Revelation 11

Revelation 11 presents the final work of God’s people before the close of human probation. The measuring of the temple represents the judgment and examination of God’s professed people, while the forty-two months and 1,260 days point to the final three-and-a-half-year period of intense trouble in which the Word of God and His Spirit empower His people to proclaim the final warning, including the Three Angels’ Messages. After their testimony is finished, the beast appears to silence them, but God vindicates His witnesses and demonstrates that their testimony was true. The chapter then reaches its climax with the seventh trumpet, announcing the finishing of the mystery of God, the completion of Christ’s work in His people, the sealing of the 144,000, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. The opening of the heavenly temple and the appearance of the ark point to God’s covenant law—the Ten Commandments—as the expression of His character and the standard of judgment, showing that the final issue is ultimately about worship, allegiance, and whether Christ’s character has been fully reproduced in His people.

Revelation 11:1-2 (NKJV)
1 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

The measuring of the temple represents a work of judgment and examination. The temple represents God’s people, and those who worship within it are measured because the judgment concerns those who profess to belong to Christ. The purpose is not merely to determine who claims to be a Christian, but to reveal what Christ has actually accomplished in His people through the gospel. The outer court is left out because this judgment is focused on God’s professed people, while the world outside will be judged later. The forty-two months, or three and a half years, also has an important final application: it points to a literal period at the end when God’s people will face an intense small time of trouble and persecution. During this final period, God’s last warning will be proclaimed with great power, including the Three Angels’ Messages, calling the world to worship God, give Him glory, and prepare for the judgment. This period will lead toward the closing of human probation, when every person’s decision has been made. God’s people will then be fully tested, prepared, and sealed, and Christ’s work of bringing His character to full maturity in His people will be completed. Thus, the measuring of the temple points beyond merely examining a record in heaven—it points to the final demonstration of what the gospel can accomplish in human beings, culminating in the sealing of the 144,000 and the finishing of the mystery of God.

Revelation 11:3-6 (NKJV)
3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.
6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

These verses describe God’s two witnesses, who represent the Word of God and the Spirit of God working through His people. They are not literally Moses and Elijah, nor simply two individual prophets. Moses represents the authority of God’s Word and law, while Elijah represents the Spirit and power of God; Jesus confirms that the Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39), and that the Spirit of truth also testifies of Him (John 15:26). The witnesses are called the two olive trees and two lampstands, connecting them with Zechariah 4:2–6, where the olive trees supply the oil that enables the lampstand to give light. This shows that God’s final work on earth will be accomplished through His Word and His Spirit, working through His people. This also aligns with Malachi 4:4–5, where God tells His people to remember the law of Moses and promises to send Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, pointing to the final restoration of truth and the manifestation of God’s Spirit and power before the end. Their 1,260 days, or three and a half years, have had a historical application in prophecy, but they also point to a literal final period of three and a half years when God’s people will proclaim His final warning message under intense opposition. This corresponds to the final small time of trouble, when the Three Angels’ Messages will be proclaimed with power before human probation closes. The language of their miracles recalls Elijah, who shut heaven so that it did not rain (1 Kings 17:1), and Moses, who turned water into blood (Exodus 7:20), showing that the same Spirit and divine authority that worked through these servants of God will again be manifested in the final work. The fire proceeding from their mouths represents the power of God’s Word to expose and condemn evil (Jeremiah 5:14), while the judgments associated with drought, blood, and plagues show the authority of God’s testimony. Their being clothed in sackcloth represents mourning and the seriousness of the message they proclaim. Thus, during this final three-and-a-half-year period, God’s Word and Spirit will give His people power to deliver the last warning to the world. Their testimony will face fierce resistance, but it cannot be silenced until they have finished their testimony; then the final crisis comes, probation closes, and the work of God moves toward the sealing of His people and the completion of the mystery of God.

Revelation 11:7-12 (NKJV)
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their bodies to be put in graves.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

After the 1,260 days of testimony, when the two witnesses—the Word of God and the Spirit of God working through His people—have finished their appointed work, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit makes war against them, overcomes them, and kills them. This brings us to the close of human probation. The “bottomless pit” is not a literal place, but represents a spiritual condition in which God’s presence and restraining influence have been rejected, leaving humanity fully under the influence of evil. The beast therefore represents an anti-God power that rises to dominance and brings the public witness of God’s Word and Spirit to an end; God’s people are forced into hiding, and there is no longer an opportunity or need to preach the gospel because every person has already made their final decision. The witnesses are “killed” in the sense that their testimony is silenced and can no longer have a saving effect upon the world. Their bodies lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom, Egypt, and the place where Christ was crucified, describing the spiritual condition of the world at the end: Sodom represents open and brazen immorality, Egypt represents defiant rejection of God’s authority, and Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s crucifixion represents the rejection of the work of God’s Spirit and the calling of good evil. The world therefore reaches a condition in which God's final message is rejected and those who proclaim it are hated. The witnesses remain unburied for three and a half days, representing a short period after probation closes when the world rejoices because the people who troubled their consciences have apparently been defeated. They “tormented” the inhabitants of the earth not by physically harming them, but because the truth exposed their sins, condemned their rebellion, and called them to repentance. Like Ahab calling Elijah the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17), they hated the witnesses because the light exposed their darkness (John 3:19–20). The people therefore celebrate and exchange gifts, believing that they have finally silenced God's truth. But their victory is only temporary. After the three and a half days, the Spirit of life from God enters the witnesses, and they stand on their feet. This represents God's Word and Spirit coming alive again in the eyes of the world—not to offer another opportunity for salvation, because probation has already closed, but because the seven last plagues begin to demonstrate that the warnings given by God's people were true. As the plagues fall, the very things that God's witnesses had prophesied begin to happen before the eyes of those who rejected them, forcing the world to acknowledge that God's Word was true. Great fear therefore falls upon them because they can no longer deny the evidence, although this recognition comes too late to produce repentance. The voice from heaven then says, “Come up here,” and the witnesses ascend in a cloud while their enemies watch. This represents the public vindication and exaltation of God's final witnesses: the truth that had been rejected is now openly demonstrated to be true, and God's people are acknowledged by heaven as having faithfully completed their testimony. The sequence therefore shows the final conflict between truth and rebellion: the message is proclaimed, probation closes, the witnesses are silenced, the plagues begin, the truth is vindicated, and God's people are ultimately delivered. This prepares the way for the seventh trumpet, when the mystery of God is finished and the kingdoms of this world are declared to have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

Revelation 11:13-14 (NKJV)
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

These verses describe the dramatic result of the vindication of the two witnesses after their apparent defeat. The great earthquake represents a tremendous shaking and upheaval in the system that has opposed God’s truth. A tenth of the city falls, showing that the powers opposing God suffer a significant collapse, while the seven thousand who are killed represent those who are destroyed in this judgment. The remaining people are filled with fear and “give glory to the God of heaven,” recognizing that the testimony they rejected was true. This does not necessarily mean that they repent and receive salvation; rather, they are forced to acknowledge God’s power when they see the fulfillment of the witnesses’ testimony. The connection with the previous verses is important: the world had rejoiced when God’s witnesses appeared to be defeated, but their apparent victory is suddenly overturned, and the truth is publicly vindicated. This earthquake therefore marks a major turning point as God begins to expose and overthrow the system that has rejected His final message. “The second woe is past” brings the sixth trumpet to its conclusion, while “the third woe is coming quickly” points directly to the seventh trumpet and the final events leading to the close of earth’s history. The scene is therefore moving from the final testimony of God’s people, through their apparent defeat and vindication, toward the finishing of the mystery of God, the completion of Christ’s work in His people, and the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.

Revelation 11:15-19 (NKJV)
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, Who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

The sounding of the seventh trumpet brings us to the climax of the prophetic picture introduced in Revelation 10–11. The voices in heaven declare, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,” pointing to the time when Christ’s work is finished, His people have been sealed, and He is about to take full possession of the kingdom. The worship of the twenty-four elders shows heaven rejoicing because God’s purpose has reached its appointed climax. Verse 18 then describes the major events associated with this final period: the nations are angry, God’s wrath has come, the time has come to judge the dead, to reward His faithful servants, and ultimately to destroy those who destroy the earth. The chapter then opens the heavenly temple and reveals the ark of His covenant, directing our attention specifically to the Ten Commandments—the covenant law of God—as the expression of His character, the foundation of His government, and the standard of the final judgment. Yet the purpose is not merely outward obedience to a written code; through Christ, the principles of God’s law must be written in the heart and reproduced in the life. Christ perfectly revealed this character in His own life, and the final work of God is to reproduce that same character in His people. This is especially significant because the final conflict is fundamentally a conflict over worship, allegiance, and obedience to God. The seventh trumpet therefore marks the transition from the completion of Christ’s final work and the finishing of the mystery of God toward the final execution of judgment. At this point, Christ’s character has been fully revealed in His people, the 144,000 have been sealed, and God’s government and character have been vindicated before the universe.