to God, it will come out of its long eclipse bright with the glory of an unfallen Eden; and, best of all, it will come to stay — aye, too, forever! God, in a most wonderful way, is this day preparing the Jews for the metropolitanship of the millennial world. They are the miracle of Providence which has puzzled all nations the last four thousand years. Driven from their country by usurpers and robbers, their weary feet have found no rest beneath the skies. Robbed, scathed, peeled, and persecuted by every nation under heaven, they are ever like the bush that burned and was not consumed. In every age they have ever proved the most thrifty people on the globe. They went down into Egypt seventy- five souls, and in two hundred years swelled to three millions, so the kingdom of the Pharaohs trembled for its safety. Only fifty thousand followed Nehemiah in the memorable exodus out of Babylonian captivity; yet they had multiplied into millions in the days of Christ. Mat 24:34:
“Truly I say unto you, this race may not pass away, until all these things may come to pass.”
Our Savior made this notable statement in that wonderful sermon on the judgments, which He preached on Mt. Olivet, the day before He suffered. The English reading, “generation,” is a misleading translation of genea, which simply means race. While all the races who fought the Jews in the olden times have passed away, the children of Abraham, with no country of their own to perpetuate their nationality, have survived a thousand bloody revolutions, and perpetuated their identity, the wonder of all nations, despite the whole world combined for their persecution, degradation, and extermination. They have not only survived, but outstripped all nations in the competition for wealth and learning. They, this day, stand at the head of the world’s finances, learning, and jurisprudence. Hence you see, when they get gloriously saved, and their triumphant King shall honor them again with the custodianship of the theocracy, and the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no more, how convenient to refer all national controversies to the Jews, who are this day thoroughly posted in the languages, institutions, finances, and laws of all nations. Jerusalem is located at the center of the world, the most convenient spot in all the earth to the nations of Asia, Africa, Europe, and both Americas. While it is in Asia, the largest and most important of all the grand divisions; it is within a few hours of Africa and Europe, while North and South America are reached in a few days. It is wonderful how God made the beautiful cerulean Mediterranean Sea, two thousand miles long, giving all America a straight shoot to the Holy Land. The wonderful prophecies about Jerusalem, beautiful for situation, “joy of the whole earth,” are to be fulfilled in the millennial reign. Oh, how wonderfully the hand of God is upon the Jews in all nations, preparing them for the metropoiltanship of the world
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain The Two Witnesses. The Seventh Trumpet
The Two Witnesses. The Seventh Trumpet
1-14. Second episode. There is much difference of opinion as to the meaning of this vision. Perhaps the key may be found in the parallelism of the book. There were two episodical visions after the sixth seal (see on Revelation 7), the first signifying that Christ's people were separated and preserved from God's judgments, the second that they were preserved not from but through death. The same meaning may be found here.
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1, 2. The sanctuary and altar of Jerusalem, with the worshippers, are to be measured, i.e. with a view to preservation: cp. 2Sa_8:2; Eze_40:3. (Rev_11:1). But the court of the Gentiles has been given over, with the rest of the city, to the nations (Rev_11:2). This is plainly a reference to, or prophecy of, the siege and capture of Jerusalem, 70 a.d., as foretold by Christ: cp. Luk_21:24. But it is to be interpreted symbolically. The temple, altar, and worshippers signify the Christian Church and its worship (cp. 1Co_3:16), which have arisen in the midst of Judaism, and which are to be preserved, although Judaism is doomed. The time named, 42 months, i.e. 3½ years (Rev_11:2), the half of seven the holy number, is not to be understood literally. It was the duration of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, and signifies a period, of whatever extent, in which evil had power: cp. Rev_11:3, Rev_12:6; Rev_13:5; Dan_7:25; Dan_12:7.
3-14. But the people of Christ, although to be preserved, will be preserved through death. They are represented now under the figure of two 'witnesses' (cp. Act_1:8), prophesying during the period of evil (Rev_11:3). They are compared to the olive trees and candlesticks (Zerubbabel and Joshua) of Zechariah 4, because they give forth the light of the truth of Christ and are fed with the oil of divine grace (Rev_11:4). They are also compared, in language which is meant to assure them of God's special favour and protection, to Elijah and Moses (Rev_11:5.). Yet God's favour will be shown in preserving them not from but through death. The 'beast,' i.e. the Roman power (cp. Rev_13:1 note, Rev_17:8) will persecute them to the death (Rev_11:7). There is, perhaps, an allusion to the death of two godly men in Jerusalem, of whom James, the Lord's brother, may have been one. As their dead bodies were treated with dishonour by the Jews, so, too, will the heathen dishonour the martyred Christians. But in all this they are identified with Christ (Rev_11:8.), and will share His life with God (Rev_11:11.). In the judgment which falls upon the wicked world, of which Jerusalem, now that the Christian Church has been separated from her (Rev_11:1.), has become a figure ('Sodom,' 'Egypt,' 'great city,' Rev_11:8 see on Rev_14:8), many are converted: cp. Act_2:23, Act_2:37. (Rev_11:13.).
1. The angel stood, saying] RV 'one said.'
2. Out] RV 'without.'
3. RV 'And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy'—a Hebraism for 'cause them to prophesy.'
5f. Cp. Exo_7:19; 1Ki_17:1; 2Ki_1:10; Luk_4:25.
5. Will.. will] RV 'desireth to.. shall desire to.'
7. Bottomless pit] RV 'abyss': see on Rev_9:2. Cp. Dan_7:3, Dan_7:7-21.
8. Our] RV 'their.'
9. RV 'And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies.. and suffer not,' etc.
10. They.. earth] i.e. the ungodly.
11. The Spirit] RV 'the breath': cp. Eze_37:5, Eze_37:10.
12. A great voice] i.e. God's: cp. 2Ki_2:11.
13. Earthquake] see on Rev_6:12.
15-19. The seventh trumpet sounds. This will bring about the consummation (cp. Rev_10:7), and therefore the rest of the book is developed out of it. Instead of a silence in heaven, such as that which followed the opening of the seventh seal, St. John hears a heavenly chorus anticipating and celebrating the victory of the Kingdom which the seventh trumpet is to bring, and which is related in Revelation 12-20 (Rev_11:15-18). Now is opened the temple of God in heaven, and in it is seen the ark of the covenant of mercy, and from it proceed lightnings and thunderings of judgment (cp. Rev_8:5; Rev_16:18, 'seals' and 'bowls') (Rev_11:15). Of this mercy and judgment the following chapters narrate the exercise.
15. Kingdoms of this world] RV 'kingdom of the world': cp. Psa_2:2.
16. Seats] RV 'thrones.'
17. And wast, and art to come] RV 'and which wast.' To thee] RV omits.
Hast reigned] RV 'didst reign.'
18. Angry] RV 'wroth.' Is come] RV 'came.'
19. Testament] RV 'covenant.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Rev 11:1-2.
CHAPTER 11:1-18
Rev 11:1-2.
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We see at once how Jewish things come now into view. To apply these verses to the Church and make the temple the Church is absolutely wrong. The temple and the altar are Jewish; the holy city is Jerusalem. After the Church has left the earth the Jewish people will be fully restored to their own land, and their land restored to them. They will possess Jerusalem once more. When the Jews are once more masters in their own promised land they will erect another temple and then restore the Levitical worship as far as it is possible. Such a temple must be in Jerusalem. (See Isa 66:1-4.) In that temple the personal Antichrist, the beast out of the land of whom we shall read in chapter 13, will appear and claim divine worship. (See 2Th 2:3-4.) Apostate Israel in corrupt alliance with equally apostate Gentiles is seen in the opening verses of this eleventh chapter, as the court without the temple. But in the midst of this corrupt mass, which will follow the delusion of the Antichrist and accept Satan’s man as their Messiah, there will be the God-fearing remnant. This remnant is here divinely recognized as worshippers. Therefore that coming is called “the temple of God,” because the Lord owns the true worshippers found in the midst of the unbelieving mass.
Rev 11:3-12.
Much has been written on these two witnesses who will appear in Jerusalem. It is clear they are still future and their work will be in that city. Some make them Enoch and Elijah and others think they will be Moses and Elijah returned in person. Some have claimed to be a reincarnation of Elijah. Such claims are fanatical. No second coming of Moses is anywhere promised in the Word. Something, however, is said about the work of Elijah in the future (Mal 4:5-6). But the words of our Lord in Mat 11:14, speaking of John the Baptist, and Mat 17:12, seem to make clear that no literal coming of the same Elijah, who went into glory, without dying, is meant. Yet the deeds of these two witnesses clearly link them with the work of Moses and Elijah. They each do both the things Moses and Elijah did separately. We take it then that these two witnesses represent the great testimony to be given in Jerusalem during the 1,260 days of the great tribulation. Perhaps the leaders will be two great instruments, manifesting the spirit of Moses and Elijah, endowed with supernatural power, but a large number of witnesses is unquestionably in view here. They maintain in the midst of the Satanic scenes a powerful testimony for God.
The period of the great tribulation was mentioned in Rev 9:2. Here for the first time the beast is mentioned. This beast coming out of the pit of the abyss, the deep, is the revived Roman empire under the little horn, seen by Daniel on the four-horned beast (Dan 7:8). While he dominates over the Gentiles, he will turn in fury against these Jewish saints, and the two witnesses will be slain. He makes war with the godly remnant (Dan 7:21). A part of that remnant will be killed. The vileness of these coming days of Satan’s rule on earth is seen in the treatment of the bodies of Jehovah’s servants. The wicked are so elated over the silencing of the testimony that they refuse to permit their burial so that they may feast their eyes upon the sickening spectacle. They rejoice and make it a festive occasion, because torment had come to their consciences through the testimony of the slain.
Gentiles, who side with apostate Israel are mentioned, but especially a class which is called “they that dwell on the earth” rejoices over the end of the witnesses. The same class is mentioned several times. Study the passages where they are mentioned: Rev 3:10; Rev 6:9-10; Rev 8:13; Rev 11:9-10; Rev 12:12; Rev 14:6-7; Rev 17:8. They are the apostate, nominal Christians who are utterly blinded and hardened. Php 3:18-19 gives their character and destiny. They claim possession of the earth as belonging to them, but God is not only the God of heaven, He is also “the God of the earth” (Rev 11:4). God’s power is manifested in the physical resurrection and the visible translation of the two witnesses. Their enemies see a great miracle. The apostates who ridicule even now a physical resurrection, who sneer at the blessed hope of a coming translation of the saints, will witness these two great facts. No wonder that a great fear fell upon them. The raised witnesses belong to the first resurrection (Rev 20:4).
Rev 11:13-18.
The terror becomes still greater when the whole city is shaken by a mighty earthquake. This is not a symbolical earthquake but a convulsion of nature by which the fourth part of the city falls and 7,000 men are killed. It marks the end of the second woe. Then those who escaped the visitation gave glory unto the God of heaven. It is only inspired by fear. They do not turn in repentance unto God. Here ends the parenthetical vision.
The seventh trumpet brings us to the very end of the tribulation and to the beginning of the millennial reign. It is Jerusalem’s deliverance. He who alone is worthy receives the kingdom. How clear this ought to make the fact that our Lord has no earthly kingdom now, but He receives the promised kingdom on the earth at the end of these things. See Dan 7:14. Heaven worships too; they celebrate the fact that He has taken His great power. It is a review of all that takes place and what follows when He appears out of heaven. The nations were full of wrath (Psa 2:1-12; Psa 46:6); His wrath is come; resurrection will follow; this points to the time after the kingdom (Rev 20:12). And His servants, the prophets and the saints, receive their rewards, to reign with Him.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Of the Two Witnesses and the Sounding of the…
Of the Two Witnesses and the Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet.
Measuring the temple of God:
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v. 1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
v. 2. But the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
v. 3. And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
v. 4. These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
This is an interlude which is full of comfort for all Christians, and prepares them for the coming of the last woe. Only the first thought is one that still belongs to the preceding vision in its contents: And there was given to me a reed like a rod, with the words, Up, and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those that worship there; and the outer court of the temple exclude and do not measure it, because it has been given over to the Gentiles, and they will trample upon the Holy City forty-two months. The Temple of Jerusalem, of which the temple here described is a picture, or type, had a number of sections, the Court of the Gentiles, the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests. The outer court, in this case, is described as being given over to the heathen, to the enemies of the Lord. The inner Temple, the Temple proper, then, is the true Church, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; while the outer Temple seems to represent the so-called visible Church, which has often been torn apart and trampled upon by heretics and antichrists. Forty-two months, three and one-half years, or 1,260 days: that is the symbolical length of the period in which the last woe would exert its power upon men. It is a long time, and yet it is limited by the power of the Lord. None of the powers of evil are permitted to go beyond the time permitted them by the Lord; His Christians may not be tempted beyond that they are able.
To this fact there is added another assurance: And I shall grant to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed with sackcloth; these are the two olive-trees and the two lamp stands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. In the midst of the general apostasy the Lord still has His witnesses, faithful preachers and teachers, who during the reign of Anti-Christ would lift up their voices and testify of the Savior and of the true Gospel. Their garments, indeed, would be made of black hair-cloth, the appropriate dress of humiliation, for there would be reason enough for repentance, also in the midst of the Church. The reference seems to be to men who, like Moses and Elijah, would lift up their voice in warning to stem the tide of anti-Christian doctrine and practice which threatened to engulf the Church. Two olive-trees or two lamp-stands these two faithful witnesses were, providing the oil for the light of God’s grace and Spirit in the Church. Through their witness and through their suffering the servants of the Lord become lights in the world and of the world.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
John begins to describe a vision about receiving a measuring rod and two witnesses that God appointed. This vision also takes place between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpets.
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A reed was given to me
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Someone gave me a reed" (See: Active or Passive)
given to me ... I was told
The words "me" and "I" refer to John.
those who worship in it
"count those who worship in the temple"
trample
to treat something as worthless by walking on it
forty-two months
"42 months" (See: Numbers)
translationWords
reed
rod
temple
God
altar
worship
court
Gentile
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:1-13 This section pictures the willful rejection of God’s…
11:1-13 This section pictures the willful rejection of God’s continuing call for repentance. The many attempts to silence his witnesses ultimately fail, and God triumphs. • Many attempts have been made to identify the two witnesses of this chapter. Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration (Matt 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30), are likely candidates (see Rev 11:6); they represent the law and the prophets. Others have suggested Enoch and Elijah because they did not die (see Gen 5:21-24; 2 Kgs 2:11-12). Other possibilities include Peter and Paul, or James and John. More important than their identities is their role of confirming God’s message by the testimony of “two or three witnesses” (see Deut 17:6). God provides a twofold witness to the world about the impending judgment, making it clear that his word is certain to be fulfilled (Deut 19:15; Matt 18:15-16).
11:1 The instructions to measure the Temple are reminiscent of Ezekiel’s visions (see Ezek 40–42; 43:13-17). The Jerusalem Temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70; these details symbolize God’s precise knowledge of and care for his people who belong to him (cp. Rev 7:2-4; Zech 2:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.