“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair.”1 This, of course, is how Charles Dickens begins his novel, A Tale of Two Cities. With this opening, he highlights the extreme realities that existed in England and France and apparent contradicting realities that can be found in one and the same setting.
As I’ve studied Revelation 11 this week it seems to me that Dickens’ opening lines could apply almost perfectly to this text. First of all, Revelation 11 does speak of two cities. In verse 2 we read about the “holy city,” while in verse 8 we read about the “great city.” The first I think is reference to the church, those who have trusted Christ as Lord, and the second is reference to all who oppose the Lord. But the parallels don’t stop there.
Not only are there two cities mentioned in this chapter, it is also full of contrasting realities. Just as in England and France you could find some living in extreme poverty and suffering while others lived in riches and ease in Dickens’ novel, so this chapter lays out for us some realities that will characterize this age (i.e., the time between the two comings of Christ) that seem to show great extremes and contrast. The overall theme of this chapter seems to be the contrast that will be found in this age (and at the end of this age) in the experiences of both believers and unbelievers.
The problem when we read this chapter, however, is that its message is clothed and presented in a way that is confusing to us. For example, I think that the chapter speaks about different elements that will face the church during this age. However, not one time do you read the word “church” in this chapter. Even the word “saints” doesn’t appear in the first thirteen verses. Rather, we read about a temple, the court outside the temple, the holy city, two witnesses, two olive trees, and two lampstands. And I think each of these is simply a different metaphor for the church, which I’ll try to show in more detail as we proceed.
Therefore, as we go through this chapter, I think we’ll see a few realities concerning the church and the unbelieving world in this age that seem perhaps contradictory but are not. Specifically, let me note for us three realities concerning the church and one reality concerning the world that I think are shown to us in this chapter.
After being re-commissioned in chapter 10, John starts chapter 11 by being told to do something. He’s given a measuring rod and told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months” (11:1b-2).
Now, before giving my explanation of what this scene means, let me first say that no one I know of takes every element in this chapter literally. You can see why when you get to verse 5 and fire is pouring forth from two witnesses’ mouths so that their enemies are consumed. And it makes sense not to take the images literally because the book of Revelation (like other apocalyptic literature) is heavily symbolic.
So, when John is told to measure a temple in his vision, I don’t think we’re to think of a literal temple so that we think the book of Revelation predicts the temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem some day as an honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, if you read the book of Hebrews you’ll see that rebuilding the temple would be dishonoring to Jesus Christ since he fulfills what the temple pointed to, the presence of God among his people. Rather, I think that the temple and its outer court here is being used as a metaphor for the church.
There are a couple of reasons I think this. First, the people of God are elsewhere in the Bible referred to as a temple. So, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, for example, we’re called a temple of the Holy Spirit, and in Ephesians 2:19-22, we’re told that the people of God are being built into a holy temple, into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Second, even in the book of Revelation, I think the temple symbolizes the people of God dwelling with their Lord. You’ll remember from the very first week of our study that we specifically saw that the number 12 and multiples of 12 were used in the book of Revelation to represent the people of God. Therefore, it’s not by mistake that there were 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles, 144,000 as the number of the redeemed in Revelation 7, etc. This is why there were 24 elders around the throne as well, since they represent the worship of the people of God. Well, similarly, when we get to the end of the book, we’re going to see a whole new creation that is pictured as one big holy of holies from the inside of the temple. And listen to some of its measurements. The city is 12,000 stadia. The wall is 144 cubits. The wall was built with 12 stones, had 12 gates, made of 12 pearls, etc. You see, clearly these numbers echo that the people of God are with their Lord.
Therefore, when John sees a temple and a holy city (which are one and the same in the end of the book of Revelation), I think we’re to understand that this is a metaphor for the church.
So, what then is the message we’re to get by the fact that part of the temple is measured while the outer court is left unmeasured to be trampled for 42 months? Well, let me first identify one more element, and then I’ll try to answer this question. This time frame of 42 months comes up again and again in the book of Revelation. It’s mentioned as 42 months on occasion, 1,260 days, three and a half years, and sometimes as times, time, and half a time (which is 1 year, plus 2 years, plus half a year = 3.5 years). They’re all the same time period mentioned different ways. What’s significant about the time period then?
Well, it comes from the book of Daniel where in chapters 7, 8, and 12 we have reference to a time where evil is allowed to triumph and suffering will occur among the Lord’s people, but it is a restricted time. I think it’s functioning similarly in the book of Revelation. When we see this reference to three and a half years (in whatever form it comes), I think it’s referring to a limited time when evil is allowed to triumph in a partial manner and the people of God will suffer.
So, with that, I think we have enough pieces in place to then gather the point of the first scene in this chapter. I think the part of the city that is measured off is marking the people off for protection. Even as in chapter 7 (between the 6th and the 7th seal), the Lord marked off his people to send the message that they will be spiritually protected by him, not abandoned to make shipwreck of their faith, I think here (between the 6th and 7th trumpet), the Lord is sending the same message. His people are marked off for protection. No matter what we go through, God will not abandon us but will preserve us in our faith.
Yet, there is another message as well in that part of the city is not marked off but left to be trampled by the nations. I think that message is that the church also will suffer persecution in this age. For a limited amount of time (ended at the return of Christ), we will face the triumph of evil on occasion as we are persecuted and even martyred.
And I don’t think the message is that part of the church will be protected and part will be persecuted. I think rather this symbolism is simply using part of the church in each example to represent different facets or elements that the entire church will experience in this age. That is, all of us who love the Lord Jesus Christ will face persecution in the midst of a world that denies and hates our Lord Jesus Christ, yet all of us will be protected by our Lord spiritually. Nothing will be able to pry us out of his hand. We may be slaughtered in death, but nothing will separate us from the love of God that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore, be encouraged. As you live the Christian life, you will be persecuted. Some will mock you, belittle you, gossip about you, perhaps wonder why you dedicate your life to a God whom we’ve never set our eyes on. But as this is going on, it doesn’t mean the Lord has lost control of the world. Rather, he is in complete control. He told us this would come. But he also wants you to know that in the midst of your persecution, he’s got you. He’s marked you out, measured out around you, and said, “This one is mine. I’m not letting him go.” So, let us be comforted as we realize that we’re going to be a persecuted but protected people in this world. But there’s more. We also see:
If you haven’t seen it already, you’re probably beginning to see why I think that Dickens’ opening lines fit this chapter so well. Starting in verse 3, we’re told of two witnesses. I think these two witnesses simply represent another facet of the church. Just as we’ve seen that the church will be persecuted by the world and protected by God, so we are also to see that the church will be a people who take the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. We will be a witnessing people.
I think that’s what’s represented by the two witnesses. Let me give you a couple of reasons why I think this is the case. First, we’re told in verse 4: “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” Now, this imagery comes from the book of Zechariah. In Zechariah there was only one lampstand and two olive trees, so John has changed the number of bit, but I think the idea he’s picking up is very similar. In Zechariah, the Lord used this imagery to show that the Lord would supply his workers the ability to carry out the task that he had given to them. You might say that just as the lampstand required oil and so the Lord gave two olive trees that could continuously supply oil to these lamps, so the Lord was telling the people, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). So, here, I think by telling us that the two witnesses are the two lampstands and two olive trees, he is sending the message that the witnesses church will be equipped by his Spirit to fulfill its task.
Second, the imagery of the lampstand has already been used to refer to the church, if you’ll remember back to Revelation 2-3. Therefore, the two lampstands, I think, are simply showing another facet, aspect, or element of the church. Yes, we’ll be a persecuted people and a protected people, but we’ll also be a people who faithfully bear witness to the gospel.
Let me give you one other reason why I think this is the message. Much of what we have seen in Revelation 6-11 is spoken of by Jesus in Mark 13. Just as we’re told there’ll be war, nation rising against nation, pestilence, famine, persecution, and ultimately salvation for the people of God, so we see that in Mark 13. Specifically, listen to Mark 13:8-13 – “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Now notice that right in the middle of being told we’ll live in a time of great suffering and persecution that will culminate in our salvation that we’re told, “The gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.” You see, in the midst of this time when it seems that Satan, sin, and death are reigning and conquering all around us, the gospel is going to go forth to the ends of the earth.
In fact, I think the message is that nothing and no one will be able to stop this. These two witnesses are pictured as being immortal while they carry out their task. We read in Revelation 11:5-6, “And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
To those who know the Old Testament, you’ll recognize these are images in the ministries of Moses and Elijah. When Elijah was sent to prophesy, nothing was allowed to stop him. On one asked the Lord to send fire from heaven to destroy his enemies, and the Lord did (2 Kings 1:10-17). On another occasion, he asked the Lord to give no rain, and the Lord answered and gave no rain for three years (1 Kings 17:1). Similarly, when Moses went to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from slavery, the Lord turned the Nile River into blood and allowed various plagues to strike the land and the people. The idea, of course, was that nothing was going to stand in the way of the Lord accomplishing his work through his people.
I think that is the idea here. The Lord is saying to a persecuted people, a persecuted church, “Nothing can stop you from fulfilling the task that I’ve given you. Keep pressing on.” The well-known missionary, David Livingstone, was quoted as saying, “Men are immortal until their work is done.” I think that’s what Revelation 11 is saying to us. And we’ve seen it throughout the history of the world. The church has often faced intense persecution and even martyrdom as the world tried to stop the world’s witness, but something crazy happened. It seemed that the more the world persecuted the church the more passionate the people of God have become about spreading the gospel. In fact, this is so apparent that the early church father, Tertullian, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, as if when our blood is spilled, the church sprouts up there. This is God’s plan.
Yes, we will be persecuted and even killed along the way. In verse 7, after these witnesses finished their testimony, the enemy was allowed to kill them. But, it was only “when they have finished their testimony.” You see, I think the message is, the enemy won’t be able to stop the church, even as we’re killed off along the way, until we fulfill the Lord’s task for us of taking the gospel to the world. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. We may be a people who are slaughtered, but we will successfully preach the gospel to the nations.
But that’s not the last of these contrasting realities. We also see:
In verses 7-10 we are told that as these witnesses (representing the witnessing church) are killed, the world will celebrate. All over the earth, they will be mocked. They will die and their dead bodies will be denied burial, made to lie in the streets. This will happen in the “great city” which is symbolically referred to as Sodom, Egypt, or Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified there. The idea is not some literal city but a city that represents the rebellious world that is against our Lord Jesus Christ. Symbolically, the world in its rebellious is like Sodom in their detestable practices, Egypt which enslaved and persecuted the Lord’s people, or Jerusalem when the Lord was crucified there. So, people from all over the world will look upon the martyred people of God and will celebrate, gazing at their dead bodies and rejoicing, even exchanging presents since they’ve shut up the church who tormented them through their witness.
This too has happened and will continue to happen throughout this age. The church has often been killed, mocked, and belittled. You can read stories of martyrs where it wasn’t enough that Christians were killed for their allegiance to Christ but were brutally and publicly murdered as crowds cheered. But notice the end of this message.
“But after three and a half days [that is, a restricted period of celebration by the Lord’s enemies will seem brief in light of the eternal victory of the Lord’s people] a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here!’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them” (vv. 11-12).
You see, every single believer who loses his life for the sake of the gospel and is even mocked by the Lord’s enemies will one day be raised from the dead to eternal life so that all will know this one was righteous. We may be belittled, mocked, and persecuted now, but it’s okay because we’ll be raised. Nero may murder Peter and Paul and celebrate his triumph over them over two thousand years ago, but one day he’ll stand and watch as their bodies are raised from the dead and they hear from the Creator of the world, their Lord, “Well done, my good and faithful servants,” while Nero is thrown into a lake of fire.
Following Christ will cost you your life. It may literally cost you your life if you suffer as a martyr for the gospel. But that’s okay. They may kill us, but Christ will raise and vindicate us. What Jim Elliott said is true: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
And finally, a world about the unbelieving world.
Starting in verse 13, we are told the Lord’s judgment fell on the earth, as it will in the end. We’re told that part of the people were killed and another part of the people gave glory to God as they were terrified. I think this works the same way the message about the church did in verses 1-2. That is, the idea isn’t that part of God’s enemies will be judged while another part will acknowledge Jesus is Lord and give glory to God. Rather, I’m thinking, just as we saw at the beginning of this chapter, we’re seeing two facets or elements that are true of all of the unbelieving world. That is, on that final day, every unbeliever will face God’s eternal wrath, and every unbeliever will be forced to acknowledge in their fear that the one whom they denied and persecuted is the Lord – Jesus Christ.
We are given a glorious picture of that day in verses 15-19. This is a picture when Christ returns, the earth is judged, every enemy is defeated, his people are rewarded, and Jesus is praised as the one who lived, died, and was raised for us. Let us just hear this glorious description:
“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before Godfell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.”
Therefore, this morning, the Lord Jesus Christ wants his church to know something during this age. He wants us to know that we’ll be persecuted by the world but protected by our Lord. Nothing can remove us from his hand. We may be slaughtered, but we’ll successfully preach the gospel to the nations, so keep going forth and proclaiming Christ’s perfect life, sin-bearing death, and justifying resurrection so that all who repent and believe might be saved. We’ll be mocked, belittled, and even killed, but one day we’ll be raised and vindicated. And the world that denies Christ as Lord will one day confess that very thing, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, our only response is to given our lives in full devotion to him. Therefore, as we come to the table this morning, let us sing together, “Jesus, I my cross have taken.” May that be our collective response to this word of Christ. Amen.