AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION
(Installment Thirteen)

THE LITTLE PARENTHESIS (10:1-11:13)

Part II: The Jewish Temple of the Tribulation,
the Holy City and the Two Witnesses (11:1-3)

Continuing our study of this minor parenthesis found in Revelation 10:1-11:14, we must now examine the prophetic utterances regarding the Jewish Temple which, in the last study, we learned will be rebuilt by the Jews in Jerusalem, and which will be standing during the Tribulation.

After Israel became settled in the Land of Promise and the kingdom had become well established under the leadership of King David, the Lord chose Jerusalem as the place where He would place His name (Ps 78:65-72; Ps. 87:1-3; Ps. 132:13-15). From these passages we see that the Lord has chosen Jerusalem as the city where He would place His name, and where His people could come and worship Him. Thus Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem; Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it; Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest at the time of the restoration from Babylonian captivity rebuilt it; Herod the Great tore it down piecemeal and rebuilt and enlarged it; Titus, the Roman general, finally destroyed it in A.D. 70. An attempt in the days of Julian, the apostate, a Roman Caesar, was made to rebuild it but failed.

That this Temple will be rebuilt by the Jews and will be standing in the Tribulation (at least in a part of it) is certain from several passages of Scripture. Isaiah the prophet in vision saw the Jews rebuilding it and re-inaugurating their ritualism and sacrifices.

"Thus saith Jehovah, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will ye build unto me? and what place shall be my rest? 2 For all these things hath my hand made, and so all these things came to be, saith Jehovah: but to this man will I Iook, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word. 3 He that killeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that breaketh a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as he that offereth swine's blood; he that burneth frankincense, as he that blesseth an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations: 4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear; but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not" (Isa. 66:1-4)

In this passage the prophet saw them, the Jews, feverishly rebuilding this Temple. At its completion he saw the re-organization of the Temple service. But he declared that those who come and sacrifice will be just as acceptable to God as the man who would offer swine's flesh upon the altar as a sacrifice God. The man who sacrifices an ox will be just the same as the man who slays another. None of them is acceptable in God's sight. Nevertheless, they will do this because they have chosen their own ways; God will choose their delusions.

The sacred writer, in Psalm 74:1-11, saw the Temple at Jerusalem being defaced and finally burned, together with all the vengeance of God throughout the land of Palestine. Some have interpreted this passage as referring to the destruction of the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar, but this is impossible; for there were no synagogues in the land at that time. Never did the synagogue arise until during the Babylonian captivity when Israel had no central sanctuary at which to worship. Then these private local meeting places were brought into existence. Since this passage contemplates the burning of the Temple and of the synagogues in the land the destruction of the Temple under Nebuchadnezzar could not be the event which was before the prophet's mind. Other interpreters have thought that the psalmist saw Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greco-Syrian ruler in Antioch who committed all sorts of depredations against the Jews in their land, and who defiled the Temple at Jerusalem. Antiochus, with his atrocities against the Jewish people, could not be the fulfillment of this prediction because he did not destroy the Temple, but only defiled it. Others see the destruction of the Temple by Titus the Roman general, in A.D. 70, as the fulfillment of this prediction. But this interpretation does not tally with the facts. Titus tried to preserve the Temple and gave special orders to his men to do nothing to violate its sanctity. Contrary to his orders it was burned in the last desperate attempt of the Jews to resist Roman aggression. Thus we may be certain that the psalmist was not talking about the Roman overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the occupation of the land. The last and correct interpretation of this passage is that the psalmist saw the Jewish temple, rebuilt by them, standing in the time of the Tribulation when the forces of the Antichrist and his lieutenants will deface that sacred structure and will destroy it, together with all the synagogues in the land. Thus Psalm 74:1-11 presupposed the standing of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in the time of the end.

Our Lord spoke with a consciousness of the fact that the Jews will rebuild their Temple, and that it will be standing in the middle of the Tribulation. This is seen in Matthew 24:15ff. By reading the context of these verses, one can see that Jesus, in this passage, was talking about the Tribulation, the period of seven years of Judgment with which the age closes. In the middle of it the "abomination of desolation" will be set up. This will precipitate a crisis that will be a time of trouble the like of which has never been before and never will be afterwards. Thus our Lord assumed the existence of the Temple in the end time.

The Apostle Paul, in II Thessalonians, chapter 2, spoke of the Antichrist and what he will do when he, in the middle of the Tribulation, defies God. He will go to Jerusalem and will sit in the Temple of God, opposing all that is called God, and that is worshiped as God, and setting himself forth as God (II Thess. 2:1-13).

The teaching of these passages is that the Temple will be standing in the end time. This is in perfect accord with the teaching of Revelation, chapter 11, which we are now considering.

John was given a reed and was instructed to measure the Temple of God, the altar, and them that worship thereat. But the court which was without the Temple, he was to leave unmeasured, for it was given to the nations (Rev. 11:1,2). The question that arises in this connection is, Why measure that Temple? We may begin an investigation on this point by looking to Ezekiel, chapters 40-48. In 40:3 there is a man with a line, measuring the Temple and Jerusalem, which were being shown to Ezekiel in vision. When a person studies this entire passage, he sees that the measuring in this vision was to make known to the prophet the exact dimensions of that glorious structure, the most glorious one that ever graces this earth, and that will be called, "the house of prayer" for all the nations. Thus the measuring was to impart information concerning it, with its glory. In Zechariah, chapter 2, is recorded a vision of Jerusalem as it will be in the Millennium. Zechariah in his vision saw a man with a measuring line who was going to measure that city. From the context we see that the measuring was to make known to Zechariah the dimensions and the glory of Jerusalem as it will be in the Millennial Age. There are always plans and specifications, together with blueprints, made after which a building is constructed. But in Revelation, chapter 11, we see that John was given a measuring reed, "like unto a rod," by which he could ascertain the dimensions of the house and facts concerning those that worship thereat. As we study this chapter, we see that Jerusalem will be destroyed during the Tribulation. Moreover, as we have already seen, the Temple that will be standing in the Tribulation will be destroyed. We conclude therefore that the measuring is to make known the fact that the Temple and all its service and worshipers are not coming up to the standard to which they should attain, if they are to be acceptable to God. Thus we see that the measuring is to reveal the deficiency and the failure of the worshipers. This will be done to justify God's destroying the same. This usage is in perfect accord with that which is found in II Kings 21:10-15. God had used the line and the plummet on Samaria because of the wickedness of the house of Ahab, and destroyed it. In this passage He threatens to use the same line and plummet of destruction on Jerusalem that He had already employed on Samaria. This passage gives absolute proof that the measuring here is to show the failures and the thing's lacking in connection with the Temple service, which failures make it necessary for God to destroy the Temple and to cause the wicked to cease.

In Revelation 11:2, we read the prediction that the Holy City shall be trodden under foot for forty-two months. But in verse 3 we see two witnesses who prophesy for 1,260 days in sackcloth. The question arises as to what time or periods, are here in view. We are to understand that these figures literally refer to forty-two months, and to 1,260 days.

We must take everything at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless there are facts in the context to indicate a departure from the literal meaning. Since there is no such negative evidence, we will accept the statements at their face value. Again, in Revelation 13:5 we read of forty-two months, the period in which the Antichrist holds high carnival. In Revelation 12:6 we see a period of 1,260 days during which the woman, who, as we shall see, is none other than Israel, flees into the wilderness. In verse 14 of the same chapter, we see that she is in a place prepared for her "a time, and times, and half a time." The forty-two months mentioned in 11:2, the 1,260 days appearing in 12:6, the time, times and half a time of 12:14, and the forty-two months of 13:5 all refer to the latter half of the Tribulation. Thus the 1,260 days equal forty-two months, or three and a half years. By simple division we see that the months of those years will be thirty days. Evidently the calendar will be changed between now and then. We know that it will be changed, for Daniel 7:25 shows that the Antichrist will change the calendar in the middle of that last week of years of Daniel's prophecy.

But the 1,260 days of the witnessing of God's two servants of Revelation 11:1-13 is the first half of the Tribulation. The reason for this conclusion is to be found in the fact that, after these witnesses have finished their course, they are killed in the middle of the Tribulation. Their period of service therefore is the first half of the Tribulation.

John tells us of the two witnesses whose ministry, as we have just seen, falls in the first half of the Tribulation. Who are these witnesses? Are we to take the language literally--at what it says? Or are we to read into it some symbolic significance? There is no justification for our interpreting this passage other than literally. These witnesses have every earmark of personality; therefore we believe that there will be two witnesses who will engage in a special ministry during the first half of the Tribulation. But who are they? Some excellent Bible students believe that they will be Moses and Elijah; others, Enoch and Elijah. The reason for believing that they may be Moses and Elijah returned to life is that they do the very thing that only Moses and Elijah did. Moses turned water into blood, and Elijah shut up the heavens so that it did not rain during his special ministry of three and a half years.

Scriptural support that one of these may be Elijah is to be found in the last two verses of the Old Testament: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal. 4:5,6). God in this passage promised that He would send Elijah the prophet to Israel before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, the great Tribulation, to turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the children to the parents. The Jews rightly believe that God will send Elijah the prophet before Messiah appears. When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17:1-13), the Apostles asked Him why the Pharisees believed that Elijah must first come. "Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things." When Jesus made that statement, they understood that He was talking of John the Baptist, calling him Elijah. John the Baptist was an Elijah. But he was not Elijah the prophet. The angel Gabriel expressed this idea to Zacharias, when he announced the birth of John, saying that John would go before the face of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. He would be an Elijah, but not Elijah the prophet. When John began his ministry, he was asked by a delegation from Jerusalem if he were Messiah. He immediately denied that he was the Messiah. Then he was asked if he were Elijah the prophet. To this question he also gave a most emphatic denial. Since Elijah is to return before the great and terrible day of the Lord, since John the Baptist was simply an Elijah and not the Elijah, and since these two witnesses engage in a ministry similar to that which Elijah performed, we may conclude that one of these witnesses mentioned by John is Elijah the prophet. Whether or not the other one is Moses or Enoch, no one can be positive. It is not necessary for us to understand that point in order to appreciate and evaluate the prophecy.

In Revelation 11:4 John tells us that these two witnesses are "the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth." This language is an echo of Zechariah, chapter 4. In vision Zechariah saw a candlestick standing between two olive trees. There were pipes from the trees to a bowl suspended over the candlestick. From the bowl to each of the seven lamps there were seven pipes, through which the oil, that came from the trees into the bowl, flowed into the lamps. The symbolism was so very clear that it was not necessary to explain it. The candlestick represented Israel, who held aloft the torch of God's revelation to the world during the Old Testament Dispensation. The olive oil, when used symbolically, is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. (But let us never say that it is used symbolically unless the facts of the context indicate that meaning.) The oil flowed constantly from the olive trees into the bowl and thence into the lamps. The interpreting angel said that the olive trees were "the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth" (Zech. 4:14). In Zechariah's day the two anointed ones there referred to were none other than Zerubbabel, the prince of the house of David, and governor of the restored community, and Joshua the high priest. Thus they were filled with the Spirit of God and He, the Spirit of God, flowed out through them to the community of Israel and caused it to be the lampstand, or torch bearer, of the truth to the heathen world around. The same symbolism is referred to in Revelation, chapter II. These two witnesses stand in relation to the rest of Israel that Zerubbabel and Joshua did in Zechariah's day.

While, according to Malachi's prophecy, Elijah comes and engages in a special ministry in Israel before the Tribulation begins, these two witnesses likewise engage in a special ministry during the first half of the Tribulation. The things that they do are expressed in the following words: "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" (11:6). This language is to be taken at its face value, for the Lord meant exactly what He said and said what He meant.

In verses 7-10 of this chapter we read of the beast, of whom we shall study in chapters 13 and 17, and who slays these two men. There will be great jubilation throughout the world over their death. They will send presents one to another in their rejoicing over the death of these two men. We are told that "from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations men look upon their dead bodies three days and, a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb" (vs. 9). These men are killed in Jerusalem, yet people from all nations will look upon their dead bodies. In all probability this refers to television.

At the end of the three and a half days, these men will be restored to life and will then ascend into heaven. Their enemies will see them as they leave the earth on their way to heaven and a cloud will receive them out of their sight.

At that time there will be a terrific earthquake that will destroy seven thousand persons in Jerusalem. People will be shaken with dread and fear by the disastrous earthquake and will give glory to God. As to whether their turning to God is genuine, the text does not say.