REVELATIO 11 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

1

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and

was told, "Go and measure the temple of God

and the altar, and count the worshipers there.

BARES, “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 kalamosThis 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, Matthew 27:29-30; or a pen for writing, 3 John 1:13. Here it means merely a stick that could be used for measuring.

Like unto a rod - This word - ῥάβδος rabdos- means properly a “rod, wand, staff,” used either for scourging, 1 Corinthians 4:21; or for leaning upon in walking, Matthew 10:10; or for a scepter, Hebrews 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,Psalm 74:2; Jeremiah 10:16; Jeremiah 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 Zechariah 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 1 Corinthians 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 Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 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.

GILL, “INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 11

This chapter contains the order to measure the temple of God; an account of the two witnesses, their prophesying: and power, their slaying, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, with what followed upon it; and the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the effects of that. A measuring rod

is given to John, with an order to rise and measure the temple, altar, and worshippers, and to leave out the outer court, which was to be given to the Gentiles, who tread the holy city under foot forty and two months, Revelation 11:1, the same date with the 1260 days the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth, Revelation 11:3, who are compared to two olive trees and to two candlesticks, and are said to stand before God, Revelation 11:4, and who are further described by their power to destroy those that hurt them with fire that proceeds out of their mouths; to shut the heaven, that it rain not during their prophecy; to turn water into blood, and smite the earth with all manner of plagues at pleasure, Revelation 11:5; but when the time of their prophecy and testimony is expired, their enemies will have the advantage of them; the antichristian beast of Rome, described by the place of his ascent, the bottomless pit, will fight against them, overcome, and kill them; their dead bodies will be exposed publicly within the Roman jurisdiction, and not suffered to be interred; and their enemies will make a public and general rejoicing over them, Revelation 11:7; but after a short space of time they will revive, and stand upon their feet, to the surprise of all spectators; and being invited by a voice from heaven, will ascend thither, in the sight of their enemies; upon which will be an earthquake, in which the tenth part of the city of Rome will fall, and seven thousand men be slain; which will cause consternation in the rest, and put them upon giving glory to God, Revelation 11:11; and this will put an end to the second woe, and the third will quickly follow, Revelation 11:14, which is the sounding of the seventh trumpet; the effects of which are, voices heard in heaven, declaring that the kingdoms of the world are become Christ's, and that he shall reign for ever and ever,Revelation 11:15; upon which the four and twenty elders, that sat on their seats before God, congratulate him, worship, and give thanks unto him, at the Lord God Almighty and eternal; partly because of his visible power and kingdom he now takes to himself; and partly because the time of avenging his people that had suffered for him upon the nations, which makes them angry, was now come; as also because now would be given rewards to all his prophets, saints, and those that feared him, as well as antichrist and his followers would be destroyed, Revelation 11:16; and other effects of this trumpet are, the opening of the temple of God in heaven, a sight of the ark of the testament, lightnings, voices, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail, Revelation 11:9.

Verse 1

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod,.... A measuring reed, which with the Jews was six cubits long, Ezekiel 40:5; with the Greeks and Romans, ten feet long; the Ethiopic version here calls it a "golden reed", as in Revelation 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, Psalm 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, Revelation 10:1; though it may be not in the same place and situation, but rather at the gate of the temple, as in Ezekiel 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:

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 inRevelation 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, 1

Corinthians 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 Zechariah 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 inRevelation 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.

HERY, “This prophetical passage about measuring the temple is a plain reference to

what we find in Ezekiel’s vision, Ezek. 40:3 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 theirconversation be as becomes the gospel.

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.

JAMISO, “Revelation 11:1-19. MEASUREMENT OF THE TEMPLE. THE TWO WITNESSES' TESTIMONY: THEIR DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION: THE EARTHQUAKE: THE THIRD WOE: THE SEVENTH TRUMPET USHERS IN CHRIST'S KINGDOM. THANKSGIVING OF THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS.

This eleventh chapter is a compendious summary of, and introduction to, the

more detailed prophecies of the same events to come in the twelfth through

twentieth chapters. Hence we find anticipatoryallusions to the subsequent

prophecies; compare Revelation 11:7, "the beast that ascendeth out of the

bottomless pit" (not mentioned before), with the detailed accounts, Revelation

13:1,11, 17:8; alsoRevelation 11:8, "the great city," with Revelation

14:8, 17:1,5, 18:10.

1. and the angel stood--omitted in A, Vulgate, and Coptic. Supported by B

and Syriac. If it be omitted, the "reed" will, in construction, agree with "saying."

So WORDSWORTH takes it. The reed, the canon of Scripture, the measuring reed

of the Church, our rule of faith, speaks. So in Revelation 16:7the altar is

personified as speaking (compare Note, speaks in the canon of Scripture (the

word canonis derived from Hebrew, "kaneh," "a reed," the word here used; and

John it was who completed the canon). So VICTORINUS, AQUINAS, and

VITRINGA. "Like a rod," namely, straight: like a rod of iron(Revelation 2:27),

unbending, destroying all error, and that "cannot be broken." Revelation

2:27,Hebrews 1:8, Greek, "a rod of straightness," English Version, "a scepter of

righteousness"; this is added to guard against it being thought that the reed was

one "shaken by the wind" In the abrupt style of the Apocalypse, "saying" is

possibly indefinite, put for "one said." Still WORDSWORTH'S view agrees best

with Greek. So the ancient commentator, ANDREAS OF CÆSAREA, in the end of

the fifth century (compare Notes,

the temple--Greek, "naon" (as distinguished from the Greek, "hieron," or

temple in general), the Holy Place, "the sanctuary."

the altar--of incense; for it alone was in "the sanctuary." (Greek, "naos"). The

measurement of the Holy place seems to me to stand parallel to the sealing of

the elect of Israel under the sixth seal. God's elect are symbolized by the

sanctuary at Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 3:16,17, where the same Greekword,

"naos," occurs for "temple," as here). Literal Israel in Jerusalem, and with the

temple restored (Ezekiel 40:3,5, where also the temple is measured with the

measuring reed, the forty-first, forty-second, forty-third, and forty-fourth

chapters), shall stand at the head of the elect Church. The measuring implies at

once the exactness of the proportions of the temple to be restored, and the

definite completeness (not one being wanting) of the numbers of the Israelite

and of the Gentile elections. The literal temple at Jerusalem shall be the typical

forerunner of the heavenly Jerusalem, in which there shall be all temple,

and no portion exclusively set apart as temple. John's accurately drawing the

distinction in subsequent chapters between God's servants and those who bear

the mark of the beast, is the way whereby he fulfils the direction here given

him to measure the temple. The fact that the temple is distinguished from them

that worship therein, favors the view that the spiritual temple, the Jewish and

Christian Church, is not exclusively meant, but that the literal temple must also

be meant. It shall be rebuilt on the return of the Jews to their land. Antichrist

shall there put forward his blasphemous claims. The sealed elect of Israel, the

head of the elect Church, alone shall refuse his claims. These shall constitute the

true sanctuary which is here measured, that is, accurately marked and kept by

God, whereas the rest shall yield to his pretensions. WORDSWORTH objects that,

in the twenty-five passages of the Acts, wherein the Jewish temple is mentioned,

it is called hieron, not naos,and so in the apostolic Epistles; but this is simply

because no occasion for mentioning the literal Holy Place (Greek, "naos") occurs

in Acts and the Epistles; indeed, in Acts 7:48, though not directly, there does

occur the term, naos, indirectly referring to the Jerusalem temple Holy Place. In

addressing Gentile Christians, to whom the literal Jerusalem temple was not

familiar, it was to be expected the term, naos, should not be found in the literal,

but in the spiritual sense. In Revelation 11:19 naos is used in a local sense;

compare also Revelation 14:15,17, 15:5,8.

COFFMA, “The first section of this chapter (Revelation 11:1-13) concludes the sixth trumpet with its vision of the fortunes of the church right up to the end and through the final judgment itself. The seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:14-19) describes the eternal state but gives no details concerning events in it. Several references to the actual judgment itself are retrospective, referring to an event which is past already. This seventh trumpet resembles the seventh seal in its silence regarding actual events after the judgment.This chapter is a vision, and practically nothing in it is to be taken literally; the great realities discussed are presented under a number of symbols, some of which may not be crucial to the meaning, but are inert, like some of the details in the parables of Jesus. Morris called this chapter "extraordinarily difficult to interpret,"[1] and none could disagree with that. As Alford cautioned, "Much of this mysterious book is as yet unfathomed."[2]Despite this, however, we offer the following interpretation as a sincere understanding of what the text says. Here are some of the symbols and the meanings which we believe to be conveyed by them:

<MONO>

The reed like unto a rod = The Word of God

The measuring = The sealing of the saints

The temple, altar, etc. = The church of God

The forty and two months = This whole dispensation

The two witnesses = The Word of God and the Word-indwelt Church

The beast out of the abyss = Satan

The slaying of the witnesses = The world's rejection of their testimony

Resurrection of witnesses = Resurgence of truth

The unburied bodies = "Operations" of dead churches

The calling of the witnesses = The resurrection and final to heavenjudgmentSIZE>MONO>

Other symbols will be interpreted as they appear in the chapter. The comments of others will also be presented in connection with the meanings which we have ascribed to these symbols.

Regarding the various systems of interpretation, as applied to this chapter, a glance at some of these will show how diverse are the views of it that appear in current writings.

The literalists take if for just what it says; and, of course, all of us should try to do that. The trouble is that figurative language cannot be understood literally; and no one familiar with the Bible can deny that a great deal of it is written in figurative language, every known figure of speech being freely employed.

Dusterdieck and others think this chapter refers literally to the Jewish temple and the earthly Jerusalem; but, if so, the Apocalypse stands self-condemned as a prediction falsified (by the contradiction of events) within a year or so of its having been written.[3]

The futurists get rid of all such difficulties by referring the whole prophecy to the remote future, supposing that by then Jerusalem and the temple shall have been completely rebuild as of old, and then, at that far-off future time, the events of this chapter will literally occur. They identify the beast as Antichrist.

The historicists, among whom is the noted Albert Barnes, identify the witnesses as "persecuted sects of the Middle Ages, and the beast as the Papacy."[4] There is an element of truth in this, because the apostasy foretold in Revelation, and the persecutions that were to accompany it, did have a fulfillment in such events, but not the fulfillment.

The preterists think that practically everything in Revelation had its fulfillment in the first generation or so after it was written, and that nothing in it reaches any further than "the first two or three centuries after it was written."[5] Some of this group of interpreters find in the "two witnesses" who were slain the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, supposing that they will yet rise from the dead and preach, as in the vision!

The preterists are correct in seeing a genuine relevance in this prophecy for the first generation that received it; but they are totally wrong in restricting its relevance to the apostolic and sub-apostolic ages.

The futurists in their interpretation lose all relevance whatever in this prophecy to any age except that of a brief period before the final coming of Christ. Thus, these lose all relevance of Revelation for any age except the very last; and the preterists lose all relevance to any age except the very first. Both views are wrong, because God's word is relevant to all times, periods and conditions. The many prophecies in Revelation are being fulfilled continually. For example, the evil enemies of the New Testament have been "killing it" all of this writer's lifetime; and they are still "killing it! .... But the word of the Lord endureth for ever." The apostasy was not one final act of the Medieval Church; it is also Jim Jones' bizarre sect in Guyana in 1978, and a thousand other

things. None of this is intended to deny that some fulfillments are so much more extensive and prolonged that they indeed stand typically for all fulfillments.

There has never been a time when this prophecy was not relevant; nor will there ever be. No other understanding of it, it appears to us, could be harmonized with the significant beatitude of Revelation 1:3, "Blessed are they that read ... hear ... and keep the things that are written therein."

And there was given 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. (Revelation 11:1)

A reed like unto a rod ... Is this a literal cane some ten or fifteen feet long? How could the worshippers of God be measured by any such stick as this? What does it symbolize? Lenski can hardly be wrong in his comment that:

The reed must then symbolize the word or Gospel in its function of determining who is in the church and who is outside of its bounds.[6]

When one speaks of the Canon of the New Testament, he is speaking of this "reed like unto a rod." The very word "Canon means rule, or standard,"[7] in the sense of our ordinary word ruler as the name of a small measuring device. Once the meaning of this "rod" is seen, other meanings in the passage fall into place.

Measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship ... "Temple of God" in this passage is impossible to accept as a reference to the literal Jewish temple in Jerusalem, called by the Son of God himself a "den of thieves and robbers." That an angel of God should have been concerned with having John measure that desolation (Matthew 23:38) is inconceivable. "It scarcely seems possible to doubt that temple here is used figuratively for the faithful portion of the Church of Christ."[8] In fact, the word here rendered temple is actually sanctuary (ASV margin), "The Greek word [@nous] means the." holy house, where God dwells ... The use of [@nous] here for the thing to be measured makes a literal interpretation of temple impossible."[9] "For John, the temple is the Christian Church, the people of God."[10] "This sanctuary symbolizes the true church."[11]

If any distinction is to be made between the temple and the altar, which is doubtful, it would appear to be that the altar refers to the worship itself, the doctrine and practice of the faithful portion of the church; and the temple refers to the whole body of the church.

The measuring of the "worshippers" would naturally mean the evaluation of their lifestyle, character, and behaviour by the principles taught in the word of God. Thus the corporate body of the church, its doctrine, worship, and teaching, as well as the individual character and conduct of its members would all be included in the measuring. Significantly, there have been pronounced departures from the word of God in all of these categories by the historical church.

What is the purpose of the measuring? In the Old Testament, things were "measured" either for destruction or for preservation; but the identity of what is measured here suggests that "the measuring is a symbolical way of declaring its preservation, not from physical sufferings, but from spiritual danger."[12] Hendriksen likewise concurred in the judgment that the measuring here means "the setting apart from that which is profane."[13]

This measuring by the word of God has the same purpose and effect as the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7. The sealing there is done by the Holy Spirit; and the measuring here is by the word, those who are indwelt by the word (Colossians 3:16). The indwelling, whether by the Spirit, or by the word, being exactly the same either way. There is no difference. See my Commentary on Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, pp. 97-99. It is good to note that many scholars have seen this correspondence with the sealing. "This corresponds to the sealing in Revelation 7:1-8."[14] An important deduction from this is that:

The vision therefore declares that whatever corruptions invade the church, the kernel of the church will never be destroyed; but out of it there will arise those who will be true to the Master's commission.[15]

This promise of protection for God's church, indicated in this vision by the "measuring," was made by the Lord himself in Matthew 28:18-20.

[1] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentaries, Vol. 20, The Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), p. 144.

[2] Henry Alford as quoted by Albertus Pieters, Studies in the Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 137.

[3] A. Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), p. 288.

[4] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 565.

[5] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 38.

[6] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Revelation (Minneapolis. Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), p. 327.

[7] Vergilius Ferm, An Encyclopedia of Religion (New York: Philosophical Library, 1943), p. 116.

[8] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 288.

[9] Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas: P. D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305,1957), p. 69.

[10] William Barclay, The Revelation of John (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1976), p. 68.

[11] William Hendriksen, More than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), p. 153.

[12] Robert H. Mounce, Commentary on the New Testament Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 219.

[13] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 152.

[14] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 219.

[15] W. Boyd Carpenter, Ellicott's Bible Commentary, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 584.

PULPIT, “Rev_11:1 “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod. We are not told by whom the reed is given, but in Rev_21:1-27. the angel has the reed, and so also in Eze_40:1-49., upon which the incident seems founded (see Eze_40:1-49.; and cf. the reference to the outer court in Eze_40:17). 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. Λέγων is used absolutely, not as qualifying κάλαµος , "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 ναός , the shrine or dwelling place of God (as in verse 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 verse 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—"the 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 ναός ; 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."

KRETZMA, “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.

BURKITT, “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.

ELLICOTT,”THE MEASURING OF THE TEMPLE.—We enter upon the second part of the interposed vision. The Temple proper is secured. The measuring signifies its protection from profanation; the outer court given to the Gentiles indicates that practical heathenism and corruption have invaded the Church; against corruptions and profanities, witnesses, who draw their strength from divine help, are raised up to protest. Their power is great, though their witness is disregarded; for their influence outlasts their life, and their words avenge themselves on their adversaries;

rejected reformation re-appears as revolution. The vision therefore declares that, whatever corruptions invade the Church, the kernel of the Church will never be destroyed, but out of it will arise those who will be true to the Master’s commission, and whose words will never be void of power.Such seems to be the general drift of this chapter. It is stated thus briefly and simply that it may be kept in mind as a leading idea in the comments which follow, and because the chapter is generally regarded as one of the most difficult in the book. On the relation between the allusions to the Temple in this chapter and the date of the book, see Introduction. It is perhaps well to remember that, as we have taken Jerusalem and Babylon as symbolical names, and not necessarily the literal Jerusalem and the literal Babylon, so the Temple and the court of the Temple are to be understood as symbols. The gospel has elevated the history and places of the past into a grand allegory, and breathed into their dead names the life of an ever- applicable symbolism. (See Introduction, On the General Meaning and Practical Value of the Book.)

Verse 1

(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 (Zechariah 2:1-2), for the vision there of the man with the measuring rod to measure Jerusalem is followed, in the fourth chapter (Zechariah 4:1-6), by the vision of the two olive-trees, which are distinctly identified with the two witnesses in the present chapter (see Revelation 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 (Revelation 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 (Psalms 91:1; comp, also the whole Psalm, especially Revelation 11:4-5;Revelation 11:9-13;.

Dispensationalist see the temple reestablished here in the millennium with

sacrifice restored. This is rejected by most for the obvious reason this brings back

that which the ew Testament says is mere shadow and which has been abolished

forever by the cross of Christ. See Heb. 10:1-12 and Eph 2:14-22.

The church is often spoken of as the temple of God. 1Cor. 3:16-17; 2Cor 6:16;

Eph 2:21; 1Pet 2:5. It is not wise to take a book that is directed to the church and

apply it to another group of people that the book itself does not make clear even

exists apart from the church.

RAY SUMMERS, (11:1-2) This should not be taken to mean that the Temple at

Jerusalem was still standing, nor that the Temple is to be restored before the end of

the world and the second coming of Christ. This language, as elsewhere in this

book, is purely symbolical. The Temple is to be measured for special care and

preservation. The meaning of the symbolism is that the ture spiritual Israel will be

protected and preserved by God in the troubles that are ahead--it is a vision of

consolation for God's own in contrast to the condemnation threatened for their

oppressors. The great bulk of the Gentle world dominated by persecuting Rome

will suffer. This is symbolized by the fact that the court of the Gentiles was not

neasured for protection. This period of distress is pictured as lasting forty-two

months. In round numbers that is three and one-half years. Three and one-half

was the indefinite number. It symbolized incertainty, restlessness, turmoil which

had its turning point either to the good or to the bad. So here is symbolized God's

protection over his own during an indefinite time of turmoil and diffculty while

people generally are in the hands of godless Rome; however, this is not always to be.

There is a turning point. God will see to that.

In the interlude, we are introduced first to the strong angel with the little book in his

hand. Next, we witness the measuring of the temple. John is given a reed like a

measuring rod and is told to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers. Remember, these

are visions which John saw. It was not the literal temple that he was to measure, and it

was not the literal city of Jerusalem that was to be trodden underfoot for a literal forty-

two months.

There are only two visions mentioned in the Old Testament wherein something was

measured. There was a complete measuring of the temple with all its holy ordinances in

Ezek. 40:1-42:20 which was designed to cause the Israelites to make a separation

between the holy and the common (see Ezek. 42:20; 43:10-11; 22:26). There was a

measuring of Jerusalem in Zech. 2:1-5 (after the captivity, Zech. 1:1) and was designed to

show that God would preserve and protect His suffering people. Thus, the measuring of

the temple in Rev. 11:1-2 was to separate and protect His people, and is parallel to the

sealing of the 144,000 in chapter 7. They were sealed and measured for the same purpose.

The temple (sanctuary) represents the spiritual temple, God's dwelling place or habitation

among men (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21; 1 Tim. 3:15). The temple was to be

measured but the outside court was to be left out. The temple (Christians or the church)

would receive divine recognition and protection, while the outer court (the wicked or the

world) would not.

John added that "the holy city," later called, "the beloved city" in Rev. 20:9 (again, the

church, Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26) would be trodden under foot by those outside the court. In

other words, the Christians or the church would be trodden under foot or persecuted by

the world, but not touched in their relation to God. DAVID RIGGS

BARCLAY, “THE VISION OF THINGS TO COME

Rev. 11

A measuring rod like a stall was given to me, with the instructions: "Rise and measure the Temple of God,

and the altar and those who worship there. But leave out of the reckoning the outer Court which is outside

the Temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample on the Holy

City for forty-two months.

And I will give the task of prophesying to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and

sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands who stand

before the Lord of all the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours

their enemies; and whoever tries to hurt them must be thus killed.

These have the authority to shut up the heaven so that rain may not fall during the period for which they

prophesied a drought; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth

with every plague as often as they wish.

When they shall have completed their witness, the beast which comes up from the abyss will make war

with them and will overcome them and will kill them. Their corpses shall lie in the street of the great city,

whose spiritual name is Sodom and Egypt, and where their Lord also was crucified. There are those of the

peoples and tribes and tongues and nations who are to see their bodies for three and a half days, and they

will not allow their bodies to be placed in a tomb. Those who inhabit the land will rejoice over them and

will make merry and will send gifts to each other, because these two prophets tortured those who inhabit

the land."

After the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet, and

great fear fell upon all who saw them. They beard a great voice from heaven saying to them: "Come up

here." And they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. At that hour there was a great

earthquake, and the tenth of the city collapsed and seven thousand persons were killed, and the rest of the

people were in fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe is gone and, behold, the third is coming quickly.

The seventh angel sounded a blast on his trumpet and there came great voices in heaven saying: "The

kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he will reign for

ever and ever."

The twenty-four ciders, who sat upon their thrones in the presence of God, fell down upon their faces, and

worshipped God saying: "We give you thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, that you

have taken your supreme authority and that you have entered upon your reign. The nations have raged, and

your wrath has come, and there has come the time to judge the dead, and to give their reward to your

servants the prophets and to God's dedicated people and to those who fear your name, both small and great,

and to destroy those who are the destroyers of the earth."

And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and in the Temple there was seen the Ark of the Covenant,

and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and a great storm of hail.

It is better to see this chapter as a whole, before we make any attempt to deal with it in detail. It has been

said that it is at one and the same time the most difficult and the most important chapter in the Revelation.

Its difficulty is obvious and it contains problems of interpretation about whose solution there can be no real

certainty. Its importance lies in the fact that it contains a deliberate summary of the rest of the book. The

seer has eaten the little roll and taken into his mind the message of God; and now he sets it down, not yet in

detail but in the broad lines of its development. So certain is he of the course of events that from Rev. 11:11

he alters the tense of his narrative and speaks of things still in the future as if they were past. Let us then set

out the scheme of this chapter which is also the scheme of the rest of the book.

(i) Rev. 11:1-2. Here is the picture of the measuring of the Temple. As we shall see, the measuring is

closely parallel to the sealing and is for the purposes of protection when the demonic terrors descend upon

the world.

(ii) Rev. 11:3-6. Here is the preaching of the two witnesses who are heralds of the end.

(iii) Rev. 11:7-10. Here is the first emergence of Antichrist in the form of the beast from the abyss, and the

temporary triumph of Antichrist which results in the death of the two witnesses.

(iv) Rev. 11:11-13. Here follows the restoration to life of the witnesses and the consequent repentance and

conversion of the Jews.

(v) Rev. 11:14-19. Finally, here is the first sketch of the final triumph of Christ, the thousand years of his

initial reign, the rising of the nations, the defeat of the nations and the judgment of the dead, and the

establishment of the Kingdom of God and of his Anointed One.

We now proceed to examine the chapter in detail.

THE MEASURING OF THE TEMPLE

Rev. 11:1-2

To the seer is given a measuring rod like a staff. The word for measuring rod is literally reed. There were

certain grasses which grew with stalks like bamboo canes as much as six or eight feet high; these stalks

were used as measuring rods. The word rod actually stands for a Jewish unit of measurement, equal to six

cubits. The cubit was originally the space from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and was

reckoned as seventeen or eighteen inches; so the rod is equal to about nine feet.

The picture of measuring is common in the visions of the prophets. We find it in Ezekiel, Zechariah and

Amos (Eze.40:3,6; Zech.2:1; Am.7:7-9); and no doubt these previous visions were in John's mind.

We find the idea of measuring used in more than one way. It is used as a preparation for building or for

restoration and also as a preparation for destruction. But here the meaning lies in preservation. The

measuring is like the sealing which is described in Rev. 7:2-3; the scaling and the measuring are both for

the protection of God's faithful ones in the demonic terrors to descend upon the earth.

The seer has to measure the Temple, but he must omit from his measurement the outer court which has

been given over to the Gentiles. The Temple in Jerusalem was divided into four courts, converging, as it

were, upon the Holy of Holies. There was the Court of the Gentiles, into which Gentiles might come but

beyond which they might not pass under penalty of death. Between it and the next court was a balustrade,

into which were set tablets warning any Gentile that to come further was to be liable to instant death. Next

came the Court of the Women beyond which women could not come; then the Court of the Israelites

beyond which ordinary men could not come. Lastly, there was the Court of the Priests, which contained the

Altar of the Burnt-Offering, made of brass, the Altar of Incense, made of gold, and the Holy Place; and into

this court only the priests might come.

The seer is to measure the Temple. But the date of the Revelation, as we have seen, is somewhere about

A.D. 90; and the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in A.D. 70. How, then, could the Temple be

measured?

The solution lies in this. Almost certainly John is taking over a picture which had already been used.

Almost certainly this passage was originally spoken or written in A.D. 70, during the last siege of

Jerusalem. During that siege the party of the Jews who would never admit defeat were the Zealots; they

would rather die to a man, as indeed they ultimately did. When who would never admit defeat were the

Zealots; they would rather die to a man, as indeed they ultimately did. When the walls of the city were

breached, these Zealots retired into the Temple to make a last desperate resistance there. It is practically

certain that some of their prophets said: "Never fear. The Gentile invaders may reach the outer Court of the

Gentiles and defile it; but they will never penetrate into the inner Temple. God would never allow that."

That confidence was disappointed; the Zealots perished and the Temple was destroyed; but originally the

measuring of the inner courts and the abandoning of the outer court stood for the Zealot hope in those last

terrible days.

John takes this picture and completely spiritualizes it. When he speaks of the Temple, he is not thinking of

the Temple building at all which had been blasted out of existence more than twenty years before. For him

the Temple is the Christian Church, the people of God. This picture meets us repeatedly in the New

Testament. The Christians are living stones, built into a spiritual house (1Pet.2:5). The Church is founded

on the apostles and the prophets; Jesus is the corner stone; the whole Church is growing into a holy temple

in the Lord (Eph.2:20-21). "Do you not know," says Paul, "that you are God's temple?" (1Cor.3:16;

compare, 2Cor.6:16).

The measuring of the Temple is the sealing of the people of God; they are to be preserved in the terrible

time of trial; but the rest are doomed to destruction.

THE LENGTH OF THE TERROR

Rev. 11:1-2 (continued)

The length of the terror is to be forty-two months; the time of the preaching of the witnesses is to be twelve

hundred and sixty days; their corpses are to lie on the street for three and a half days. Here is something

which occurs again and again (compare Rev. 13:5; Rev. 12:6); and occurs in still another form in Rev.

12:14 where the period is a time, times and half a time. This is the famous phrase which goes back to

Daniel (Dn.7:25; Dn.12:7). We have to enquire, first, into the meaning of the phrase and, second, into its

origin.

Its meaning is three and a half years. That is what forty-two months, and twelve hundred and sixty days--by

Jewish reckoning--are. A time, times and half a time is equal to one year plus two years plus half a year.

The origin of the phrase comes from that most terrible time in Jewish history when Antiochus Epiphanes,

King of Syria, tried to force Greek language, culture and worship upon the Jews and was met with the most

violent and stubborn resistance. The roll of the martyrs was immense but the dreadful process was finally

halted by the rising of Judas Maccabaeus.

Judas and his heroic followers waged guerrilla warfare and won the most amazing victories. Finally

Antiochus and his forces were driven out and the Temple was restored and cleansed. The point is that this

dreadful period lasted from June 168 B.C. to December 165 B.C. (To this day the Jews celebrate in

December the Festival of Hanukah which commemorates the restoration and the cleansing of the Temple.)

That is to say this dreadful time lasted almost exactly three and a half years. It was during that time that

Daniel was written and the phrase was coined which ever afterwards was stamped on the Jewish mind as

indicating a period of terror and suffering and martyrdom.

WILLIAM KELLY, “Revelation Chapter 11

"And there was given to me a reed like a rod, saying, Rise, and measure the temple

of God, and the altar, and those that worship therein. But the court which is without

the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given to the Gentiles, and they

shall' tread under foot the holy city forty-two months." Their treading down is soon

to come to an end; and Jerusalem appears in the foreground. This is the centre of

concern now, while the Beast may ravage there, though his own sphere be in the

western world "And I will give* to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a

thousand two hundred [and] sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." Their task is for a

time comparatively short - for three years and a half. "These are the two olive trees,

and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth." The witnesses are two,

not because necessarily limited to two only, but as giving an adequate testimony

according to the law. It is not the Messianic order yet.

* Probably here, as in Rev_8:3, the word implies "efficacy" or "power," as our

Authorised translators saw in one text if not in the other.

One often hears, for the purpose of illustrating the Revelation, a reference to Isaiah,

Jeremiah, or the like; but we should bear in mind that these prophecies are not in

their structure symbolical. Therefore the reasoning founded on the books and style

of Jeremiah or Isaiah (Ezekiel being partly symbolical, partly figurative) cannot

decide for Daniel or the Apocalypse. Here the figures have a language of their own.

Thus the regular meaning of "two," if figuratively used, is competent testimony -

enough and not more than enough. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall

every word be established." According to Jewish law a case could not be decided by

one witness; there must be at least two for valid proof and judgment.

"And if any one desire to injure them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and

devoureth their enemies: and if any one desire to injure them, he must thus be

killed." Clearly in this parenthesis we have not yet Israel as a whole in view, but a

remnant of true worshippers owned, while the mass are given up, and the raising up

of witnesses in sorrow, yet guarded by power after a Jewish sort, till the Beast, of

whom we shall hear far more, rises up to kill them. For now that Christ's title to the

universe is asserted, Satan pushes forward the Beast to claim the earth for himself.

But is this the testimony of the gospel? Is it thus the Lord protects the preachers of

the gospel of His grace? Did fire ever proceed out of the mouths of evangelists? Did

a teacher ever devour his enemies? Was it on this principle that even Ananias and

Sapphira fell dead? Are these the ways of Christianity? Is it not evident that we are

here in a new atmosphere, that a state of things is before us altogether different

from that which reigned during the church condition, though even then sin might be

unto death in peculiar cases? o more proofs are needed as enough has been given.

"These have authority to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their

prophecy." That is, they are something like Elijah "And they have authority over

the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with

every plague." In this respect they resemble Moses also. It is not meant that they are

Moses and Elias personally; but that the character of their testimony is similar, and

the sanctions of it such as God gave in the days of those two honoured servants of

old. "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up

out of the abyss shall make war with them, and shall overcome them and shall kill

them." They are however preserved In spite of the Beast, till their work is done; but

directly their testimony is completed, the Beast is allowed to overcome them. This is

anticipation; and so the description of the Beast is characteristic rather than an

existing fact. That is to say, all had not yet been given him which was to be.

So it was with the Lord. The utmost pressure was brought against Him in His

service. So their hour, we may say, has not yet come, just as He said of Himself

before them. There was all possible willingness to destroy them long before, but

somehow it could not be done; for the Lord protected them till they had done their

mission. But we see the character of grace which filled the Lord Jesus, and

essentially belonged to Him. Here we meet with the earthly retributive dealing of the

Old Testament. The Spirit will form them thus; and no wonder, because in fact God

is recurring to that which He promised then, but has never yet performed. He is

going to perform it now He does not merely purpose to gather people for heavenly

glory; He will govern on earth the Jews and the Gentiles in their several places -

Israel nearest to Himself. He must have an earthly people, as well as His family on

high. When the heavenly saints are changed, then He begins with the earthly. He

will never mix them all up together. This makes nothing but the greatest confusion.

"And their body [is] on the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom

and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified." It was Jerusalem, but spiritually

called Sodom and Egypt; because of the wickedness of the people and their prince.

It had no less abominations than Sodom; it had all the darkness and the moral

bondage of Egypt; but it was really the place where their Lord had been crucified

(i.e. Jerusalem). So the witnesses fell, and men in various measures showed their

satisfaction. "And [some] of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations see their

body three days and a half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put into a

tomb. And those that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and [their hatred being

more intense] make merry, and they shall send gifts to one another, because these

two prophets tormented those that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and

a half a spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet;

and great fear fell upon those beholding them. And I heard a great voice out of the

heaven, saying to them, Come up here; and they went up to the heaven in the cloud,

and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour came a great earthquake, and the

tenth of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain seven thousand names of

men; and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."

"The second woe is past; behold, the third woe cometh quickly." This is to be as

emphatically from God, as the first came from the abyss on the wicked Israelites,

and the second from the multitudinous powers of the east on the faithless west. For

it is the seventh Trumpet. This is important for understanding the structure of the

book. The seventh Trumpet brings us down to the close in a general but final

summary. This is clear, though often overlooked. "And the seventh angel sounded;

and there were great voices in the heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world of our

Lord and of his Christ is come." You must translate it a little more exactly, and with

a better text too. "The kingdom of the world" (or "the world-kingdom," if our

tongue admits of such a combination) "of our Lord and of his Christ is come." It is

not merely power in general conferred in heaven, but "the world-kingdom of our

Lord and of his Christ is come, and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the twenty-

four elders that sit before God upon their thrones fell on their faces, and did

homage to God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God the Almighty, that art,

and that wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign. And the

nations were enraged, and thy wrath is come."

Here, it will be observed, the end of the age is supposed to be now arrived. It is not

merely frightened kings and peoples who say so, but the voice of those who know in

heaven. The nations were enraged, and God's wrath come; but further, "the time of

the dead to be judged." ot a word here speaks of the saints caught up to heaven; it

is a later hour. "And the time of the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to thy

bondmen the prophets, and to the saints, and to those that fear thy name, small and

great, and to destroy those that destroy the earth." o mention is made here about

taking them to heaven, but of recompensing them. There can be no such thing as

conferring that reward till the public manifestation of the Lord Jesus. They had, in

fact, been translated long before, and were seen glorified in heaven since the

beginning of Rev. 4. The taking of those changed out of the scene is quite another

association of truth. The reward in due time will fail to none that fear the Lord's

name, small and great; but He will also destroy those that destroy the earth at that

time. It is the general course of judgment summarised to the close, and proclaimed

on high.

This is the true conclusion of Rev. 11. The next verse (19), though arranged in our

Bibles as the end of the chapter, is properly the beginning of a new series. For the

prophetic part of the book divides into two portions at this point. This is another

landmark that cannot be despised, if we would acquaint ourselves with its structure

and the bearing of its contents. And it is absolutely requisite to have a generally

correct understanding of its outline; else we are in imminent risk of making

confusion, the moment we venture to put the parts together, or to form anything

like a right connected view of that which it conveys to us. The seventh Trumpet

brings us down to the end in a general way.

This is the habit of prophecy. Take, for instance, our Lord's prophecy in Matthew

24. There, first of all, we are given the broad outline as far as verse 14 to the "gospel

of the kingdom" preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations; and then

the end comes. Having thus brought us down to the close comprehensively, the Lord

turns back, and specifies a particular part of that history in a confined sphere,

namely, from the time that the abomination of desolation is set up in the holy place.

This clearly is a little time before the end. It does not indeed go back absolutely to

the beginning, but it returns a certain way, in order to set forth a far fuller and

more precise view of the appalling state of things found in Jerusalem before the end

comes.

Just so is it in the Revelation. The Seals and the Trumpets which follow one another

conduct us from the time that the church is seen in heaven glorified till "the time of

the dead to be judged," as well as the day of wrath for the nations on the earth.

Evidently this is the end of the age. Then, in the portion which begins with the last

verse of Rev. 11, we return for a special communication. The prophet had been told

that he must prophesy again before many peoples and kings; and from this point

seems to be his prophesying again.

"And the temple of God in the heaven was opened." It is not a door opened in

heaven to give us the veil lifted up from what must take place on the earth as

regarded in the mind of God. This John did see, the general view being now closed;

and we cuter on a distinct line which connects itself with O.T. prophecy. It is not

now the throne; but the temple of God in heaven was opened, "and there was seen

the ark of his covenant in his temple." This is the resumption of the divine link with

His ancient people Israel.

ot that it is yet the day of blessedness for the Jew. or is heaven itself opened for

Jesus, attended by risen saints, to appear for the judgment of the Beast and the

False Prophet with their train. It is still a transition state of things, but a further

advance. When God deigns to look upon and gives us to see the ark of His covenant,

He is going to assert His fidelity to the people. Of old He gave promises, and will

shortly accomplish all which had been assured to their fathers. The ark of His

covenant is the sign of the unfailing certainty of that to which He bound Himself.

Doubtless as the Gospels show, and the Epistles prove, we do now enjoy the

blessings of the new covenant as far as is compatible with higher privileges; yet

prophetically its direct establishment awaits Israel, and this is here pledged. Blessed

tokens now come to view, with even aggravated proof that God will be then dealing

with the world, not in grace as now, but in ever-growing severity of judgment.

"And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders," and besides not "an

earthquake" only but "great hail." It was not yet "the day": on the contrary the

deepest darkness must intervene. Judicial ways still prevail, and more than before.

In the first scene of Rev. 4, when the door was seen open in heaven, there were

"lightnings, and voices, and thunders," but not even an earthquake. In Rev. 8 this

addition appears. ow besides all the rest there is "great hail." Clearly therefore we

are thus prepared for greater detail in the judgments from heaven inflicted on the

earth.

PULPIT, “"My two witnesses."

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.

(Rev_11:1, Rev_11:2.) 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 HOSTIL

E 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 WIT

NESSES. "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 (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. (Verse 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. (Verse 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 world power 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. (Verses 8-10.) These prophets

were the torment of the ungodly (verse 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. (Verses 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. (Verse 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" (Psa_2:1-12.). "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.

2

But exclude the outer court; do not measure it,

because it has been given to the Gentiles. They

will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

BARES, “But the court which is without the temple - Which is outside of the temple proper, and, therefore, which does not strictly pertain to it. There is undoubtedly reference here to the “court of the Gentiles,” as it was called among the Jews - the outer court of the temple to which the Gentiles had access, and within which they were not permitted to go. For a description of this, see the notes on Matthew 21:12. To an observer this would seem to be a part of the temple, and the persons there assembled a portion of the true worshippers of God; but it was necessarily neither the one nor the other. In forming an estimate of those who, according to the Hebrew notions, were true worshippers of God, only those would be regarded as such who had the privilege of access to the inner court, and to the altar. In making such an estimate, therefore, those who had no nearer access than that court, would be omitted; that is, they would not be reckoned as necessarily any part of those who were regarded as the people of God.Leave out, and measure it not - Margin, “cast out.” So the Greek. The meaning is, that he was not to reckon it as pertaining to the true temple of worshippers. There is, indeed, a degree of force in

the words rendered “leave out,” or, in the margin, “cast out” - ἔκβαλε ἔξω ekbale exō- which

implies more than a mere passing by, or omission. The word ( ἐκβάλλω ekballō) usually has the idea of “force” or “impluse” (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 15:17; Matthew 25:30; Mark 16:9; Acts 27:38, et al.); and the word here would denote some decisive or positive act by which it would be indicated that this was not any part of the true temple, but was to be regarded as pertaining to something else. He was not merely not to mention it, or not to include it in the measurement, but he was to do this by some act which would indicate that it was the result of design in the case, and not by accidentally passing it by.

For it is given unto the Gentiles - It properly pertains to them as their own. Though near the temple, and included in the general range of building, yet it does not pertain to those who worship there, but to those who are regarded as pagan and strangers. It is not said that it was then given to the Gentiles; nor is it said that it was given to them to be overrun and trodden down by them, but that it pertained to them, and was to be regarded as belonging to them. They occupied it, not as the people of God, but as those who were without the true church, and who did not pertain to its real communion. This would find a fulfillment if there should arise a state of things in the church in which it would be necessary to draw a line between those who properly constituted the church and those who did not; if there should be such a condition of things that any considerable portion of those who professedly pertained to the church ought to be divided off as not belonging to it, or would have such characteristic marks that it could be seen that they were strangers and aliens. The interpretation would demand that they should sustain some relation to the church, or that they would seem to belong to it - as the court did to the temple; but still that this was in appearance only, and that in estimating the true church it was necessary to leave them out altogether. Of course this would not imply that there might not be some sincere worshippers among them as individuals - as there would be found usually, in the court of the Gentiles in the literal temple, some who were proselytes and devout worshippers, but what is here said relates to them as a mass or body that they did not belong to the true church, but to the Gentiles.

And the holy city - The whole holy city - not merely the outer court of the Gentiles, which it is said was given to them, nor the temple as such, but the entire holy city. There is no doubt that the words “the holy city” literally refer to Jerusalem - a city so called because it was the special place of the worship of God. See the notes on Matthew 4:5; compare Nehemiah 11:1, Nehemiah 11:18; Isaiah 52:1; Daniel 9:24;Matthew 27:53. But it is not necessary to suppose that this is its meaning here. The “holy city,” Jerusalem, was regarded as sacred to God - as his dwelling-place on earth, and as the abode of his people, and nothing was more natural than to use the term as representing the church. Compare theGalatians 4:26 note; Hebrews 12:22 note. In this sense it is undoubtedly used here as the whole representation is emblematical. John, if he were about to speak of anything that was to occur to the church, would, as a native Jew, be likely to employ such language as this to denote it.

Shall they tread under foot - That is, the Gentiles above referred to; or those who, in the measurement of the city, were set off as Gentiles, and regarded as not belonging to the people of God. This is not spoken of the Gentiles in general, but only of that portion of the multitudes that seemed to constitute the worshippers of God, who, in measuring the temple, were set off or separated as not properly belonging to the true church. The phrase “should tread under foot” is derived from warriors and conquerors, who tread down their enemies, or trample on the fields of grain. It is rendered in this passage by Dr. Robinson (Lexicon), “to profane and lay waste.” As applied literally to a city, this would be the true idea; as applied to the church, it would mean that they would have it under their control or in subjection for the specified time, and that the practical effect of that would be to corrupt and prostrate it.

Forty and two months - Literally, this would be three years and a half; but if the time here is prophetic time - a day for a year - then the period would be twelve hundred and sixty years - reckoning the year at 360 days. For a full illustration of this usage, and for the reasons for supposing that this is prophetic time, see the notes on Daniel 7:25. See also Editor‘s Preface, p. 25: In addition to what is there said, it may be remarked, in reference to this passage, that it is impossible to show, with any degree of probability, that the city of Jerusalem was “trampled under foot” by the Romans for the exact space of three years and a half. Prof. Stuart, who adopts the opinion that it refers to the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans, says, indeed, “It is certain that the invasion of the Romans lasted just about the length of the period named, until Jerusalem was

taken. And although the city itself was not besieged so long, yet the metropolis in this case, as in innumerable others in both Testaments, appears to stand for the country of Judaea.” But it is to be remembered that the affirmation here is, that “the holy city” was thus to be trodden under foot; and even taking the former supposition, in what sense is it true that the “whole country” was “trodden under foot” by the Romans only three years and a half?

Even the wars of the Romans were not of that exact duration; and, besides, the fact was that Judaea was held in subjection, and trodden down by the Romans for centuries, and never, in fact, regained its independence. If this is to be literally applied to Jerusalem, it has been “trodden down by the Gentiles,” with brief intervals, since the conquest by the Romans, to the present time. There has been no precise period of three years and a half, in respect to which the language used here would be applicable to the literal city of Jerusalem. In regard, then, to the proper application of the language which has thus been explained Revelation 11:1-2, it may be remarked, in general, that, for the reasons just stated, it is not to be taken literally. John could not have been directed literally to measure the temple at Jerusalem, and the altar, and the worshippers; nor could he have been requested literally to leave out, or “cast out” the court that was without; nor could it be meant that the holy city literally was to be trodden under foot for three years and a half. The language clearly is symbolical, and the reference must have been to something pertaining to the church. And, if the preceding exposition of the tenth chapter is correct, then it may be presumed that this would refer to something that was to occur at about the period there referred to. Regarding it, then, as applicable to the time of the Reformation, and as being a continuation of the vision in Revelation 10:1-11, we shall find, in the events of that period, what would be properly symbolized by the language used here. This will appear by reviewing the particulars which have been explained in these verses:

(1) The command to “measure the temple of God,” Revelation 11:1. This, we have seen, was a direction to take an estimate of what constituted the true church; the very work which it was necessary to do in the Reformation, for this was the first point which was to be settled, whether the papacy was the true church or was the antichrist. This involved, of course, the whole inquiry as to what constitutes the church, alike in reference to its organization, its ministry, its sacraments, and its membership. It was long before the Reformers made up their minds that the papacy was not the true church; for the veneration which they had been taught to cherish for that lingered long in their bosoms. And even when they were constrained to admit that that corrupt communion was the predicted form of the great apostasy - antichrist - and had acquired boldness enough to break away from it forever, it was long before they settled down in a uniform belief as to what was essential to the true church. Indeed, the differences of opinion which prevailed, the warm discussions which ensued, and the diversities of sect which sprang up in the Protestant world, showed with what intense interest the mind was fixed on this question, and how important it was to take an exact measurement of the real church of God.

(2) the direction to “measure the altar.” This, as we have seen, would relate to the prevailing opinions on the subject of sacrifice and atonement; on the true method of a sinner‘s acceptance with God; and, consequently, on the whole subject of justification. As a matter of fact, it need not be said that this was one of the first questions which came before the Reformers, and was one which it was indispensable to settle, in order to a just notion of the church and of the way of salvation. The papacy had exalted the Lord‘s supper into a real sacrifice; had made it a grand and essential point that the bread and wine were changed into the real body and blood of the Lord, and that a real offering of that sacrifice was made every time that ordinance was celebrated; had changed the office of the ministers of the New Testament from preachers to that of priests; had become familiar with the terms altar, and sacrifice, and priest hood, as founded on the notion that a real sacrifice was made in the “mass”; and had fundamentally changed the whole doctrine respecting the justification of a sinner before God. The altar in the Roman Catholic communion had almost displaced the pulpit; and the doctrine of justification by the merits of the great sacrifice made by the death of our Lord, had been superseded by the doctrine of justification by good works, and by the merits of the saints. It became necessary, therefore, to restore the true doctrine respecting sacrifice for sin, and the way of justification before God; and this would be appropriately represented by a direction to “measure the altar.”

(3) the direction to take an estimate of those “who worshipped in the temple.” This, as we have seen, would properly mean that there was to be a true estimate taken of what constituted

membership in the church, or of the qualifications of those who should be regarded as true worshippers of God. This, also, was one of the first works necessary to be done in the Reformation. Before that, for ages, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration had been the established doctrine of the church; that all that was necessary to membership was baptism and confirmation, was the common opinion; the necessity of regeneration by the influences of the Holy Spirit, as a condition of church membership, was little understood, if not almost wholly unknown; and the grand requisition in membership was not holy living, but the observance of the rites and ceremonies of the church. One of the first things necessary in the Reformation was to restore to its true place the doctrine laid down by the Saviour, that a change of heart that regeneration by the Holy Spirit - was necessary to membership in the church, and that the true church was composed of those who had been thus renewed in the spirit of their mind. This great work would be appropriately symbolized by a direction to take an estimate of those who “worshipped in the temple of God”; that is, to settle the question who should be regarded as true worshippers of God, and what should be required of those who professed to be such worshippers. No more important point was settled in the Reformation than this.

(4) the direction to leave out, or to “cast out” the court without the temple. This, as we have seen, would properly mean that a separation was to be made between what was the true church and what was not, though it might seem to belong to it. The one was to be measured or estimated; the other was to be left out, as not pertaining to that, or as belonging to the Gentiles, or to paganism. The idea would be, that though it; professedly pertained to the true church, and to the worship of God, yet that it deserved to be characterized as paganism. Now this will apply with great propriety, according to all Protestant notions, to the manner in which the papacy was regarded by the Reformers, and should be regarded at all times. It claimed to be the true church, and to the eye of an observer would seem to belong to it, as much as the outer court seemed to pertain to the temple. But it had the essential characteristics of paganism, and was, therefore, properly to be left out, or, cast out, as not pertaining to the true church.

Can anyone doubt the truth of this representation as applicable to the papacy? Almost everything that was unique in the ancient pagan systems of religion had been introduced into the Roman communion; and a stranger at Rome would see more that would lead him to feel that he was in a pagan land, than he would that he was in a land where the pure doctrines of Christianity prevailed, and where the worship was celebrated which the Redeemer hack designed to set up on the earth. This was true not only in the pomp and splendor of worship, and in the processions and imposing ceremonials; but in the worship of images, in the homage rendered to the dead, in the number of festival days, in the fact that the statues reared in pagan Rome to the honor of the gods had been reconsecrated in the service of Christian devotion to the apostles, saints, and martyrs; and in the robes of the Christian priesthood, derived from those in use in the ancient pagan worship. The direction was, that, in estimating the true church, this was to be “left out,” or “cast out”; and, if this interpretation is correct, the meaning is, that the Roman Catholic communion, as an organized body, is to be regarded as no part of the true church - a conclusion which is inevitable, if the passages of Scripture which are commonly supposed by Protestants to apply to it are correctly applied. To determine this, and to separate the true church from it, was no small part of the work of the Reformation.

(5) the statement that the holy city was to be trodden under foot, Revelation 11:2. This, as we have seen, must mean that the true church would thus be trodden down by those who are described as “Gentiles.” So far as pure religion was concerned; so far as pertained to the real condition of the church, and the pure worship of God, it would be as if the whole holy city where God was worshipped were given into the hands of the Gentiles, and they should tread it down, and desecrate all that was sacred for the time here referred to. Everything in Rome at the time of the Reformation would sustain this description. “It is incredible,” says Luther, on his visit to Rome, “what sins and atrocities are committed in Rome; they must be seen and heard to be believed. So that it is usual to say: ‹If there be a hell, Rome is built above it; it is an abyss from which all sins proceed.‘” So again he says: “It is commonly observed that he who goes to Rome for the first time, goes to seek a knave there; the second time he finds him; and the third time he brings him away with him under his cloak. But now, people are become so clever, that they make the three journeys in one.”

So Machiavelli, one of the most profound geniuses in Italy, and himself a Roman Catholic, said, “The greatest symptom of the approaching ruin of Christianity is, that the nearer we approach the capital of Christendom, the less do we find of the Christian spirit of the people. The scandalous example and crimes of the court of Rome have caused Italy to lose every principle of piety and every religious sentiment. We Italians are principally indebted to the church and to the priests for having become impious and profane.” See D‘Aubigne‘s “History of the Reformation,” p. 54, ed. Phila. 1843. In full illustration of the sentiment that the church seemed to be trodden down and polluted by paganism, or by abominations and practices that came out of paganism, we may refer to the general history of the Roman Catholic communion from the rise of the papacy to the Reformation. For a sufficient illustration to justify the application of the passage before us which I am now making, the reader may be referred to the notes on Revelation 9:20-21. Nothing would better describe the condition of Rome previous to and at the time of the Reformation - and the remark may be applied to subsequent periods also - than to say that it was a city which once seemed to be a Christian city, and was not improperly regarded as the center of the Christian world and the seat of the church, and that it had been, as it were, overrun and trodden down by pagan rites and customs and ceremonies, so that, to a stranger looking on it, it would seem to be in the possession of the “Gentiles” or the pagans.

(6) the time during which this was to continue - “forty-two months”; that is, according to the explanation above given, twelve hundred and sixty years. This would embrace the whole period of the ascendency and prevalence of the papacy, or the whole time of the continuance of that corrupt domination in which Christendom was to be trodden down and corrupted by it. The prophet of Patmos saw it in vision thus extending its dreary and corrupting reign, and during that time the proper influence of Christianity was trampled down, and the domination of practical paganism was set up where the church should have reigned in its purity. Thus regarded, this would properly express the time of the ascendency of the papal power, and the end of the “forty-two months,” or twelve hundred and sixty years, would denote the time when the influence of that power would cease. If, therefore, the time of the rise of the papacy can be determined, it will not be difficult to determine the time when it will come to an end. But for a full consideration of these points the reader is referred to the extended discussion on Daniel 7:25. See also Editor‘s Preface, p. 25. As the point is there fully examined it is unnecessary to go into an investigation of it here.

The general remark, therefore, in regard to this passage Revelation 11:1-2 is, that it refers to what would be necessary to be done at the Reformation in order to determine what is the true church and what are the doctrines on which it is based; and to the fact that the Roman Catholic communion, to which the church had been given over for a definite time, was to be set aside as not being the true church of Christ.

CLARKE, “But the court - is given unto the Gentiles - The measuring of the temple probably refers to its approaching destruction, and the termination of the whole Levitical service; and this we find was to be done by the Gentiles, (Romans), who were to tread it down forty-two months; i.e., just three years and a half, or twelve hundred and sixty days. This must be a symbolical period.

GILL, “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not,.... The allusion is to the court of the Israelites, where was the great crowd and company of worshippers, even the national church of the Jews, called by Ezekiel the outer court, Ezekiel 42:14, and which was measured in Ezekiel 42:20; but this must not be measured: this designs not the visible church apostatized, as succeeding the pure, primitive, and apostolical church, or the apostate church of Rome, antichrist and his followers, for these are meant by the Gentiles, to whom this outward court is given; this outward court, or the worshippers in it, intend a distinct set of worshippers from the internal worshippers, the priests of God in the temple, altar, and inner court, and from the Gentiles, the Papists; and are no other than carnal Protestants, the bulk of the reformed churches, who have only the name, but not the nature of living Christians, have a form of godliness, but deny its power, are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, and worship only in an external manner, attend to outward forms and ceremonies, but know nothing of true doctrine, pure worship, or spiritual religion; and which are very numerous, as the worshippers in the outward court were: now these, upon a new measuring and regulating of the churches, are ordered to be left, or cast out, and not taken into the

dimensions of the Gospel church; these were to be separated from, and have been, and not to be admitted members of regular and orderly constituted churches, and which is here reckoned a sort of casting of them out; the reason of which follows;for it is given unto the Gentiles; by whom are meant the Papists, who are no other than Paganized Christians, having introduced a great deal of Gentilism into the divine service; as the worshipping of the virgin Mary, angels, and saints departed, which is in imitation of the demon worship of the Heathens; as also the dedication of their churches to saints, their saints' days, divers festivals, and many other rites and ceremonies, are plainly of Pagan original; and therefore they may very well be called by this name: now it seems by these words that the bulk of the reformed churches, the crowd of outward court worshippers, will be gained, over to the Popish party, and fall off to the church of Rome, to which their doctrines and practices are plainly verging; the pope of Rome, as low a condition as he now is in, will be set "in status quo", before his utter destruction; he will regain all his former dominions, and be in possession of them at the time of his ruin; the whore of Rome, the antichristian Babylon, will sit as a queen, and promise herself a great deal of peace and pleasure, the inward court worshippers and witnesses being slain, and she restored to all her former power and grandeur; when in one day, on a sudden, her destruction will come upon her, when the term of the beast's reign will be expired, mentioned in the next clause:

and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months; by "the holy city" is meant all the kingdoms of Europe, or what has, been called Christendom, the western empire as Christian, the main seat of the Christian religion, or all the churches styled Christian, and so called in allusion to Jerusalem, which bears this name, Matthew 4:5; and which was still of a far larger extent than the outward court: the "treading" of this "underfoot" does not barely design possessing of it, or worshipping in the same place, as the phrase of treading in the courts does in Isaiah 1:12; but a tyrannical power over it, and a wasting, spoiling, and destroying it, in allusion to Jerusalem being trodden under foot, wasted, and destroyed by the Gentiles or the Romans, Luke 21:24; and the duration of this tyrannical and oppressive reign will be forty and two months; see Revelation 13:5, which being reduced to years, make just three years and a half: but then this date cannot be understood strictly and literally; for such a term can never be sufficient for the whore's reign, who was to rule over the kings of the earth, and all nations were to drink of the wine of her fornication: this is too short a time for her to gain so much power, honour, and riches in, as the 13th, 17th, and 18th chapters of this book show, as well as too short for the afflictions and persecutions of the saints by her; wherefore this must be understood prophetically of so many months of years; and a month with the Chaldeans consisting of thirty days, and a year of 360 days, which account Daniel used, and John after him, forty two months, reckoning a day for a year, after the prophetic style, make 1260 years; which is the exact time of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth, of the church's being hid and nourished in the wilderness, and of the beast's reign, and so of the holy city being trodden under foot. Now this date is not to be reckoned from the outer court being given to the Gentiles, but from the first of antichrist's reign, when the pope of Rome was declared universal bishop; and is only here mentioned to show, that the giving of the outward court to his Gentiles will be towards the expiration of this date.

JAMISO, “2. But--Greek, "And."

the court . . . without--all outside the Holy Place (Revelation 11:1).leave out--of thy measurement, literally, "cast out"; reckon as unhallowed.

it--emphatic. It is not to be measured; whereas the Holy Place is.given--by God's appointment.unto the Gentiles--In the wider sense, there are meant here "the times of the

Gentiles," wherein Jerusalem is "trodden down of the Gentiles," as the

parallel, Luke 21:24, proves; for the same word is used here [Greek, "patein"], "tread under foot." Compare also Psalms 79:1, Isaiah 63:18.forty . . . two months--(Revelation 13:5). The same period as Daniel's "time,

times, and half" (Revelation 12:14); and Revelation 11:3, and Revelation 12:6, the woman a fugitive in the wilderness "a thousand two hundred and threescore

days." In the wider sense, we may either adopt the year-day theory of 1260 years (on which, and the papal rule of 1260 years, or rather, regard the 2300 days (Daniel 8:14), 1335 days (Daniel 12:11,12). 1290 days, and 1260 days, as

symbolical of the long period of the Gentile times, whether dating from the subversion of the Jewish theocracy at the Babylonian captivity

(the kingdom having been never since restored to Israel), or from the last destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, and extending to the restoration of the theocracy at the coming of Him "whose right it is"; the different epochs marked

by the 2300, 1335, 1290, and 1260 days, will not be fully cleared up till the grand consummation; but, meanwhile, our duty and privilege urge us to investigate them. Some one of the epochs assigned by many may be right but as yet it is uncertain. The times of the Gentile monarchies during Israel's seven

times punishment, will probably, in the narrower sense (Revelation 11:2), be succeeded by the much more restricted times of the personal Antichrist's tyranny in the Holy Land. The long years of papal misrule may be followed by the short time of the man of sin who shall concentrate in himself all the apostasy, persecution, and evil of the various forerunning Antichrists, Antiochus,

Mohammed, Popery, just before Christ's advent. His time shall be THE RECAPITULATION and open consummation of the "mystery of iniquity" so long leavening the world. Witnessing churches may be followed by witnessing individuals, the former occupying the longer, the latter, the shorter period.

The three and a half (1260 days being three and a half years of three hundred sixty days each, during which the two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth) is the

sacred number seven halved, implying the Antichristian world-power's time is

broken at best; it answers to the three and a half years' period in which Christ witnessed for the truth, and the Jews, His own people, disowned Him, and the

God-opposed world power crucified Him (compare Note, three and a half, in a word, marks the time in which the earthly rules over the heavenly kingdom. It was the duration of Antiochus' treading down of the temple and persecution of

faithful Israelites. The resurrection of the witnesses after three and a half days, answers to Christ's resurrection after three days. The world power's times never reach the sacred fulness of seven times three hundred sixty, that is, 2520, though they approach to it in 2300 (Daniel 8:14). The forty-two months answer

to Israel's forty-two sojournings (Numbers 33:1-50) in the wilderness, as contrasted with the sabbatic rest in Canaan: reminding the Church that here, in the world wilderness, she cannot look for her sabbatic rest. Also, three and a half years was the period of the heaven being shut up, and of consequent

famine, in Elias' time. Thus, three and a half represented to the Church the idea of toil, pilgrimage, and persecution.

COFFMA, “And the court which is without the temple leave 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.Measure not ... the court which is without ... Although associated with the temple, this court was not part of the sanctuary; and, symbolically, the leaving out of this means that there are people who are nominally "Christian," associated in every way with Christianity, but who actually are no part of it. "This represents the unfaithful portion of the church."[16]

Leave without ... "This means that John was commanded to, "Throw it out; reject it as profane, and to draw no boundary to mark any part of it as sacred."[17]

For it hath been given unto the nations ... Lenski thought that this should be rendered "unto the heathen";[18] but we believe John's use of the same language here that Jesus used in the prophecy ofLuke 21:24 is the true key to understanding what is meant by the forty and two months. Jesus said:

And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles (nations), until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

It could hardly be an accident that so much of the terminology of Jesus' prophecy appears in John's words in this verse. We are therefore justified in viewing the "times of the Gentiles" there with the "forty and two months" here, both expressions having the meaning of this entire dispensation.

And the holy city they shall tread under foot ... Just as the Gentile world would tread the literal Jerusalem under foot until "the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," in like manner would a great host of (so-called) Gentile Christians desecrate the true church by their perversion of Christianity. This would be accomplished by their wholesale invasion of it, "in the form of a false Christianity."[19] The use of "holy city" here should not mislead us. "In A.D. 30, the once holy city of Jerusalem had already joined Sodom and Egypt as a typical example of all great wicked cities."[20] Despite this, there is, however, still a holy city, which is the holy church of Jesus Christ.

For forty and two months ... This passage makes the meaning of this expression transparent. It is the same as "the times of the Gentiles" mentioned by Jesus; that is, "the entire period of the Christian dispensation."[21] The mention of this specific time period reveals that, "There is a limit of the extent to which the Gentiles can do their treading under foot."[22] The historicists (Barnes) find this to mean that, "On the year-day principle, there is a reference to 1,260 years of Papal supremacy, ending in 1517 A.D."[23] We do not doubt that the apostasy of the Medieval Church, continuing until the present time, is indeed a significant part of what is here prophesied; but the "modernist" churches of Protestantism are equally also a part of it. Many of them have also rejected the word of the Lord and despised the true head of the church.

There may be another thing symbolized by the time period here, which is the same as 3 1/2 years, the half of the perfect seven. Roberson interpreted this as, "the true expression of the church's state as half of the required perfection."[24]

We shall meet with this forty and two months, or its equivalent, in Revelation again and again; but in every case, the same is meant, "The Gospel Age."[25]

[16] Frank L. Cox, Revelation in 26 Lessons (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1956), p. 73.

[17] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 330.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid., p. 331.

[20] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 132.

[21] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 73.

[22] Leon Morris. op. cit., p. 147.

[23] Ralph Earle, op. cit., p. 563.

[24] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 70.

[25] William Hendriksen, op. cit.. p. 154.

ELLICOTT, “(2) But the court . . .—Translate, And the court which is outside the Temple cast out, and measure not it; because it was given to the nations (Gentiles): and they shall tread down the holy city forty and two months. The outer court—meaning, perhaps, all that lies outside the Temple itself—is to be omitted. A strong word is used; the words “leave out” are far too weak. He is not only not to measure it, but he is, in a sort, to pass it over, as though reckoned profane. The reason of this is that it was given to the Gentiles. Our Lord had said that Jerusalem should be

trodden down of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24); the sacred seer catches the thought and the deeper significance. There is a treading down worse than that of the conqueror. It is the treading under of sacred things when the beast-power, or the world-power in men, tramples, like the swine, the pearls of grace under their feet, and turns fiercely upon those who gave them. Such an experience must the Church of Christ undergo. The shrine shall be safe, but the spirit of the nations, though nominally Christian, will be the spirit of Gentilism, worldliness, and even of violence. In the outer court of Church life there will be “the ebbing and flowing mass,” who “sit in the way of knowledge,” who “stand idle in the market-place,” who have no oil in their lamps, and who indirectly pave the way for utter worldliness and practical heathenism. But there is a limit to this desecration: forty and two months it is to last. The same length of time is expressed in different forms throughout the

book. Sometimes we have twelve hundred and sixty days, as in Revelation 11:3 and in Revelation 12:6; at another time forty-two months, as here and in Revelation 13:5. A similar period seems to be meant in Revelation 12:14, where a time, times, and half a time is probably a way of expressing three years and a half; all three forms describe periods of the same length—not, of course, necessarily the same period. The idea is taken from Daniel, who uses such and similar expressions (Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Daniel 12:11). This incorporation of the expressions used by Daniel is one of those hints which remind us that the laws and principles of God’s government are the same in all ages: so that the principles which receive illustration in one set of historical events are likely to receive similar illustrations in after times; and that the prophecies of one era may contain seeds of fulfilments which spring to fruit in more than one age. Thus the words of Daniel were not exhausted in the age of Antiochus, nor the visions of the Apocalypse in the overthrow of any one nation or the corruptions of any one Church. So much may this constantly-recurring period of three years and a half, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, teach us. It is not needful, then, to take the period as an exact literal period. It is true that there have been some remarkable historical periods of this length, which various schools of interpreters have pointed out as the fulfilment of these prophecies; but there have been also remarkable blunders on the part of those who, forgetful of Christ’s own warning, have tried to predict the year when certain prophecies will receive their accomplishments. It is true, also, that the future may bring us further light, and enable us to understand these descriptions of time better; but for the present, the period of forty and two months, the equivalent of three years and a half (the half of seven, the complete and divine number), is the symbol of a period limited in length, and under the control of Him who holds the seven stars and lives through the ages. It is the pilgrimage period of the Church, the period of the world’s power, during which it seems to triumph; but the period of sackcloth (see Revelation 11:3) and of suffering will not last forever.

PULPIT, “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is

given unto the Gentiles; it hath been given (Revised Version). Not merely "leave out," but "cast out." The "court which is without the temple" was entered only by Jews. It seems, therefore, here to signify part of the Church, but that part which is separated from the inner circle of true believers, and given over to the world, which is here symbolized by "the Gentiles." The Gentiles, the nations, throughout the Apocalypse, signifies either

(1) all mankind whatsoever; or

(2) that portion of mankind which is left when the true Church of God is withdrawn, and therefore which embraces the unrighteous part of mankind in contrast to the godly

(cf. Rev_2:26;Rev_14:8; Rev_16:19; Rev_18:23; Rev_22:1-21 :22). The latter is the signification here. And the holy city shall they tread underfoot. The holy city—Jerusalem—always in the Apocalypse the type of the Church. "They shall tread" need not necessarily refer to "the nations," though the context naturally leads to this signification; but it may be impersonal, amounting to no more than "the holy city shall be trodden underfoot." St. John seems to apply the words of our Lord concerning the literal Jerusalem to the description of the fate in store for the typical Jerusalem (cf.Luk_21:24). "The nations" are the instrument by which the Church is trodden underfoot, and the mention of the Gentiles in connection with the apostate portion of the Church leads to the description of the oppression of the faithful by the world. The seer is bidden to take courage by a contemplation of the numbers of those preserved by God, but is warned, nevertheless, not to

expect from that fact immunity for the Church from the persecution of the world. Forty and two

months. Καί , "and," is inserted contrary to the common practice when the larger number precedes (so also in Joh_2:20; Joh_5:5). This period of three years and a half is certainly symbolical. It is the half of seven years—a perfect number. It therefore denotes a broken, uncertain period; a space of time which is certainly finite, but the end of which is uncertain. This seems to point necessarily to the period of the world's existence during which the Church is to suffer oppression. This period is mentioned

(1) in verse 3 under the form of twelve hundred and sixty days, where it denotes the same period that is referred to here;

(2) in Rev_12:6 as twelve hundred and sixty days, and in Rev_12:14 as "a time, and times, and half a time," in both of which passages the signification is the same as that given above;

(3) in Rev_13:5 it is called, as here, forty-two months, and describes the same period. The

expression is founded on Dan_7:25 and Dan_12:7. In the latter place the time signified is certainly the period of the world's existence.

We therefore see

(1) that its natural meaning, in connection with the number seven,

(2) its signification in Daniel, and

(3) its apparent use in all passages in the Apocalypse, tend to cause us to interpret the symbol as above.

BURKITT, “Observe here, What St. John is forbidden to measure, and commanded to leave

out, as no part of the true church, namely, The court which is without the temple; that is, that part of the visible church which is over-run with idolatry and Anti-christian worship, as bad as Gentilism, and accordingly shall by treated as Gentiles, and trodden down under foot as drossy

hypocrites:Measure the temple, says God, but not the outward court.

The temple had but few worshippers, the priests only, in comparison of the outward court, where

the body of the people was; whence we see that the true church is but small, very small, in comparision of the false and Anti-christian church, and consequently multitude can be no right note of the true church.

Observe farther, That whereas these Gentiles are said to tread under foot the holy city forty-two months, thereby is signified, that they should kill and persecute the true spouse and church of Christ, (called the holy city, in allusion to the earthly Jerusalem,) during the time of Anti-christ's prevalency, shall be but for a limited time, a short time; the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Three and a half years is used frequently in Rev. Seven is perfection and so this

broken seven is imperfection and incompleteness. See in 11:3; 11:11; 13:5; 12:6,14.

It stands for the restless, dissatisfied, the incomplete. "This broken seven is a

syumbol of the interruption of the divine order of things by the devices of Satan and

the malice of evil men." It is not a whole period, but a broken period

This period of persecution would last forty-two months--the same length of time for the

event of 11:3; 12:6, 14, and 13:5. This is the same amount of time Daniel said the fourth

kingdom (the Roman) would persecute the saints (Dan. 7:21-27). The literal city of

Jerusalem would be "trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be

fulfilled" (Luke 21:24) which meant that it would have its "end" (Luke 21:9; Matt.

24:6,14). John's "holy city," however, would be trampled under foot only for a limited

time. The following shows that the events of 11:2,3; 12:6; 13:5,7 and Dan. 7:13-15 all

referring to the same time period:

42 months - The holy city trodden - Rev. 11:2

1,260 days - The two witnesses prophesy - Rev. 11:3

1,260 days - The woman is fed in wilderness - Rev. 12:6

Time and times and half a time - 3 and 1/2 years - The beast would continue...was

granted to make war with the saints and overcome them - Rev. 13:5,7

Time and times and half a time - 3 and 1/2 years - The fourth beast shall be a fourth

kingdom...the saints would be given into his hand - Dan. 7:23,25 DAVID RIGGS

"In Rev. 11:2, the time during which the Romans are to tread down the holy city, (in this

case the capital is, as usual in the Jewish Scripture, the representation of the country), is

said to be forty-two months = three and a half years. The active invasion of Judea

continued almost exactly this length of time, being at the most only a few days more; so

few that they need not, and would not, enter into symbolic computation of time." (Stuart,

p. 279)

"Forty and two months. After all the investigation which I have been able to make I feel

compelled to believe that the writer refers to a literal and definite period, although not so

exact that a singly day, or even a few days, or variation from it would interfere with the

object he has in view. It is certain that the invasion of the Romans lasted just about the

length of the period named, until Jerusalem was taken. And although the city was not

besieged so long, yet the metropolis in this case, as in innumerable others in both

Testaments, appears to stand for the country of Judea. During the invasion of Judea by

the Romans the faithful testimony of the persecuted witnesses for Christianity is

continued, while at last they are slain. The patience of God in deferring so long the

destruction of the persecutors is displayed by this, and especially His mercy in continuing

to warn and reprove them. This is a natural, simple, and easy method of interpretation, to

say the least, and one which, although it is not difficult to raise objections against it, I feel

constrained to adopt."

3

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and

they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in

sackcloth."

BARES, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses - In respect to this important passage Revelation 11:3-13I propose to pursue the same method which I have pursued all along in this exposition: first, to examine the meaning of the words and phrases in the symbol, with a purpose to ascertain the fair signification of the symbols; and, secondly, to inquire into the application - that is, to inquire whether any events have occurred which, in respect to their character and to the time of their occurrence, can be shown to be a fair fulfillment of the language.And I will give power - The word “power” is not in the original. The Greek is simply, “I will give” - that is, I will grant to my two witnesses the right or the power of prophesying during the time specified - correctly expressed in the margin, “give unto my two witnesses that they may prophesy.” The meaning is not that he would send two witnesses to prophesy, but rather that these were in fact such “witnesses,” and that he would during that time permit them to exercise their prophetic gifts, or give them the privilege and the strength to enunciate the truth which they were commissioned to communicate as his “witnesses” to mankind. Some word, then, like “power, privilege, opportunity, or boldness,” it is necessary to supply in order to complete the sense.

Unto my two witnesses - The word “two” evidently denotes that the number would be small; and yet it is not necessary to confine it literally to two persons, or to two societies or communities. Perhaps the meaning is, that as, under the law, two witnesses were required, and were enough, to establish any fact (notes on John 8:17), such a number would during those times be preserved from apostasy as would be sufficient to keep up the evidence of truth; to testify against the prevailing abominations, errors, and corruptions; to show what was the real church, and to bear a faithful witness against the wickedness of the world. The law of Moses required that there should be two witnesses on a trial, and this, under that law, was deemed a competent number. See Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15;Matthew 18:16; John 5:30-33. The essential meaning of this passage then is, that there would be “a competent number” of witnesses in the case; that is, as many as would be regarded as sufficent to establish the points concerning which they would testify, with perhaps the additional idea that the number would be small.

There is no reason for limiting it strictly to two persons, or for supposing that they would appear in pairs, two and two; nor is it necessary to suppose that it refers particularly to two people or nations.

The word rendered “witnesses” - µάρτυρί marturi- is that from which we have derived the word “martyr.” It means properly one who bears testimony, either in a judicial sense Matthew 18:16; Matthew 26:65, or one who can in any way testify to the truth of what he has seen and known, Luke 24:48; Romans 1:9; Philemon 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:12. Then it came to be employed in the sense in which the word “martyr” is now - to denote one who, amidst great sufferings or by his death, bears witness to the truth; that is, one who is so confident of the truth, and so upright, that he will rather lay down his life than deny the truth of what he has seen and known, Acts 22:20; Revelation 2:13. In a similar sense it comes to denote one who is so thoroughly convinced on a subject that it is not susceptible of being seen and heard, or who is so attached to one that he is willing to lay down his life as the evidence of his conviction and attachment. The word, as used here, refers to those who, during this period of “forty and two months,” would thus be witnesses for Christ in the world; that is, who would bear their testimony to the truth of his religion, to the doctrines which he had revealed, and to what was required of man - who would do this amidst surrounding error and corruption, and when exposed to persecutions and trials on account of their belief. It is not uncommon in the Scriptures to represent the righteous as witnesses for God. See the notes on Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 43:12; Isaiah 44:8.

And they shall prophesy - The word “prophesy” does not necessarily mean that they would predict future events; but the sense is, that they would give utterance to the truth as God had revealed it.

See the notes on Revelation 10:11. The sense here is, that they would in some public manner hold up or maintain the truth before the world.

A thousand two hundred and threescore days - The same period as the forty and two monthsRevelation 11:2, though expressed in a different form. Reckoning a day for a year, this period would be twelve hundred and sixty years, or the same as the “time and times and the dividing of time” in Daniel 7:25. See the notes on that place; also Editor‘s Preface. The meaning of this would be, therefore, that during that long period, in which it is said that “the holy city would be trodden under foot,” there would be those who might be properly called “witnesses” for God, and who would be engaged in holding up his truth before the world; that is, there would be no part of that period in which there would not be found some to whom this appellation could with propriety be given. Though the “holy city” - the church - would seem, to be wholly trodden down, yet there would be a few at least who would assert the great doctrines of true godliness.

Clothed in sackcloth - Sackcloth - σάκκους sakkous- was properly a coarse black cloth commonly made of hair, used for sacks, for straining, and for mourning garments. See the Revelation 6:12 note;Isaiah 3:24 note; and Matthew 11:21 note. Here it is an emblem of mourning; and the idea is, that they would prophesy in the midst of grief. This would indicate that the time would be one of calamity, or that, in doing this, there would be occasion for their appearing in the emblems of grief, rather than in robes expressive of joy. The most natural interpretation of this is, that there would be but few who could be regarded as true witnesses for God in the world, and that they would be exposed to persecution.

CLARKE, “My two witnesses - This is extremely obscure; the conjectures of interpreters are as unsatisfactory as they are endless on this point.Conjecturas conjecturis superstruunt, parum verosimiles, says Rosenmuller:quorum sententias enarrare, meum non est. I say the same. Those who wish to be amused or bewildered, may have recourse both to ancients and moderns on this subject.

GILL, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses,.... By whom are meant, not Enoch and Elias, as some of the ancient fathers thought, who, they supposed, would come before the appearance of Christ, and oppose antichrist, and be slain by him, which sense the Papists greedily catch at; nor are the Scriptures, the two Testaments, Old and New, designed, though their name and number agree, and also their office, which is to testify of Christ; but then to be clothed in sackcloth, to be killed, and rise again, and ascend to heaven, are things that cannot so well be accommodated to them: but these witnesses intend the ministers of the Gospel and churches of Christ, who have bore testimony for Christ, and against antichrist, ever since he appeared in the world; and particularly the churches and ministers in Piedmont bid fair for this character; who were upon the spot when antichrist arose, always bore their protest against him, and were ever independent of the church of Rome, and subsisted in the midst of the darkness of the apostasy; and suffered much, and very great persecutions, from the Papists; and have stood their ground, and continue to this day; and have been like olive trees and candlesticks, imparting oil and light to others. Though they ought not to be considered exclusive of other ministers and churches, who also have bore, and still do bear a witness for Christ, and against the idolatries of the church of Rome: no two individual persons can be meant, since these witnesses were to prophesy 1260 days, that is, so many years, but a succession of ministers and churches; and these are called two, both on account of the fewness of them, and because the testimony of two is sufficient to confirm any matter; and it may be in allusion to the various instances of two eminent persons being raised up at certain periods of time, as Moses and Aaron, at the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt; Caleb and Joshua, at their entrance into Canaan; Elijah and Elisha in the idolatrous times of Ahab; and Joshua and Zerubbabel at the rebuilding and finishing of the second temple. Now the Angel, and who is Christ, here promises that he will give something to these witnesses: some supply the words, "I will give it"; that is, the holy city, or the church, to them, to be taken care of and defended; others, "I will give" them a mouth and wisdom, which their adversaries shall not be able to resist, according to the promise in Luke 21:15. We supply the words, "I will give power"; that is,

authority to preach the Gospel, and strength to profess it, and to continue to bear a testimony to it, signified by prophesying; see 1 Corinthians 14:1.And they shall prophesy; that is, "that they may prophesy"; which is supported by the Arabic and Ethiopic versions, the former rendering the words, "I will give to my two witnesses to prophesy", and the latter, "I will give in command to my two witnesses that they may prophesy"; the sense is, that Christ will give to them a mission and commission, sufficient authority, all needful gifts and grace, courage and presence of mind to preach his Gospel, to hold forth his word, and bear a testimony for him during the whole time of the apostasy, even

a thousand two hundred and threescore days; that is, so many years, which, as before observed, is the date of the beast's reign, of the holy city being trodden under foot of the Gentiles, and of the church's retirement into the wilderness: it is observable, that the date of the beast's reign and tyranny is expressed by months, and the date of the church's being in the wilderness, and the prophesying of the witnesses, is signified by days; and the reason which some give is not despicable, as that the beast and his followers are the children of darkness and of the night, over which the moon presides, from whence months are, numbered; and the church and the witnesses are children of the day, over which the sun rules. The habit of these witnesses during their time of prophesying follows,

clothed in sackcloth; expressive either of their outward state and condition, being poor, mean, and abject, while the followers of the beast are clad in silks, and live deliciously; or else of the inward frame of their minds, as mourning for the sad estate of the church of Christ, groaning under the tyranny and persecutions of antichrist.

HERY, “In this time of treading down, God has reserved to himself his faithful witnesses, who will not fail to attest the truth of his word and worship, and the excellency of his ways. Here observe,

I. The number of these witnesses: it is but a small number and yet it is sufficient.

1. It is but small. Many will own and acknowledge Christ in times of prosperity

who will desert and deny him in times of persecution; one witness, when the

cause is upon trial, is worth many at other times. 2. It is a sufficient number; for in

the mouth of two witnesses every cause shall be established. Christ sent out his

disciples two by two, to preach the gospel. Some think these two witnesses are

Enoch and Elias, who are to return to the earth for a time: others, the church of

the believing Jews and that of the Gentiles: it should rather seem that they are

God’s eminent faithful ministers, who shall not only continue to profess the

Christian religion, but to preach it, in the worst of times.

II. The time of their prophesying, or bearing their testimony for Christ. A thousand

two hundred and threescore days; that is (as many think), to the period of the

reign of antichrist; and, if the beginning of that interval could be ascertained, this

number of prophetic days, taking a day for a year, would give us a prospect when

the end shall be.

III. Their habit, and posture: they prophesy in sackcloth, as those that are deeply

affected with the low and distressed state of the churches and interest of Christ in

the world.

IV. How they were supported and supplied during the discharge of their great and

hard work: they stood before the God of the whole earth, and he gave them

power to prophesy. He made them to be like Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two

olive-trees and candlestick in the vision of Zechariah, Zech. 4:2 God gave them

the oil of holy zeal, and courage, and strength, and comfort; he made them olive-

trees, and their lamps of profession were kept burning by the oil of inward

gracious principles, which they received from God. They had oil not only in their

lamps, but in their vessels—habits of spiritual life, light, and zeal.

JAMISO, “3. I will give power--There is no "power" in the Greek, so that "give" must mean "give commission," or some such word.

my two witnesses--Greek, "the two witnesses of me." The article implies that the two were well known at least to John.prophesy--preach under the inspiration of the Spirit, denouncing judgments against the apostate. They are described by symbol as "the two olive trees" and "the two candlesticks," or lamp-stands,"standing before the God of the earth."

The reference is to Zechariah 4:3,12, where two individualsare meant, Joshua and Zerubbabel, who ministered to the Jewish Church, just as the two olive trees emptied the oil out of themselves into the bowl of the candlestick. So in the final apostasy God will raise up two inspired witnesses to minister encouragement to

the afflicted, though sealed, remnant. Astwo candlesticks are mentioned

in Revelation 11:4, but only one in Zechariah 4:2, I think the twofold Church, Jewish and Gentile, may be meant by the two candlesticks represented by the

two witnesses: just as in Revelation 7:1-8 there are described first the sealed of Israel, then those of all nations. But those of Moses when witnessing for God against Pharaoh (the type of Antichrist, the last and greatest foe of

Israel), turning the waters into blood, and smiting with plagues; and of Elijah (the witness for God in an almost universal apostasy of Israel, a remnant of

seven thousand, however, being left, as the 144,000 sealed, Revelation 7:1-8)

causing fire by his word to devour the enemy, and shutting heaven, so that it

rained not for three years and six months, the very time (1260 days) during which the two witnesses prophesy. Moreover, the words "witness" and

"prophesy" are usually applied toindividuals, not to abstractions (compare Psalms 52:8). DE BURGH thinks Elijah and Moses will again appear,

as Malachi 4:5,6 seems to imply (compare Matthew 17:11, Acts 3:21). Moses and Elijah appeared with Christ at the Transfiguration, which foreshadowed His

coming millennial kingdom. As to Moses, compare Deuteronomy 34:5,6, Jude 1:9. Elias' genius and mode of procedure bears the same relation to the "second" coming of Christ, that John the Baptist's did to the first coming [BENGEL]. Many of the early Church thought the two witnesses to be Enoch and

Elijah. This would avoid the difficulty of the dying a second time, for these have never yet died; but, perhaps, shall be the witnesses slain. Still, the turning the

water to blood, and the plagues (Revelation 11:6), apply best to

"Moses (compare Revelation 15:3, the song of Moses"). The transfiguration glory of Moses and Elias was not their permanent resurrection-state, which shall not

be till Christ shall come to glorify His saints, for He has precedence before all in rising. An objection to this interpretation is that those blessed departed servants of God would have to submit to death (Revelation 11:7,8), and this in Moses'

case a second time, which Hebrews 9:27 denies. witnesses as answering to "the two olive trees." The two olive trees are channels of the oil feeding the Church, and symbols of peace. The Holy Spirit is the oil in them. Christ's witnesses, in remarkable times of the Church's history, have generally appeared in pairs: as Moses and Aaron, the inspired civil and religious authorities; Caleb and Joshua;

Ezekiel the priest and Daniel the prophet; Zerubbabel and Joshua.in sackcloth--the garment of prophets, especially when calling people to mortification of their sins, and to repentance. Their very exterior aspect accorded with their teachings: so Elijah, and John who came in His spirit and

power. The sackcloth of the witnesses is a catch word linking this episode under

the sixth trumpet, with the sun black as sackcloth (in righteous retribution on the apostates who rejected God's witnesses) under the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12).

COFFMA, “And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand

two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.My two witnesses ... The identity of these two witnesses appears to this writer to be definitely and undeniably, God's word, and God's church, those two witnesses indeed being the only two witnesses of God throughout the whole Christian age, since the ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord. One of these was featured in the preceding chapter under the imagery of the "little book open" in the hand of the Rainbow Angel; and the introduction of the two witnesses here without any preliminary suggests that they have both already appeared. Indeed, John, after eating the little book is the symbol of both the Word and the Church. Many other "explanations" of these two witnesses are fanciful but unconvincing.

Many scholars have recognized the positive connection between these two witnesses and "the people of Christ,"[26] "the church bearing testimony through its ministers, etc.,"[27] "the elect church of God,"[28]etc.; but such identifications fall short of explaining how there are "two" of these witnesses. In order to come up with two, such pairs as the following have been proposed:

The Old and the New Testaments[29]

Moses and Elijah.[30]

Elijah and Elisha.[31]

Elijah and Enoch[32]

Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.[33]

The blameless churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia.[34]

Missionaries sent out "two by two."[35]

Preach the gospel to Jews and Gentiles[36]

The apostles Paul and Peter.

Zerubbabel and Joshua.[37]SIZE>

The extreme importance of identifying these two witnesses as God's Word and God's Church, here personified, will be apparent later in this chapter.

They shall prophesy, clothed in sackcloth ... This symbolizes the general rejection of these witnesses by the world and the apostate church. Their true testimony is given in mourning throughout the whole Christian dispensation. The true church is persecuted, and the Word is denied, contradicted, blasphemed, perverted, mistranslated, and opposed by every class of evil men continually.

And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days ... Note the duration of the witnessing. It lasts throughout the entire period of the gospel from the First to the Second Advent of Christ. Particularly, let it be noted that neither Moses, Elijah, nor any other of the alleged "witnesses" tabulated above has either been seen or heard of during this whole time! But the Word and the Church have never ceased to bear their testimony.

[26] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1081.

[27] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 155.

[28] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 289.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 147.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book in the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 116.

[34] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 134.

[35] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 74.

[36] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 148.

[37] James D. Strauss, The Seer, the Saviour, and the Saved (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1972), p. 154.

ELLICOTT, “(3) And I will give . . .—Translate, And I will give (omit “power”) to my two witnesses, and they shall . . . These are the words of God Himself; the omission of the words “and the angel stood” from Revelation 11:1prevents any confusion of thought on this point. Two witnesses were required for competent evidence (Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15, et al.), and there has constantly been a sending forth of God’s chosen messengers in pairs— Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, besides Joshua and Zerubbabel, alluded to by Zechariah; and in New Testament times our Lord sent forth His disciples “two and two,” as afterwards Paul and Barnabas, or Paul and Silas, went forth to preach. There is, besides the mere mutual support which two can give, a need for the association of two different characters in the same sort of work: the energy and

the sympathy, the elucidator of doctrines and the messenger to the conscience, the apologist and the evangelist, the man of thought and the man of action, the Son of Thunder and the Son of Consolation; it is well that in a world-wide work this duality of power should be brought into play. The witnesses prophesy: the word prophesy must surely be allowed a much wider meaning than merely to predict or foretell future events. The compass of their work, as described afterwards, embraces much more than this (see Revelation 11:5-7): they work wonders, showing tokens that remind us of the days of Moses and Aaron; their words are mighty; their life is a testimony.Their prophesying, or witnessing, extends over forty and two months: a symbolical period, as we have seen, but a period corresponding to that during which other witnesses had witnessed for God. Thus long did Elijah bear witness, under rainless heavens, against the idolatries of Israel; thus long did a greater than Elijah offer the water of life to the Jews, and witness against the hard, unspiritual, worldly religionism of the Pharisee and Sadducee; thus, too, must the witnesses, for God bear testimony during the period that the world- power seems dominant. They are clad in sackcloth— the emblem of mourning (2 Kings 6:30; Jonah 3:4) adopted by the prophets, whose God-taught hearts saw reasons for mourning where shallower minds saw none (Isaiah 20:2, and Zechariah 13:2). Compare the garb of Elijah and John the Baptist (2 Kings 1:8, and Matthew 3:4), whose very apparel and appearance were designed to testify against the evils they saw. “The special witnesses of God, in a luxurious and self-pleasing age, are often marked out from the world by signs of self-denial, of austerity, and even of isolation” (Dr. Vaughan).

Verses 3-14

(3-14) The Two WITNESSES.—It is the opinion of one able and pre-eminently painstaking commentator that “no solution has ever been given of this portion of the prophecy.” I quote this that none may be disappointed when no satisfactory solution is given here; further light in the knowledge of the Bible, and the light of history, and, above all, the aid of the Holy Spirit, may show what the real solution is. At present it is best to lay down the lines which seem to lead in the direction of such a solution. First, the aim of the present vision must be kept in mind; and secondly, the vision in Zechariah (Zechariah 4, all), on which this is professedly built, must be remembered. Now the aim of our present vision seems to be to explain that in the great progress towards victory the Church itself will suffer through corruptions and worldliness, but that 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 in secret, as the rightful king Josiah was, 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. To assure the sacred seer that this would be the ease, to exhibit the nature of their work and its results, is the apparent aim of the vision. If this be so, the witnesses can scarcely be literal individual men, though it is true that many literal individual men have played the part of these witnesses. Turning to the foundation vision in Zechariah, we find that the vision there is designed to encourage the weak and restored exiles in their work of rebuilding the Temple; they are shown that, weak as they are, there is a hidden strength, like a sacred stream of oil, which can make them triumph over all their difficulties: not by might or power, but by God’s Spirit, the mountain would become a plain (Zechariah 4:6-7), and “Grace! Grace!” would be the triumphant shout when the headstone of the Temple was raised. In both visions, then, our minds are turned to the hidden sources of divine strength; there is a safe and secret place measured off by God, where He gives His children strength—not of ordinary might or power, but strength of grace. This is the grace which made Zerubbabel and Joshua strong to achieve their work; this is the grace which can make the two witnesses strong to do their part in the building of that more glorious spiritual temple which is built on the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone. The witnesses, then, stand as the typical representatives of those who, in the strength of God, have, through the long ages, borne witness for Christ against all wrong and falsehood, against a world in arms or a Church in error, or against a nominal Christianity in danger of becoming as corrupt and as cruel as heathenism. Such witnesses stand, like the two columns Jachin and Boaz, before the true Temple of God.

PULPIT, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses. Omit "power." What is given follows, viz. "they shall prophesy," etc. The voice, speaking in the name of Christ, says, "My: The two witnesses of me;" τοῖς , "the," as though they were well known. There is much diversity of interpretation in regard to "the two witnesses." It seems reasonable to understand the two witnesses as representative of the elect Church of God (embracing both Jewish and Christian) and of the witness which she bears concerning God, especially in the Old and New Testaments. The following considerations seem to support this interpretation:

(1) The vision is evidently founded on that in Zec_4:1-14., where it is emblematical of the restored temple, which only in the preceding verse (Rev_11:2) is a type of the elect of God's Church (vide supra).

(2) The Apocalypse continually represents the Church of God, after the pattern of the life of Christ, in three aspects—that of conflict and degradation; that of preservation; that of triumph (see Professor Milligan's Baird Lectures, 'The Revelation of St. John,' lect. 2 and 5.). This is a summary of the vision here.

(3) Much of the Apocalypse follows our Lord's description in Mat_24:1-51. In that chapter (Mat_24:13, Mat_24:14) we have, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Again, a brief description of this vision.

(4) It is not probable that two individuals are meant; for

(a) as we have shown throughout the Apocalypse, the application is invariably to principles and societies, though this may include particular applications in certain cases;

(b) it is inconceivable that Moses and Elias, or any other of the saints of God, should return from Paradise to suffer as these two witnesses;

(c) our Lord expressly explained the reference to the coming of Elias, and declared that he had already come; and

(d) there seems no more reason for interpreting these two witnesses literally of two men, than for interpreting Sodom and Egypt in their ordinary geographical signification in Mat_24:8.

(5) The details of the fate of the two witnesses agree with the interpretation given—the whole vision being understood as symbolical. Thus

(a) the picture of the two witnesses is evidently formed after the pattern of Moses and Elias, on account of the conspicuous witness they bore and the hardship they suffered, as well as their preservation and final vindication. Moreover, Moses and Elias are typical of the Law and the prophets, or the Scriptures—the means (as stated above) by which the Church chiefly bears witness of God.

(b) The time during which they prophesy;

(c) the clothing in sackcloth;

(d) the appellation of candlesticks and olive trees;

(e) their power to hurt;

(f) their apparent death;

(g) the torment they cause;

(h) their resuscitation;

(i) their vindication;

(k) the immediate advent of the final judgment;—all agree (as shown below) with the interpretation given.

(6) Witness is constantly connected in the Apocalypse and elsewhere with the Church, and generally with suffering, sometimes with triumph (cf. Rev_1:2, Rev_1:5, Rev_1:9; Rev_6:9;Rev_12:11, Rev_12:17; Rev_20:4).

(7) In Rev_19:10 we are told, "The testimony [witness] of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," exactly the quality with which the two witnesses are credited (Rev_19:3), and which is the work of the

Church. And they shall prophesy; that is, "prophesy" in its literal meaning of forthtelling God's will and his judgments on the wicked, and so of preaching repentance. This is emphatically the work of the Church, and is accomplished chiefly through the Scriptures. It is this prophesying that torments

(see Rev_19:5, Rev_19:10). A thousand two hundred and three score days. Or, forty and two months (Rev_19:2). During the period of the world's existence (see on Rev_19:2) the Church, although "trodden underfoot," will not cease to "prophesy." Clothed in sackcloth.Thus, symbolically, is expressed the same fact as in Rev_19:2. The Church there is "trodden underfoot" during the period of the world; here it is said that she is to perform her office during this time "clothed in sackcloth." The treatment by the world of both the Church of God and the Word of God is represented by the apparel of mourning and woe, which is the lot of the Church on earth.

BARCLAY, “THE TWO WITESSES

Rev. 11:3-6

It was always part of Jewish belief that God would send his special messenger to men before the final

coming of the Day of the Lord. In Malachi we hear God say: "Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the

way before me" (Mal.3:1). Malachi actually identifies the messenger as Elijah: "Behold, I will send you

Elijah the prophet before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord comes" (Mal.4:5). So, then, in our passage

we have the coming of the messengers of God before the final contest.

These messengers have the task of prophesying; they will prophesy for 1,260 days, that is for three and a

half years, which, as we have seen, is the period always connected with terror and destruction to come.

Their message will be sombre, for they are clothed in sackcloth. It will be a message of condemnation; to

listen to it will be like a torture and the people will be glad when the two witnesses are killed (Rev. 11:10).

(i) Some scholars have entirely allegorized this passage. They see in the two witnesses the Law and the

Prophets, or the Law and the Gospel, or the Old Testament and the New Testament. Or, they see in the two

witnesses a picture of the Church. Jesus had told his followers that they must be witnesses to him in

Jerusalem, in Judaea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth (Ac.1:8). Those who explain the

two witnesses by the witness of the Church explain the number two by referring to Deut.19:15, where it is

said that if a charge is brought against anyone it must be confirmed by the evidence of two witnesses. But

the picture of the two witnesses is so definite that it seems to refer to definite persons.

(ii) The two witnesses have been taken to be Enoch and Elijah. Neither Enoch nor Elijah was said to die.

"Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him" (Gen.5:24); Elijah was taken up in a

whirlwind and in a chariot of fire to heaven (2Kgs.2:11); and Tertullian (Concerning the Soul, 50) refers to

a belief that they were being kept by God in heaven to bring death to Antichrist.

(iii) Much more likely the witnesses are Elijah and Moses. Elijah was held to be the greatest of the

prophets, just as Moses was the supreme law-giver; and it was fitting that the two outstanding

figures in the religious history of Israel should be God's messengers at the last time. It was these two

who appeared to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mk.9:4). Further, the things said of them

fit Moses and Elijah as they fit no one else. It is said (Rev. 11:6) that they have power to turn the

water into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues, and that is what Moses did (compare

specially Exo.7:14-18). It is said that fire proceeds out of their mouth and burns up their enemies,

and that they can shut up the heavens so that the rain is withheld. That is what Elijah did with the

company of soldiers sent to take him (2Kgs.1:9-10) and when he prophesied to Ahab that there

would be no rain upon the earth (1Kgs.17:1). We have already seen that Elijah was expected to

return to herald the end; and it would not be difficult to regard God's promise that he would raise

up a prophet like Moses (Deut.18:18) as a prophecy that Moses himself would return.

Tertullian in Treatise on the Soul says they are Enoch and Elijah. "Enoch no

doubt was translated and so was Elijah, nor did they exsperience death. It was

postponed, and only postponed, most certainly; they are reserved for the suffering

of death, that by their blood they may extinguish the antichrist." Others say Moses

and Elijah or two great prohents of the future. Some say Israel and the Church, the

two great witnesses of God in history.

RAY SUMMERS, (11:3-13) The identity of the two witnesses has een variously

interpreted. Larkin as representative of the futurists interprets it literally. He says

they are to be men who will be witnesses of the end of the world. They will have

supernatural power and divine protection for a while. They will then be Killed by

the representatives of the ruling Antichrist but after three and one-half days will be

brought back to life. He identifies them as Moses and Elijah. He explains that,

according to Malachi 4:5-6, Elijah was to come as a forrrunner of the great and

dreadfuo day of the Lord.

Carroll, representing the continuous-historial interpretation, applies this vision

to the apostasy of the church during the dark period from the third century to the

Reformation. He follows the year-day method of intrpretation, which makes the

1,260 days of the three and one-half years equal to 1,260 years, thus reaching from

about the end of the third century to about the Reformation. The two witnesses

according to this view are the true church and the preacher who never cease to

witness during this dark period. The same questions arises as with the literal view.

What comfort to the Christians of John's day could have been found in this? They

needed something to help them right then. They knew and cared nothing about an

apostate Roman Catholic Church in the West nor an apostate Greek Catholic

Church in the East. They knew of a beaten and broken church in their own day and

needed something to assure them of divine help and strength. either of the above

interpretations answers that need.

The number "2" in Oriental symbolism carried the idea of strength--two men were

much stronger than one man. In this instance the two witnesses appear to symbolize

a testimony or witness of great power. In this God seems to be saying, "Be assured

of the fact that though the world in which you live is dominated by evil men, you

will be protected and the gospelwill be preached; the Christian witness will be

maintained. Every word tht is used to describe the two witnesses and their function

shows that John is writing allusively. The task of the church is universal publication

of the gospel; this will be carried out even if it is in the face of adversity. The

witnesses represent the militant spirit of true Christians and their testimony.

BURKITT, “Observe here, 1. That the church of God during Anti-christ's prevalency, shall not want witnesses or faithful teachers, though removed by persecution into corners.

Observe, 2. By mentioning two only, we may gather the paucity of faithful teachers, during the time

of Anti-christ's prevalency; two are a number, but the least of numbers; we must not have our eye upon the multitude, or conclude that it is not truth which is not embraced and practised by the most; the train of Christ is not large, nor are his ways thronged as they ought, few comparatively there be that walk in them. As they, whom he calls forth to be eminently his witnesses, are not many,

therefore called two; so they that received their witnesses are but few, forthe world wonders after

the beast.

Quest. But who and what are these witnesses?

Ans. The whole succession of faithful ministers, martyrs, and confessors, which Almighty God from time to time has raised up in his church to be the assertors and maintainers of divine truth, and to bear their testimony for Christ against all heresies, blasphemies, idolatries, and usurpations, in the time of Anti-christ's reign.

Observe, 3. The proper work of these witnesses declared, it is to instruct the people how to worshop God according to his word and will. The manner of their prophesying is said to be

insackcloth; that is, in much affliction and with great lamentation, bewailing the pollutions of the church, by the overspreadings of idolatry; and the time of their prophesying is said to be a

thousand two hundred and threescore days; that is, during the time of Anti-christ's reign, so long the witnesses shall have a mournful time of it; during the whole reign of Anti-christ, God will have a true church, a true ministry, and faithful witnesses, whom, though Anti-christ will fight with, yet he shall never prevail against.

Observe, 4. How God is pleased to own and bear witness to these his witnesses.

1. He calls them his, my two witnesses.

2. He gives them power to prophecy; that is, they have their commission and authority from him, and they are enabled, assisted, and succeeded, by him, in the discharge of their testimony; their resolution and courage is from God, who calls them forth to bear their testimony for him.

Learn hence, That when God calls any of his to a martyr's fire, he does endue them with a martyr's faith; he furnishes his ministers and faithful servants with noble endowments, answerable to their great employments; God evermore gives much grace, where he tries grace much. As the command of God makes every duty necessary, so the assistance of God makes every duty easy, and the reward of God makes every duty and service gainful and advantageous.

RIGGS, “The vision of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:2-12). The tenth and eleventh chapters

occupy an intermediary place between the visions of the seven trumpets and the seven

signs. In the two witnesses of God, some Holy Fathers see the Old Testament righteous

ones Enoch and Elijah, who will come to earth before the end of the world in order to

disclose the falsity of the antichrist and to call mankind toward loyalty to God. Or the two

might be Moses and Elijah. It is known that both Enoch and Elijah were taken up alive to

Heaven (Gen. 5:24, 2 Kings 2:11). The capital punishment that these witnesses will

impose on mankind brings to mind the miracles performed by the prophets Moses,

Aaron, and Elias (Exo. chs. 7-12, 1 Kings 17:1, 2 Kings 1:10) The Apostles Peter and

Paul, who had recently suffered in Rome under Nero, could have served as examples

(prototypes) of the two witnesses for St. John. Evidently, the two witnesses in the

Apocalypse are a symbol for other witnesses of Christ who spread the Gospel in a hostile

pagan world and often seal their preaching with a martyr's death. The words "Sodom and

Egypt, where even our Lord is crucified," point to the city of Jerusalem, in which our

Lord Jesus Christ suffered, as well as many prophets and the first Christians.

The third part of the interlude involves the two witnesses. "Two" symbolizes strength

(Eccl. 4:9-12). The early missionary journeys were accompanied two by two. We see in

these verses the symbol of the strength of the early apostles and prophets bearing witness

of the gospel. This same testimony continued in the Word held and proclaimed by the

saints. They gave a powerful witness for 1,260 days (again, the same time as in 11:2,

12:6, 14; Dan 7:21-26) clothed in sackcloth (a coarse sack fabric which was worn by

ancient people in time of mourning); thus, they were prophesying through a time of

affliction or persecution. DAVID RIGGS

4

These are the two olive trees and the two

lampstands that stand before the Lord of the

earth.

BARES, “These are the two olive-trees - These are represented by the two olive-trees, or these are what are symbolized by the two olive-trees. There can be little doubt that there is an allusion here to Zechariah 4:3,Zechariah 4:11, Zechariah 4:14, though the imagery is in some respects changed. The prophet Zechariah 4:2-3 saw in vision “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 were 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.” These two “olive branches” were subsequently declared Revelation 11:14 to be “the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” The olive-trees, or olive-branches Revelation 11:12, appear in the vision of the prophet to have been connected with the ever-burning lamp by golden pipes; and as the olive-tree produced the oil used by the ancients in their lamps, these trees are represented as furnishing a constant supply of oil through the golden pipes to the candlestick, and thus they become emblematic of the supply of grace to the church. John uses this emblem, not in the sense exactly in which it was employed by the prophet, but to denote that these two “witnesses,” which might be compared with the two olivetrees, would be the means of supplying grace to the church. 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.And the two candlesticks - The prophet Zechariah saw but one such candlestick or lamp-bearer; John here saw two - as there are two “witnesses” referred to. In the vision described in Revelation 1:12, he saw seven - representing the seven churches of Asia. For an explanation of the meaning of the symbol, see the notes on that verse.

Standing before the God of the earth - So Zechariah 4:14, “These be the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” The meaning is, that they stood, as it were, in the very presence of God - as, in the tabernacle and temple, the golden candlestick stood “before” the ark on which was the symbol of the divine presence, though separated from it by a veil. Compare the notes on Revelation 9:13. This representation, that the ministers of religion “stand before the Lord,” is one that is not uncommon in the Bible. Thus it is said of the priests and Levites: “The Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to staled before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless his name,” Deuteronomy 10:8; compare Deuteronomy 18:7. The same thing is said of the prophets, as in the cases of Elijah and Elisha: “As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand,” 1 Kings 17:1; also, 1 Kings 18:15; 2 Kings 3:14; 2 Kings 5:16; compare Jeremiah 15:19. The representation is, that they ministered, as it were, constantly in his presence, and under his eye.

CLARKE, “These are the two olive trees - Mentioned Zechariah 4:14, which there represent Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest. The whole account seems taken from Zechariah 4:1-14. Whether the prophet and the apostle mean the same things by these emblems, we know not.

GILL, “These are the two olive trees,.... Or represented by the two olive trees in Zechariah 4:3, which there design Joshua and Zerubbabel; and who in laying out themselves, their gifts and wealth, in rebuilding and finishing the temple, were types of these witnesses, the ministers of the Gospel, in the successive ages of the apostasy; who may be compared to olive trees, because of the oil of grace, and the truth of it in them; and because of the gifts of the Spirit of God bestowed on them, or their having that anointing which teacheth all things; and because they freely impart their gifts, and the golden oil of the Gospel unto others, and also bring the good tidings of peace and salvation by Christ, of which the olive leaf is a symbol; and because they are like the olive tree, fat, flourishing, and fruitful in spiritual things; they are sons of oil, and God's anointed ones:and the two candlesticks; which hold forth the light of the word, in the midst of Popish darkness: this shows that churches, as well as ministers, are designed by the witnesses, since the candlesticks are explained of the churches, Revelation 1:20, though the simile well agrees with ministers of the word, who are the lights of the world, or hold forth the light of the Gospel, which is put into them by Christ: and these olive trees and candlesticks are represented as

standing before the God of the earth; ministering unto him, enjoying his presence, and having his assistance, and being under his protection. The Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "the Lord of the earth"; and so the Complutensian edition; see Zechariah 4:14.

JAMISO, “4. standing before the God of the earth--A, B, C, Vulgate,

Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS read "Lord" for "God": so Zechariah 4:14. Ministering to (Luke 1:19), and as in the sight of Him, who, though now so widely disowned on "earth," is its rightful King, and shall at last be openly recognized as such (Revelation 11:15). The phrase alludes to Zechariah 4:10,14,

"the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." The article "the" marks this allusion. They are "the two candlesticks," not that they are the

Church, the one candlestick, but as its representative light-

bearers(Greek, "phosteres," Philippians 2:15), and ministering for its encouragement in a time of apostasy. WORDSWORTH'S view is worth consideration, whether it may not constitute a secondary sense: the two

witnesses, the olive trees, are THE TWO TESTAMENTS ministering

their testimony to the Church of the old dispensation, as well as to that of the new, which explains the two witnesses being called also the two

candlesticks (the Old and New Testament churches; the candlestick in Zechariah

4:2 is but one as there was then but one Testament, and one Church, the Jewish). The Church in both dispensations has no light in herself, but derives it from the Spirit through the witness of the twofold word, the two olive trees: the

reed, the Scripture canon, being the measure of the Church: so PRIMASIUS [X, p. 314]: the two witnesses preach in sackcloth, marking the ignominious

treatment which the word, like Christ Himself, receives from the world. So the twenty-four elders represent the ministers of the two dispensations by the

double twelve. But Revelation 11:7 proves that primarily the two Testaments cannot be meant; for these shall never be "killed," and never "shall have finished their testimony" till the world is finished.

COFFMA,”These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the

Lord of the earth.These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks ... This pinpoints the vision of Zechariah 4:2-6, which contains a vision of the same seven candlesticks, representing the Lord's churches, with which this prophecy began (Revelation 1:12f); but John needed a "two" here instead of a "seven"; so he fastened upon "the two olive trees" of the same vision. These were also said by the angel of Zechariah's vision to be the "Word of the Lord" (Zechariah 4:6), thus making these two olive trees a fitting designation of the Word, as well as being a symbol of the church. For a fuller treatment of this, see in my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 181-183. Now the two olive trees alone would best be understood as the Old Testament and the New Testament, but John did not use the olive trees alone as the two witnesses; he threw in the "candlesticks," already presented in Revelation as a symbol of the whole church; but, in order to conform the symbol to the requirements of presenting just two witnesses, he mentioned just two, instead of the seven. There is also something else in this. The seven candlesticks of chapter 1 represented the wicked and faithless churches, as well as the true ones, of which there were just two; and, since the two witnesses presented in this chapter are "faithful," the two candlesticks would represent "the faithful portion of the church," as distinguished from all of it, as being one of the faithful witnesses of this chapter. Therefore, the two olive trees represent the word of God (the Old Testament and the New Testament), and the two candlesticks represent the true church (the Smyrna and Philadelphia congregations as contrasted with the remainder of the seven). A reference to the tabulated pairs above will show how close some of the commentators came to this interpretation without ever seeing it. Thus this verse emphatically confirms the identification of these two witnesses as the personified Word of God and the Church of God.

Plummer identified these two witnesses as the Old Testament and the New Testament on the basis of that being their meaning in Zechariah 4:2-6; and that is surely correct as far as it goes. It is the injection of the candlesticks that indicates the Church as one of the witnesses. Of course, the Old Testament and the New Testament are the Word of God. Thus our interpretation is, in a sense, but a refinement of Plummer's.

Leon Morris' comment on this should also be noted: "Since there are seven lampstands, and only two are mentioned here, it is only part of the church which is meant."[38] This is true; only two of the seven churches symbolized by the seven candlesticks of Revelation 1 were true, Smyrna and Philadelphia. This justifies the conclusion, therefore, that the "part" mentioned by Morris is actually the "whole" of the true church. Some, of course, make those two congregations the "two witnesses" of this chapter, but have they prophesied throughout the whole Christian dispensation in sackcloth? No!

Standing before the Lord of the earth ... The stability and faithfulness of the two witnesses is manifest in such a statement as this. God's two faithful witnesses, the Word and the Church, are indestructible. The Word endureth forever, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.

ELLICOTT, “(4) These are . . .—Translate, These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks which stand before the Lord of the earth. This is the verse which refers us to the vision of Zechariah for the basis of our present vision. There, as here, we have the two olive trees, which are explained to be “the two anointed ones which stand before the Lord of the whole earth.” The explanation is supposed to refer to Zerubbabel and Joshua. or, as others think, to Zechariah and Haggai. At that time these men were the witnesses for God in their land and among their people. But the answer of the angel is general: “the olive trees are the two anointed ones which stand,” &c. For the vision is general and age-long; it reminds us of the returned Jewish exiles, and of those who were then among them, as anointed witnesses, but it shows us that such witnesses are to be found in more than one era; for it is not Zerubbabel and Joshua who can exhaust the fulness of a vision which is the representation of the eternal truth that the oil of gladness and strength from God will rest on those who rely, not on might or power, but on God’s Spirit. The fact that the witnesses are two is brought more prominently forward here than in Zechariah. There, though the olive trees are two, the candlestick is but one, with seven lamps; here there are two candlesticks spoken of as well as two olive trees. This amplification of the original vision is, perhaps, designed to remind us of the greater latitude of diversity in the new dispensation. Just as in the early chapters of this book we had seven golden candlesticks, which, though one in Christ, yet are spoken of as separate, so here the double aspect, the diverse though united efforts of the two witnesses. are brought into prominence. It may serve to remind us. that the witnesses are to be expected to keep their individuality and to use freely their diverse powers. It is not from one class or with one mode of action that the witnesses come: they may be of the statesman class, like Moses and Zerubbabel; of the prophetic or priestly like Zechariah and Haggai, like Aaron and the later Joshua (Zechariah 3:1); for men may witness for God, according as the evils of their time and age require it in the State as well as in the Church. The work of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and Howard is a work and a witness for God as well as the work of Chrysostom, Athanasius, and Luther; for the witnesses are raised up to speak against the neglect of humanity as well as against errors in divinity; against a heartless as well as against a creedless Christianity, for both lead back to heathenism. These witnesses are burning and shining lights; in them is centred the light of their age; in them is found the token that the grace of God never fails, but as the Church’s day so shall her strength be. Here, too, we have the pledge that from Him who is both Priest and King the civil rulers as well as the ecclesiastical rulers may draw grace according to their gifts; and from Him, too, all who are made kings as well as priests to God may derive the power to give the double witness of a life anointed by the Spirit of consecration and ruled by the sceptre of righteousness.

PULPIT, “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks. The "two olive trees" and the "two candlesticks" are here identical. Thus, while St. John uses the figure of Zechariah, he does not apply it in every detail. In the prophet, but one candlestick is mentioned. "The two olive trees," which supply the material for the candlesticks, are fit emblems of the Old and New Testaments; the candlesticks typify the Jewish and Christian Churches. These are identical so far as being God's

witnesses; the Church derives her stores from the Word of God, the light of the Word of God is manifested through the Church. Standing before the God of the earth; the Lord of the earth (Revised Version). The participle is masculine, though the preceding article and nouns are feminine, probably as being more in keeping with the masculine character under which the two witnesses are depicted. Perhaps he is described as the "Lord of the earth," since the witnesses are to prophesy before all the earth (cf. verse 9 and Mat_24:14).

BURKITT, “Observe here, 1. A double title given by God unto the two witnesses, spoken of in

the former verse; they are styled olive-trees and candlesticks. As the olive-tree is always green, so the ministry of these witnesses is lively and efficacious; as the olive is a sign of peace, and the oil that drops from the olive an emblem of grace, so the ministry of these witnesses was a ministry both of grace and peace. Again, they are called olive-trees, because they are to minister oil to the candlesticks, which are to hold out light unto others.

Here note, That the title of candlesticks given to the churches, chap. 1 is here given to the ministers of the church; partly to show the near relation that is between them, and partly to point out the duty that is mutually incumbent upon them; namely, to hold forth the light of truth unto others.

And farther, these candlesticks are said to stand before the God of the earth, signifying their fidelity in the discharge of their duty, as in the presence of God, before whom they stand.

Observe, 2. The efficacy and power of these witnesses' ministry in the certain effects of it. What was said of Elijah and Elisha literally, is applied unto them spiritually.

1. As Elijah brought fire down from heaven, which devoured the enemy, so fire proceeds out of these witnesses' mouth, not by way of imprecation, but by way of denunciation, pronouncing the threatenings and judgments of God against them, continuing in their impenitency.

2. As Elijah had power to shut heaven, so have these witnesses power to do the like during the time of their prophecy; that is, God is provoked for the world's ill treatment of his faithful witnesses to withhold the spiritual rain of the word, and the refreshing doctrine of the gospel, from them.

Again, when it is said that these witnesses have power to turn the waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, there is a manifest allusion to Moses and Aaron, who exercised such a power. Exodus 7.

Accordingly, God being provoked by the indignities offered to his faithful witnesses, permits the pure doctrine of the gospel to be corrupted, and avenges their cause, by bringing judgments on the world, as Moses did upon Egypt, according to the threatenings denounced by them.

Whence we may learn, what great credit and esteem the faithful witnesses and ministers of Christ are in with God; what power and prerogative is given to them, far surpassing the power of any mortal prince, even a power to open and shut heaven, to turn waters into blood, and to smite the earth: that is, God doth all these things upon a just occasion in vindication of them, and in revenge for the injuries done unto them.

Verse 4 says, "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the

God of the earth." This explanation of the two witnesses seems to be drawn from the

vision in Zechariah 4. The angel that talked with Zechariah asked him saying, "Do you

not know what these (the two olive trees) are? (Zech. 4:13) The angel said, "These are

the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth." In the context of

chapters 3 and 4 of Zechariah, Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor were

God's anointed ones. It was through those offices that He was blessing Israel at that time.

The "two witnesses" of Rev. 11 perhaps is referring to the apostles and prophets. The

terms "they will prophesy" (vs. 3) and "their testimony" (vs. 7) no doubt refers to the

testimony that was borne during the time of persecution (Rev. 6:9; 12:11,17; 19:10;

20:4). Here again is a chart which shows that many of the terms in the book tie all the

scenes together. It will become more evident as we proceed, that this fact is important in

helping to obtain the correct interpretation of the book.

THE TESTIMOY OR WITESS OF JESUS

Revelation 1:2 - Who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus

Christ, and to all things that he saw.

Revelation 1:9 - I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the

kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the

word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 6:9 - When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those

who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

Revelation 11:7 - Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the

bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

Revelation 12:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of

their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Revelation 12:17 - And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make

war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the

testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:10 - And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See that you

do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of

Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Revelation 20:4 - And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed

to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus

and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not

received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with

Christ for a thousand years.

Through their testimony, the two witnesses had great power and strength (vss. 3, 5, and

6). They had power to devour their enemies and to prevent rain (as did Elijah) and power

to turn water into blood and afflict the earth with every plague (as did Moses). All of this

showed that the restraining force of the civil authorities were not able to destroy the early

work of witnessing and preaching the gospel.

However, the testimony must meet its opposing strength. The beast that ascends out of

the bottomless pit (the beast, the instrument that Satan used to overcome the saints, is not

here identified; it will be identified in ch. 13 as the Roman Empire; see also 17:8) shall

make war against them, and shall overcome and kill them (see 13:7). Their dead bodies

shall lie in the street of the great city (called "Babylon" and "the great whore" and will

later be identified as the city of Rome, 14:8; 16:19; 17:5-6,18; 18:2,10,16,18,19,21,24;

19:2). Sodom (ungodliness) and Egypt (bondage to sin) are the things that put the Savior

to death. These opposing characteristics, the same ones that put Jesus to death, seem to

overcome. (Note: If one makes the expression, "where also our Lord was crucified"

literal, why doesn't he also make the "beast," "bottomless pit," "their dead bodies," and

"they ascended to heaven" literal?)

In applying the scene to the Christians of that day, it seemed to them that Imperial Rome

would be able to destroy Christianity. Indeed, the influence and spread of Christianity

was stopped by the great persecution. Its believers had been slaughtered; its voice was

silenced. Their dead bodies were a gazing-stock as the wicked rejoiced over them.

However, Rome had not thought of the power of God. After three days and a half

(meaning a short time) the breath of life from God entered into them. The cause of

Christianity will always eventually triumph. The church is restored to its power and

influence. Great fear fell on the earth dwellers as the two witnesses came alive and went

up to heaven. In that hour there was a great earthquake (symbolizes a judgment from

God) and a tenth part of the city fell and seven thousand people died. Those who

remained in the city were terrified and gave glory to God.

The witnessing or the preaching of the gospel had great force at first, but there soon arose

a terrible persecution and many of the Christians were killed. The witnessing seemed to

be stopped. However, the strong witness of God will eventually triumph, though bitterly

opposed. The two witnesses being raised and taken into heaven indicates the revival of

the gospel cause. John's vision compares with Isaiah's vision of the figurative resurrection

of Israel from Babylonian exile (Isa. 26:13-19), and with Ezekiel's vision of the valley of

dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14) in which the prophet described the resurrection of Israel from

the grave of their captivity. Ezekiel's and John's visions contain several similar

expressions, but Ezekiel's referred to the return of Israel from exile, and John's to the

victory over the heathen persecutors. Also, remember that the kingdom was never to be

destroyed, but was to be proven that it is an everlasting kingdom (Dan 7:21-27; Rev.

11:15). The purpose of John's words was to give comfort and encouragement to the

suffering saints of his time as well as to suffering saints of any age. DAVID RIGGS

5

If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from

their mouths and devours their enemies. This

is how anyone who wants to harm them must

die.

BARES, “And if any man will hurt them - This implies that there would be those who would be disposed to injure or wrong them; that is, that they would be liable to persecution. The word “will”

is here more than the mere sign of the future; it denotes “intention, purpose, design,” θέλεὶ thelei-

“if any man wills or purposes to injure them.” See a similar use of the word in 1 Timothy 6:9. The

word “hurt” here means to do “injury” or “injustice” - ἀδικῆσαι adikēsai- and may refer to wrong in any form - whether in respect to their character, opinions, persons, or property. The general sense is, that there would be those who would be disposed to do them harm, and we should naturally look for the fulfillment of this in some form of persecution.Fire proceedeth out of their mouth - It is, of course, not necessary that this should be taken literally. The meaning is, that they would have the power of destroying their enemies as if fire should proceed out of their mouth; that is, their words would be like burning coals or flames. There may possibly be an allusion here to 2 Kings 1:10-14, where it is said that Elijah commanded the fire to descend from heaven to consume those who were sent to take him (compare Luke 9:54); but in that case Elijah commanded the fire to come “from heaven”; here it proceedeth “out of the mouth.” The allusion here, therefore, is to the denunciations which they would utter, or the doctrines which they would preach, and which would have the same effect on their enemies as if they breathed forth fire and flame. So Jeremiah 5:14, “Because ye speak this word, Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”

And devoureth their enemies - The word “devour” is often used with reference to fire, which seems to “eat up” or “consume” what is in its way, or to “feed on” what it destroys. This is the sense

of the word here - κατεσθίει katesthiei- “to eat down, to swallow down, to devour.” Compare Revelation 20:9; Septuagint Isaiah 29:6; Joel 2:5; Leviticus 10:2. As there is no reason to believe that there would be literal fire, so it is not necessary to suppose that their enemies would be literally devoured or consumed. The meaning is fulfilled if their words should in any way produce an effect on their enemies similar to what is produced by fire: that is, if it should destroy their influence; if it should overcome and subdue them; if it should annihilate their domination in the world.

And if any man will hurt them - This is repeated in order to make the declaration more intensive, and also to add another thought about the effect of persecuting and injuring them.

He must in this manner be killed - That is, in the manner specified - by fire. It does not mean that he would be killed in the same manner in which the “witnesses” were killed, but in the method specified before - by the fire that should proceed out of their mouth. The meaning is, undoubtedly, that they would have power to bring down on them divine vengeance or punishment, so that there would be a just retaliation for the wrongs done them.

CLARKE, “Fire proceedeth out of their mouth - That is, they are commissioned to denounce the judgments of God against all who would attempt to prevent them from proceeding in their ministry.

GILL, “And if any man will hurt them,.... Do any injury to their persons, or properties, oppose their writings, blaspheme their doctrines, and hinder their ministrations; whoever; they be, whether they be any that live among them, or in other parts; whether they be secret or open enemies; or whether they be of the outward court, or be really Gentiles or Papists; and especially if they do them any injustice, if they wrong, oppress, afflict, and distress them knowingly and willingly:fire proceedeth out of their mouth; by which may be meant the word of God, which they preach and hold forth, which is comparable to fire, Jeremiah 23:29, both for light, it being a means of enlightening sinners, who are darkness itself; and of directing saints in their walk and conversation; and of detecting the errors, immoralities, idolatry, and superstition of men, and particularly of the church of Rome, who cannot bear the light of this word, and therefore forbid the reading of it to the laity, and keep it locked up from them in the Latin tongue: and also for the heat of it, it being the means of quickening, or of conveying a vital heat to dead sinners; and of warming and comforting the saints, causing their hearts to burn within them, while they bear or read it, or meditate upon it; and of scorching and tormenting reprobate sinners, and filling them with wrath, pain, and anguish, especially the followers of antichrist; and this is greatly designed, for this has a particular reference to the pouring out of the fourth vial, Revelation 16:9. Likewise, the word of God may be compared to fire for its purity in itself, for every word of his is pure; and for its purifying nature, when faithfully preached, and powerfully applied, it penetrates deep, it searches, and discovers, and purges from

the dross of profaneness, false doctrine, and will worship; and for its consuming nature, as follows, it pronouncing damnation to unbelievers and impenitent sinners, and it being the savour of death unto death to such: or else the prayers of these witnesses are intended by the fire that proceeds out of their mouth, for vengeance on their enemies, who hinder their ministrations, blaspheme the truth, and shed their blood; which do not arise from a passionate and revengeful spirit, but from a pure zeal for the glory of God, and the honour of his name, and truth; and which prayers are heard by God, who will avenge his elect, that cry unto him day and night: the allusion is to the fire, which, at the request of Moses, came forth from the Lord, and destroyed two hundred and fifty persons, that opposed him and Aaron; and to the fire which Elias called for from heaven, upon the captains, and the fifties, that came to take him, who were types of these witnesses; see Numbers 16:3. And also this fire may denote the denunciations of God's wrath by them upon the antichristian party, these being as wood, and their words as fire, to consume them; see Jeremiah 5:14.

And devoureth their enemies: whether open or secret; just as the fire devoured Nadab and Abihu, the offerers of strange fire, which the Lord commanded not; so the fire out of the mouth of God's faithful servants devours such who introduce divers and strange doctrines, and the inventions of men, into the church of God; the light of God's word convinces and confounds them, though it may not convert them; it flashes in their consciences, and distresses them, so that they gnaw their tongues for pain; there being nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour and destroy them, though not corporeally, yet spiritually and eternally; for even these shall afterwards make war against them, conquer them, and slay them, and shall see them ascend to heaven, Revelation 11:7.

And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed; this is repeated, partly to show the certainty of this destruction; and partly to point out the manner of it, which will be not by the use of carnal weapons: these enemies of the witnesses will not be killed by the sword, or any other weapon, but by the word of God, and through the prayers of the saints, and by the denunciations of God's judgments on them. The Jews express the doctrines and traditions of their Rabbins, delivered

from one to another, by fire, proceeding out of their mouths; who sayF18,

"Rab sat before Rabbi, and "there went forth" מפומיה דנור זיקוקין , "sparks of fire from the mouth of

Rab", into the mouth of Rabbi, and from the mouth of Rabbi, into the mouth of Rab;'

which the gloss explains of their communicating their doctrines and traditions to one another.

HERY, “Their security and defence during the time of their prophesying: If any attempted to hurt them, fire proceeded out of their mouths, and devoured them, Rev. 11:5. Some think this alludes to Elias’s calling for the fire from heaven, to consume the captains and their companies that came to seize him, 2 Kgs. 1:12. God promised the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 5:14), Behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people shall be wood, and it shall devour them. By their praying and preaching, and courage in suffering, they shall gall and wound the very hearts and consciences of many of their persecutors, who shall go away self-condemned, and be even terrors to themselves; like Pashur, at the words of the prophet Jeremiah, Jer. 20:4. They shall have that free access to God, and that interest in him, that, at their prayers, God will inflict plagues and judgments upon their enemies, as he did on Pharaoh, turning their rivers into blood, and restraining the dews of heaven, shutting heaven up, that no rain shall fall for many days, as he did at the prayers of Elias, 1 Kgs. 17:1. God has ordained his arrows for the persecutors, and is often plaguing them while they are persecuting his people; they find it hard work to kick against the pricks.

JAMISO, “5. will hurt--Greek, "wishes," or "desires to hurt them."fire . . . devoureth--(Compare Jeremiah 5:14, 23:29).out of their mouth--not literally, but God makes their inspired denunciations of

judgment to come to pass and devour their enemies.

if any man will hurt them--twice repeated, to mark the immediate certainty of the accomplishment.

in this manner--so in like manner as he tries to hurt them (compare Revelation 13:10). Retribution in kind.

COFFMA, “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.This verse never pertained to any mere individual in the history of the world. How then does it symbolize the truth regarding the Word and the Church? "One should not think of the witnesses being able to perform such miracles literally."[39] Cox explained it as the witnesses' consumption of their enemies "by the fire of truth which they proclaim";[40] and there is surely an element of profound truth in this as indicated by Heb. 11:17,2 Corinthians 2:16; but we believe that something else is indicated, namely, the providential protection of both the Word and the Church by Almighty God through Christ. God will, in the last analysis, permit no man to destroy either! Look at what happened to Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12th chapter); and there have been many other historical examples of the interposition of the heavenly will against the purposes of wicked men who would have destroyed either the Bible or the Church of God. We do not believe that it is possible for any wicked authority, no matter how powerful, to "hurt" in any meaningful sense, either of God's faithful witnesses, both of whom are commissioned to testify throughout the entire Christian dispensation, and who will most certainly be protected in the discharge of that commission until it is accomplished. This verse is therefore the apocalyptic presentation of the divine promises recurring throughout the New Testament to the effect that God's word endures forever, and that the Lord will be "with" his church even to the end of the world.

If any man desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed ... God still rules over his creation; and wicked men who actually desire to thwart God's will are scheduled to receive swift and terrible punishment now, in this present time. Read Luke 18:6-8. "Shall not God avenge his elect? I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily." Dummelow's comment on this passage in Luke is thus: "Jesus' words here were literally fulfilled in the calamities which overtook the Jews and the chief heathen persecutors of the Christians."[41] Lactantius has twenty pages regarding this phenomenon.[42] See my Commentary on Luke, pp. 387,388 for further comment on this. Roberson agreed with Cox that, "The witnesses slay their enemies by the fire of the word which they utter."[43] We noted above the great element of truth in such views; but it appears to be some power which is above the witnesses themselves which thus destroys their enemies. Note that the witnesses here are not actually depicted as doing the slaying. The use of the passive voice emphasizes this.

[39] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 90.

[40] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 74.

[41] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 763.

[42] Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died, from The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), Vol. VIII, pp. 301-322.

[43] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 71.

ELLICOTT, “(5) And if any man . . .—Better, And if any one wills to injure them, fire goeth forth out of their mouths, and devoureth their enemies: and if any one wills to injure them, thus must he be slain. These have power to shut the heaven that the rain may not moisten (the earth) during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to

smite the earth with every plague as often as they will. Again the Old Testament basis becomes evident; the histories of Elijah and Moses supply the illustration. The fire devouring their foes seems to allude to 2 Kings 1:10; like Elijah, they can close the heaven (1 Kings 17:1); like Moses, they can turn water into blood and summon down every plague (Exodus 7:20, et seq.). These last characteristics remind us of the spirit and power of Moses and Elias, but we must not forget what has gone before: the witnesses are like olive trees and lights. In them is concentrated grace, light, and power; their witness recalls the great features of various Old Testament teachers and leaders; they display the light of truth, and men may not oppose or injure them with impunity; they wield a power which it is not safe to provoke. As from the mouths of the great Sixth Trumpet host there went forth fire and smoke and brimstone to kill the third part of mankind, so out of the mouths of these witnesses there goes forth a purer, but mightier flame. (Comp. Psalms 18:8.) We may compare the sword out of the mouth of Christ (Revelation 1:16), and the promise to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5:14), “Behold I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them.” The word which is like a sword to lay bare man to himself may become a consuming fire to those who resist or oppose it. The witnesses for God are thus armed with a spiritual might; for that word which, when accepted and lived by, brings peace, when rejected causes pain and danger. Thus often do the things which might have been for men’s peace become an occasion for falling; the stone which, used and built into the life, becomes a precious corner-stone and immovable foundation, grinds to powder those upon whom it falls. Thus is it with these witnesses: they come to witness for principles which go to make the world a Paradise once more. The world, which casts away their words, will find them come back with scorching force; just as the breath of God gives life and beauty to the world, and power to men’s hearts and lives (Psalms 104:30; John 20:22), yet with that same breath of His lips does He slay the wicked (Isaiah 11:4). Some have thought that there will be a time when witnesses for God will be raised up who will work literal wonders such as these. It is not for us to say that this will not be the case: all prophecy may take a sharper and clearer meaning as the times of the end draw near; but, meanwhile, it is needful for us to remember that the very power of truth is such that, when rejected, it can and does avenge itself by shutting heaven over our head, and making all the fresh rivulets of life’s purest pleasures loathsome as blood to the sensualised and perverted heart.

PULPIT, “And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth

their enemies; if any one willeth to hurt them, etc. Most probably a reference to the act of Elijah (2Ki_1:10). Perhaps there is a double reference in the fire proceeding out of their mouth; it is the fire of their witness, which refines and purifies and convinces some; it is also the fire of condemnation, which follows those who reject the testimony. The figure is found in Jer_5:14, "I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them" (see also Hos_6:5; Ecclesiasticus 48:1). And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be

killed; any one shall will (future) is read in the Revised Version, and is supported by à , A,

38; θέλει , (present) is found in B, C, P, Andreas, Arethas. "In this manner;" that is, by fire. Such, throughout the Scriptures, is the form under which the final judgment of those who reject God's message is shadowed forth. The description is not more opposed to a general interpretation than it is to an individual interpretation of the two witnesses.

KRETZMA,”The first part of this description again reminds us of Moses and Elijah, Exo_7:1-25; Exo_8:1-32; Exo_9:1-35; Exo_10:1-29; 1Ki_17:1; 2Ki_1:1-18; And if anyone wants to injure them, fire issues out of their mouth and consumes their enemies; and if any should want to injure them, in this manner must he be killed. These have power to shut up the sky, that no rain map fall during the days of their prophecy, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose. To prevent rain from falling was a punishment for iniquity as was the turning of water into blood. The entire description points to a divine power in the witness of the two prophets. All those that despise the true preachers of the Gospel and reject their message are doomed to eternal death, which is in a

manner foreshadowed by the temporal plagues that occur on the earth from time to time, such as war, pestilence, and famine.

The temporary triumph of Anti-Christ's power: And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will wage war with them, and will conquer them, and will kill them. When they have finished their testimony, when they have done their work as commanded them by the Lord, and not before, will Anti-Christ succeed in carrying out the purpose of his hatred. For the beast out of the abyss is no one but the man of sin, the abomination of desolation, the false Messiah, the Roman Anti-Christ, personified in the Pope of the Roman Church. God's witnesses having performed their work, the enemy is given permission to slay them. With the power of hell Anti-Christ makes war upon the faithful servants of God, overcomes them, and finally puts them to death. That was the experience of all the teachers who, in the darkness of the Middle Ages, when the temporal and ecclesiastical power of popery was at its height, dared to bear witness to the truth.

All this caused great rejoicing in the kingdom of darkness: And their corpses will lie on the streets of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified; and men of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will see their corpses three days and one half, and will not permit their corpses to be placed into sepulchers; and they that dwell upon the earth will rejoice over them and be very glad, and will send one another presents, because these two prophets tormented those that lived upon the earth. Sodom, to the Jews, was the essence of abominations, and Egypt was the country where their fathers had been kept in shameful slavery; both names therefore stood for the lowest and meanest on earth. The great city to which these names are applied is none other than the Church of Anti-Christ, a Sodom, on account of the sins that are committed under the mantle of holiness, and an Egypt on account of the suppression of the pure Gospel that is practiced in its midst. No political criminals were ever treated with such cruelty as the confessors of the Gospel that suffered martyrdom in the Church of Anti-Christ. Even after the true witnesses had been slain, they were often not permitted to rest in their graves, their very bones being made the object of fanatical attacks, as in the case of Wycliffe. And whenever a faithful servant of Christ had been put to death, it was a cause for great rejoicing in the ranks of Christ's enemies, who congratulated one another and even went to the extent of having medals struck to commemorate the event, as in the case of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew.

6

These men have power to shut up the sky so

that it will not rain during the time they are

prophesying; and they have power to turn the

waters into blood and to strike the earth with

every kind of plague as often as they want.

BARES, “These have power to shut heaven - That is, so far as rain is concerned - for this is immediately specified. There is probably a reference here to an ancient opinion that the rain was kept in the clouds of heaven as in reservoirs or bottles, and that when they were opened it rained; when they were closed it ceased to rain. So Job, “He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them,” Job 26:8. “Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man

abundantly,” Job 36:28. “Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven?” Job 38:37; compare Genesis 1:7; Genesis 7:12; Genesis 8:2; 2 Kings 7:2. To shut or close up the heavens, therefore, is to restrain the rain from descending, or to produce a drought. Compare notes on James 5:17.That it rain not in the days of their prophecy - In the time when they prophesy. Probably the allusion here is to what is said of Elijah, 1 Kings 17:1. This would properly refer to some miraculous power; but still it may be used to denote merely that they would be clothed with the power of causing blessings to be withheld from people, as if rain were withheld; that is, that in consequence of the calamities that would be brought upon them, and the persecutions which they would endure, God would bring judgments upon people as if they were clothed with this power. The language, therefore, it seems to me, does not necessarily imply that they would have the power of working miracles.

And have power over waters to turn them to blood - The allusion here is doubtless to what occurred in Egypt, Exodus 7:17. Compare the notes on Revelation 8:8. This, too, would literally denote the power of working a miracle; but still it is not absolutely necessary to suppose that this is intended. Anything that would be represented by turning waters into blood, would correspond with all that is necessarily implied in the language. If any great calamity should occur in consequence of what was done to them that would be properly represented by turning the waters into blood so that they could not be used, and that was so connected with the treatment which they received as to appear to be a judgment of heaven on that account, or that would appear to have come upon the world in consequence of their imprecations, it would be all that is necessarily implied in this language.

And to smite the earth with all plagues - All kinds of plague or calamity; disease, pestilence,

famine, flood, etc. The word “plague” - πληγῇ plēgē- which means, properly, “stroke, stripe, blow,” would include any or all of these. The meaning here is, that great calamities would follow the manner in which they were treated, as if the power were lodged in their hands.

As often as they will - So that it would seem that they could exercise this power as they pleased.

CLARKE, “These have power to shut heaven - As Elijah did, 1 Kings 17:1-18:46.To turn them to blood - As Moses did, Exodus 7:19-25. They shall have power to afflict the land with plagues, similar to those which were inflicted on the Egyptians.

GILL, “These have power to shut heaven,.... For these have the keys of the kingdom of heaven given them, and whatever they bind or loose on earth is bound or loosed in heaven; or in other words, having the true key of knowledge in matters, both of doctrine and discipline, given them, whatever they declare, according to the word of God, to be doctrines fit to be received or rejected, and to be the ordinances of God, and matters of worship to be attended to, and what are not, should be so: and in particular,that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; that is, on their enemies, the antichristian party; for otherwise it must rain on those to whom they minister, their prophecy itself being rain in a spiritual sense: so rain is explained of prophecy in the Targum on Isaiah 5:6, which paraphrases the words thus;

"I will command the prophets that they do not prophesy upon them prophecy:'

for this is to be understood not literally, since the days of their prophecy, or preaching in sackcloth, are 1260, that is, 1260 years, and which is the term and duration of antichrist's reign: wherefore, if this was the case, there must be a famine and great distress, during this long space of time; but as this is not matter of fact, so it would not comport with that plenty, luxury, and deliciousness, in which the whore of Babylon is said to live: but the words are to be taken in a spiritual sense, and to be understood of the Gospel, and doctrines of it, or the word of God, which is sometimes compared to rain, Deuteronomy 32:2. God is the author and giver of rain, and he only; none of the vanities, or

idols of the Gentiles, can give it; has the rain a father? it has, but not on earth, only God who is in heaven; and so the Gospel is of God, and it is he only that can make men able ministers of it; the rain comes down from above, from heaven, and of the same original and descent is the Gospel, it is the voice speaking from heaven; the rain falls, according to divine direction, in one place, and not another, on one city, and not another; and so the Gospel is sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; it is forbid here, and ordered there. Showers of rain moisten and soften the earth, and make it susceptive of seed; and the Gospel is the means of softening hard hearts, and of making them capable of receiving suitable impressions: rain refreshes the earth, revives the plants and trees, and makes them fruitful; and so the Gospel, attended with a divine blessing, refreshes drooping saints, revives the work of God in them, and is the means of filling them with all the fruits of righteousness. Now the withholding of this rain denotes a famine, not of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; and as it is a judgment on a nation, or on a city, not to be rained upon, so it is a spiritual judgment upon a people, when God commands his clouds, his ministers, to rain no rain of the Gospel on them; and it is one of the judgments upon the antichristian party, that they have not the Gospel preached unto them, nor any dew of powerful and efficacious grace distilled on them, but are left to their blindness, darkness, and hardness of heart: and these witnesses carrying the Gospel along with them, where they prophesy and preach, is called a shutting up heaven, so that it rain not on the followers of antichrist, from whom they separate themselves, or by whom they are cast out; and this is ascribed to them, and is owing to their removal or ejection; much in the same sense as the night and darkness are to the sun's remove; that is, these follow upon it. The allusion is to the withholding of rain in the times of Elijah, one of the types of these witnesses, because of the idolatries of Ahab and Jezebel, 1 Kings 17:1. In like manner is the rain of the Gospel withheld during the reign of antichrist, because of the idolatry and superstition of the apostasy.

And have power over waters to turn them to blood; by "waters" are meant people, multitudes, nations, and tongues, and particularly those over whom antichrist reigns, Revelation 17:15, and turning of them into blood designs the confusions and wars raised among them on account of the prophesying of these witnesses, and the persecutions and bloodshed which followed upon it; which eventually are the end and issue of preaching the Gospel; see Matthew 10:34. The allusion is to one of the plagues of Egypt, and to Moses and Aaron, who were types of these witnesses turning the waters of Egypt into blood, Exodus 7:20; and answers to the second and third vials, Revelation 16:3.

And to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will; alluding to the plagues of Egypt, one of the names of Rome, or the Roman jurisdiction, in Revelation 11:8, and which is meant by the earth here; and referring to the rest of the seven vials poured out by these witnesses, signified by seven angels; and their having power so to do as often as they will, is to be understood of these plagues being inflicted on the inhabitants of the earth, or followers of antichrist, in answer to their prophecies and prayers, which are made according to the will of God, and so always have their effect, being such.

JAMISO, “6. These . . . power--Greek, "authorized power."

it rain not--Greek, "huetos brechee," "rain shower not," literally, "moisten" not

(the earth).

smite . . . with all plagues--Greek, "with (literally, 'in') every plague."

COFFMA, “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.The power here attributed to the witnesses is actually a reference, not to their power in themselves, but to that of their great Guardian, Benefactor, and King, the Lord himself.

Powers to shut the heaven ... This verse sends the commentators rushing to Elijah for what they think is the meaning. "He had the power to withhold rain," they say; but did he? "Was it not God's

Word, not the prophet, who did this? Therefore, all of the worthies of the Old Testament, either singly or collectively, if they should come back to this earth (which none of them will ever do), would never be able to do what is mentioned here.

Powers over the waters to turn them to blood ... It is clear that what John is doing here is merely citing some of the great historical examples of wonders performed by the word of God upon behalf of his people, with the inherent deduction that the same power is still operative upon their behalf.

What is indicated here is not a capricious exercise of awesome power, but a statement that there is awesome power still available to protect and accompany the two witnesses in their proclamation of the truth. This power is not at all exercised by people, but by God himself in his providential protection of both his word and his people; and it is never exercised capriciously, but only when necessary, and always in complete harmony with God's will. The word here is not that God shall continuously exhibit such wonders, but that the power is there. "They have power" is the repeated clause here. That this great power is here said to belong to the two witnesses must not obscure the truth that the power is God's, and that it belongs to the witnesses merely in the sense of their being the true agents of God in this dispensation.

PULPIT, “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy:

and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will; the power p the heaven p the waters p every plague (Revised Version). The whole verse is descriptive of the powers entrusted to Moses and Elijah, and is intended to convey the idea that the power which supported them would likewise support the two witnesses. It is doubtful whether the meaning should be pressed further than this. If we do so, it may, perhaps, be said that (in the words of Wordsworth) "if any one despises God's witnesses, they have the power, like Elias, to shut heaven, and exclude all who reject them. The dews of Divine grace are withheld from all who scorn them." It is thus a fulfilment of our Lord's words, "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath" (Mat_13:12). And again, besides the punishments which are finally to fall on the ungodly, it is the case that the rejection of God's will is followed on this earth by troubles which would be avoided were men to listen to the witness borne of him.

7

ow when they have finished their testimony,

the beast that comes up from the Abyss will

attack them, and overpower and kill them.

BARES, “And when they shall have finished their testimony - Prof. Stuart renders this, “And whenever they shall have finished their testimony.” The reference is undoubtedly to a period when they should have faithfully borne the testimony which they were appointed to bear. The word

rendered here “shall have finished” - τελέσωσιν telesōsinfrom τελέω teleōmeans properly to end, to finish, to complete, to accomplish. It is used, in this respect, in two senses - either in regard to time or in regard to the end or object in view, in the sense of “perfecting it,” or “accomplishing it.” In the former sense it is employed in such passages as the following: “Till the thousand years should be fulfilled,” Revelation 20:3. “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel (Greek, ye shall not have finished the cities of Israel) until the Son of man be come,” Matthew 10:23; that is, ye shall not have finished passing through them. “When Jesus had made an end (Greek, finished) of commanding his twelve disciples,” Matthew 11:1. “I have “finished” my course,” 2 Timothy 4:7.

In these passages it clearly refers to time. In the other sense it is used in such places as the following: “And shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law,” Romans 2:27; that is, if it accomplish or come up to the demands of the law. “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scriptures,”James 2:8. The word, then, may here refer not to “time,” meaning that, these events would occur at the end of the “thousand two hundred and threescore days,” but to the fact that what is here stated would occur when they had completed their testimony in the sense of having testified all that they were “appointed” to testify; that is, when they had borne full witness for God, and fully uttered his truth. Thus understood, the meaning here may be that the event here referred to would take place, not at the end of the 1260 years, but at that period during the 1260 years when it could be said with propriety that they had accomplished their testimony in the world, or that they had borne full and ample witness on the points entrusted to them.

The beast - This is the first time in the Book of Revelation in which what is here called “the beast” is mentioned, and which has so important an agency in the events which it is said would occur. It is repeatedly mentioned in the course of the book, and always with similar characteristics, and as referring to the same object. Here it is mentioned as “ascending out of the bottomless pit”; in Revelation 13:1, as “rising up out of the sea”; in Revelation 13:11, as “coming up out of the earth.” It is also mentioned with characteristics appropriate to such an origin, in Revelation 13:2-4 (twice), Revelation 13:11, Revelation 13:12 (twice), Revelation 13:14 (twice), Revelation 13:15 (twice), 17,18; Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:11;Revelation 15:2; Revelation 16:2, Revelation 16:10, Revelation 16:13; Revelation 17:3, Revelation 17:7-8(twice), 11,12,13,16,17; Revelation 19:19-20 (twice); Revelation 20:4, Revelation 20:9. The word used here

- θηρίον thērion- means properly “a beast, a wild beast,” Mark 1:13; Acts 10:12; Acts 11:6; Acts 28:4-5;Hebrews 12:20; James 3:7; Revelation 6:8. It is once used tropically of brutal or savage men, Titus 1:12. Elsewhere, in the passages above referred to in the Apocalypse, it is used symbolically. As employed in the Book of Revelation, the characteristics of the “beast” are strongly marked:

(a)It has its origin from beneath - in the bottomless pit; the sea; the earth, Revelation 11:7; Revelation 13:1, Revelation 13:11.

(b)It has great power, Revelation 13:4, Revelation 13:12; Revelation 17:12-13.

(c)It claims and receives worship, Revelation 13:3, Revelation 13:12, Revelation 13:14-15; Revelation 14:9,Revelation 14:11.

(d)It has a certain “seat” or throne from whence its power proceeds, Revelation 16:10.

(e)It is of scarlet color, Revelation 17:3.

(f)It receives power conferred upon it by the kings of the earth, Revelation 17:13,

(g)It has a mark by which it is known, Revelation 13:17; Revelation 19:20.

(h)It has a certain “number”; that is, there are certain mystical letters or figures which so express its name that it may be known, Revelation 13:17-18.

These things serve to characterize the “beast” as distinguished from all other things, and they are so numerous and definite, that it would seem to have been intended to make it easy to understand what was meant when the power referred to should appear. In regard to the origin of the imagery here, there can be no reasonable doubt that it is to be traced to Daniel, and that the writer here means to describe the same “beast” which Daniel refers to in Revelation 7:7. The evidence of this must be clear to anyone who will compare the description in Daniel Daniel 7:25. It may be assumed here that the opinion there defended is correct, and consequently it may be assumed that the “beast” of this book refers to the papal power.

That ascendeth out of the bottomless pit - See the notes on Revelation 9:1. This would properly mean that its origin is the nether world; or that it will have characteristics which will show that it was from beneath. The meaning clearly is, that what was symbolized by the beast would have such characteristics as to show that it was not of divine origin, but had its source in the world of darkness, sin, and death. This, of course, could not represent the true church, or any civil government that is founded on principles which God approves. But if it represent a community pretending to be a

church, it is an apostate church; if a civil community, it is a community the characteristics of which are that it is controlled by the spirit that rules over the world beneath. For reasons which we shall see in abundance in applying the descriptions which occur of the “beast,” I regard this as referring to that great apostate power which occupies so much of the prophetic descriptions - the papacy.

Shall make war against them - Will endeavor to exterminate them by force. This clearly is not intended to be a general statement that they would be persecuted, but to refer to the particular manner in which the opposition would be conducted. It would be in the form of “war”; that is, there would be an effort to destroy them by arms.

And shall overcome them - Shall gain the victory over them; conquer them - νικήσει αὐτοὺς nikēsei autousThat is, there will be some signal victory in which those represented by the two witnesses will he subdued.

And kill them - That is, an effect would be produced as if they were put to death. They would be overcome; would be silenced; would be apparently dead. Any event that would cause them to cease to bear testimony, as if they were dead, would be properly represented by this. It would not be necessary to suppose that there would be literally death in the ease, but that there would be some event which would be well represented by death - such as an entire suspension of their prophesying in consequence of force

CLARKE, “The beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit - This may be what is called antichrist; some power that is opposed to genuine Christianity. But what or whence, except from the bottomless pit, i.e., under the influence and appointment of the devil, we cannot tell; nor do we know by what name this power or being should be called. The conjectures concerning the two witnesses and the beast have been sufficiently multiplied. If the whole passage, as some think, refer to the persecution raised by the Jews against the Christians, then some Jewish power or person is the beast from the bottomless pit. If it refer to the early ages of Christianity, then the beast may be one of the persecuting heathen emperors. If it refer to a later age of Christianity, then the beast may be the papal power, and the Albigenses and Waldenses the two witnesses, which were nearly extinguished by the horrible persecutions raised up against them by the Church of Rome. Whatever may be here intended, the earth has not yet covered their blood.

GILL, “And when they shall have finished their testimony,.... For Christ, his truths and ordinances; when they are about to finish it, and almost concluded it, even towards the close of the 1260 days or years, in which they must prophesy in sackcloth: or else their testimony and their prophesying may be considered as two distinct things, and the one be finished before the other; their open public testimony, as witnesses, so as to be heard, attended to, and received, will be finished before the last war of the beast against them, in which they will be killed; but their prophesying will continue to the end of the beast's reign, these two being contemporary, of equal date, beginning and ending together; for they will prophesy when they are dead; being dead they will yet speak, and their very death will be a prophesying or foretelling that the ruin of antichrist is at hand; and upon their resurrection and ascension, that will immediately come on. But when their testimony is finished, by a free and open publication of the Gospel,the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit; the same with that in Revelation 13:11, with which compare Revelation 17:8; and which is no other than the Romish antichrist; called a beast for his filthiness and cruelty; and said to ascend out of the bottomless pit, out of hell, because his coming is after the working of Satan: he is raised up, influenced, and supported by him; he is a creature of his, and has his power, seat, and authority from him, the great dragon, the old serpent, called the devil and Satan; his original and rise are the same with those of his doctrine and worship, the smoke of the bottomless pit; they all come out of it, and they will return thither again. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "the fourth beast that ascendeth", &c. as if it was the same with Daniel's fourth beast, Daniel 7:7, as it doubtless is. Now this filthy and savage beast

shall make war against them; the witnesses; a war he has been making against the saints ever since he was in power, by his decrees, his counsels, his anathemas, and by sword, fire, and

faggot, Revelation 13:7; but this will be his last war, and it will be a dreadful one; it will be the last struggle of the beast; and though it will be attended with the conquest and slaughter of the witnesses, yet it will lead on to, and issue in his own ruin; this is "the hour of temptation", in Revelation 3:10;

and shall overcome them; not by arguments taken out of the word of God, by which their mouths will be stopped, so as to be confounded, and have nothing to say, or so as to yield to him, and give up the truths and ordinances of the Gospel; but by outward force and tyranny, so as that they shall be obliged to give way, and he will take possession of the kingdoms and nations in which they have prophesied: he will first attack the outward court, the bulk of formal professors, and will prevail over them; and then, the outworks being taken, he will more easily come at the inner court worshippers within the temple.

And kill them; not corporeally, but civilly; for as their dead bodies lying three days and a half, that is, three years and a half, unburied, and their resurrection from the dead, and ascension to heaven, cannot be understood literally, so neither the killing of them; not but that in this war there may be a great slaughter, and much blood shed, in a literal sense: but the killing spoken of seems to regard them, not as men, but as witnesses; they will not be suffered to bear an open testimony any longer; they will be silenced; they will be banished, or removed into corners; and they will not only be under the censures, excommunications, and anathemas of the Romish antichrist, but they will lose all credit and esteem among those, who once pretended to be their friends; who will be ashamed of them, and will join in reproaching and rejecting them; so that their ministrations will be quite shut up, and at an end.

JAMISO, “7. finished their testimony--The same verb is used of Paul's ending his ministry by a violent death.

the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit--Greek, "the wild beast . . . the abyss." This beast was not mentioned before, yet he is introduced

as "the beast," because he had already been described by Daniel (Daniel 7:3,11), and he is fully so in the subsequent part of the Apocalypse,

namely, Revelation 13:1, 17:8. Thus, John at once appropriates the Old Testament prophecies; and also, viewing his whole subject at a glance, mentions as familiar things (though not yet so to the reader) objects to be described hereafter by himself. It is a proof of the unity that pervades all Scripture.

make war against them--alluding to Daniel 7:21, where the same is said

of the little horn that sprang up among the ten horns on the fourth beast.

COFFMA, “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 when they shall have finished their testimony ... This may be construed as meaning (1) at the end of the gospel age when all proclamations of the truth has been completed or (2) repeatedly, whenever and wherever the message is faithfully delivered. We are certain that the latter of these two interpretations is correct and shall therefore construe it as reference to a repeated phenomenon.

As a repeated phenomenon. Upon any occasion in history when the word of God is fully and adequately proclaimed, what happens? The devil immediately goes to war against the truth and never stops until he kills it and overcomes it. This is symbolical, of course, for neither the word of the Lord nor the holy church can be overcome or killed literally. The word of the Lord endureth for ever; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the church. Despite this, the damage inflicted by the evil one is sufficient to justify the hyperbolic metaphor describing it. Has not Satan been "killing the Bible" for ages? And yet it still lives.

As a final, post-dispensational event. Many interpreters adopt this view, bring in the Antichrist, get the church out of the way with a "rapture," and then construct all kinds of theories based upon

twenty different interpretations of various details mentioned in this and accompanying verses. We reject this view because the "beast that cometh up out of the abyss" has already arrived ages ago, as evident in the very next clause.

The beast that cometh up out of the abyss ... This can be none other than Satan; and his "coming up" here is not an event deferred until near the final judgment. This beast is introduced here without explanation, because none is needed. He has been around since the Garden of Eden; and it is no new thing that "he makes war" against all truth and righteousness. He "killed" the word of God for Eve, and he has been "killing it" ever since, and in exactly the same manner, by scoffing at it, by denying it, by contradicting, etc. Today, Satan has succeeded in "killing" most churches, as far as their effective proclamation of convicting, saving truth is concerned. The church of our times is at ease in Zion and is free from persecution merely because Satan has no cause whatever for worry regarding their witness of the whole word of God. Some refer to the beast in this verse as a "monster,"[44] but it is the spiritual enemy of mankind who is symbolized; and his appearance to man is frequently in a very attractive form. Therefore, the conception of a "monster" literalizes the passage, which is incorrect. Others make this beast "the Roman Empire or the Antichrist,"[45] or as Lenski said, "the whole anti-Christian power in the world";[46]but that latter designation is only another name for Satan. We agree with Plummer that, "The Beast is Satan,"[47] a conclusion also reached by Cox.[48]

[44] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 137.

[45] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 147.

[46] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 342.

[47] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 291.

[48] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 74.

ELLICOTT, “(7) And when . . .—Better, And when they shall have finished their testimony, the wild beast that goeth up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and conquer them, and kill them. Only when their work is done has the wild beast power over them. To every one there are the symbolical twelve hours in which his life’s work must be achieved; to every one there is the time secured when he may accomplish for God what God sent him to fulfil: then, but not till then, cometh the night, when none can work. The wild beast: We shall hear much of this wild beast later on. Here we are told distinctly that the wild beast will have his hour of triumph; he rises out of the abyss, as the locust horde did (Revelation 9:1-2). There is, then, a beast-spirit which is in utter hostility to the Christ-spirit. We shall be able to study the features of this power in a future chapter (Revelation 13:1); here he is seen to be a spirit of irreconcilable antagonism to Christ. The image here is not new; Daniel made use of it (Daniel 7), though in a much more limited sense. This beast-power vanquishes the witnesses. If the witnesses are those who have taught the principles of a spiritual and social religion, the death of the witnesses following their overthrow signifies the triumph of opposing principles, the silencing of those who have withstood the growing current of evil. Men can silence, can conquer, can slay the witness for a higher, purer, nobler life. They have done so. The history of the world is often the history of the postponement of moral and social advancement for centuries through the wild outbreak of some brutal, irrational, selfish spirit. The Reformers, the best friends of the Church and of the world, have been silenced and slain, and their death has often been little more than the triumph of the ignorance and selfishness of a practical heathenism.

PULPIT, “And when they shall have finished their testimony. This is a difficult passage. How can the Church's testimony be said to be finished while the earth still exists? The explanation seems to lie in the words of our Lord, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luk_18:8). Christians are forewarned that, as the ages roll on, faith will wane. Though the Church be apparently destroyed, she is not really dead, but will rise again. As our Lord, after finishing his testimony, completed his work by his death and subsequent ascension, so the time will come when the Church shall have Completed all that is necessary, by offering to the world her testimony, and shall then be so completely rejected as to appear dead. Her enemies will rejoice, but their time of rejoicing is cut short (see below). After three and a half days comes her vindication,

and her enemies are struck with consternation; for it is the end, and they have no further opportunities for repentance. Thus Heugstenberg says, "They shall only be overcome when they have finished their testimony, when God has no further need for their service, when their death can produce more fruit than their life." The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall

make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them; the beast that cometh up out of the abyss. The article points to the beast which is described elsewhere in the Apocalypse (Rev_13:1; Rev_17:8), and which is mentioned here by proleipsis. "The fourth beast," which is read

in A, may have been suggested by Dan_7:7. à has "the beast which then cometh up." The beast is Satan, perhaps manifested in the form of the persecuting world power (see on Rev_13:1). His

nature is indicated by the use of the noun θηρίον , "a wild beast," the opposite, as Wordsworth

says, of Ἀρνίον , the Lamb. The beast ascends out of the abyss for a brief reign upon the earth, and is "drunken with the blood of the saints," as described in Rev_17:1-18., but he ascends only to go into perdition (Rev_17:8). It is well to remember that the whole vision is symbolical. The intention is to convey the idea that the Church, in her witness for God, will experience opposition from the power of Satan, which will wax more and more formidable as time goes on, and result in the apparent triumph of the forces of evil. But the triumph will be brief; it will but usher in the end and the final subjugation of the devil.

BARCLAY, “THE SAVING DEATH OF THE TWO WITNESSES

Rev. 11:7-13

The witnesses are to preach for their allotted time and then will come Antichrist in the form of the beast

from the abyss; and the two witnesses will be cruelly slain.

This is to happen in Jerusalem; but Jerusalem is called by the terrible names of Sodom and Egypt. Long

before this Isaiah had addressed the rulers of Jerusalem as the rulers of Sodom and the people of Jerusalem

as the people of Gomorrah (Isa.1:9-10). Sodom and Gomorrah stand as the types of sin, the symbols of

those who had not received strangers (compare the story in Gen.19:4-11) and who had turned their

benefactors into slaves (Wis.19:14-15). The wickedness of Jerusalem had already crucified Jesus Christ and

in the days to come it is to regard the death of his witnesses with joy.

So will the people of Jerusalem hate the two witnesses that they will leave their bodies unburied in the

street. In Jewish thought it was a terrible thing that a body should not be buried. When the heathen attacked

God's people, to the Psalmist it was the greatest tragedy of all that there was none to bury them (Ps.79:3);

the threat to the disobedient prophet, a threat which came true, was that his carcase would not come to the

sepulchre of his fathers (1Kgs.13:22). Even worse, such will be the hatred of the people for the witnesses of

God that they will regard their death as a reason for festival.

But that is not the end. After three and a half days--here we have the same period--the breath of life entered

again into the two slain witnesses and they stood upon their feet. Still more startling things were to happen.

In sight of all, the two witnesses were summoned up into heaven, re-enacting, as it were, Elijah's first

departure to heaven in the whirlwind and the chariot of fire (2Kgs.2:11).

To add to the terror came a destructive earthquake which wrecked a tenth of the city and brought death to

seven thousand of its inhabitants. The result was that those who had seen these terrifying events and were

spared, gave glory to God. That is to say, they repented, for that is the only real way to give glory to God.

The great interest of this passage lies in the fact that the unbelievers were won by the sacrificial death of the

witnesses and by God's vindication of them. Here is the story of the Cross and of the Resurrection all over

again. Evil must be conquered and men won, not by force but by the acceptance of suffering for the name

of Christ.

BURKITT, “These verses set before us the barbarous usage which the two witnesses should meet with from the antichristian world, for the faithful discharge of their duty; they shall be

slain, politically and civilly, say some; deposed, silenced, imprisoned, and laid aside as useless and dead.

Literally, say others, they shall be put to death for the testimony of Jesus, by bloodshed, fire, and

faggot. They shall overcome them, that is, in their persons, but not in their cause.

See here the Christian church founded in blood, that of Christ its head; watered with blood, that of his ministers and members. God suffers his sometimes to be actually slain, for his own glory, their honour, and the church's good: but mark the time specified when the witnesses were slain; it was when they had finished their testimony.

Observe, 2. Besides the antichristian cruelty, in killing these witnesses, their barbarous inhumanity, in denying them burial, not suffering some to be buried at all, and digging up the bones of others

that had been long buried. The place where this was done is called Sodom and Egypt, and the

great city where our Lord was crucified: which, if literally understood,

signifies Jerusalem,compared to Sodom for the abominable sins of the Gnostics committed in her;

and to Egypt, for oppression: but if mystically understood, Rome, or the Roman empire, is

conceived by most Protestants to be here intended by Egypt and Sodom; like Egypt, for idolatry,

tyranny, spiritual darkness, obstinacy, and obduracy; like Sodom for uncleanness, yea, worse than Sodom,uncleanness being not only practised but tolerated, yea, allowed publicly, licences

being ther given to such public houses, and books written in defence of Sodomy at Rome, where Christ may be said to be crucified in his members as long as this apostate power holds up.

Observe, 3. The great joy and exultation which is here discovered at the slaughter of these

witnesses; the antichristian rabble triumph and make merry, rejoice and send gifts, to one another.

Lord! how madly do the wicked rejoice at the death of those men that used their utmost endeavours to have saved them! They that dwell on the earth shall rejoice and make merry.

Observe, 4. The special reason assigned why the members of antichrist's kingdom did thus triumph at the head of the witnesses, and their supposed utter extinction, namely, because the two

witnesses tormented them that dwell on the earth; that is, by their public preaching, by their private reproving, by their denouncing of God's judgments against them; for not suffering them to go on quietly and undisturbedly in the ways of sin, they grew very uneasy with them, and rejoiced when they thought the world fully rid of them.

Lord! how does the preaching of thy word, which comforts and supports thy children, which is sweeter to them than the honey, and more esteemed by them than their necessary food, how does the same word preached torment notorious sinners; and, instead of receiving the message, they rage at the messenger, and triumph and dance with Herod, to see that head cut off whose tongue was so bold to tell them of their faults: They rejoiced, because these two prophets that

tormented them were slain.

8

Their bodies will lie in the street of the great

city, which is figuratively called Sodom and

Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

BARES, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street - Prof. Stuart, “Shall be in the street.” The words “shall lie” are supplied by the translators, but not improperly. The literal rendering would be, “and their corpses upon the street of the great city”; and the meaning is, that there would be a state of things in regard to them which would be well represented by supposing them to lie unburied. To leave a body unburied is to treat it with contempt, and among the ancients nothing was regarded as more dishonorable than such treatment. See the Ajax of Sophocles. Among the Jews also it was regarded as a special indignity to leave the dead unburied, and hence they are always represented as deeply solicitous to secure the interment of their dead. See Genesis 23:4. Compare 2 Samuel 21:9-13; Ecclesiastes 6:3; Isaiah 14:18-20; Isaiah 22:16;Isaiah 53:9. The meaning here is, that, for the time specified, those who are here referred to would be treated with indignity and contempt. In the fulfillment of this, we are not, of course, to look for any literal accomplishment of what is here said, but for some treatment of the “witnesses” which would be well represented by this; that is, which would show that they were treated, after they were silenced, like unburied corpses putrefying in the sun.Of the great city - Where these transactions would occur. As a great city would be the agent in putting them to death, so the result would be as if they were publicly exposed in its streets. The word “great” here supposes that the city referred to would be distinguished for its size - a circumstance of some importance in determining the place referred to.

Which spiritually is called - πνευµατικῶς pneumatikōsThis word occurs only in one other place in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 2:14, “because they are spiritually discerned” - where it means, “in accordance with the Holy Spirit,” or” through the aid of the Holy Spirit.” Here it seems to be used in the sense of metaphorically, or allegorically, in contradistinction from the literal and real name. There may possibly be an intimation here that the city is so called by the Holy Spirit to designate its real character, but still the essential meaning is, that that was not its literal name. For some reason the real name is not given to it; but such descriptions are applied as are designed to leave no doubt as to what is intended.

Sodom - Sodom was distinguished for its wickedness, and especially for that vice to which its abominations have given name. For the character of Sodom, see Genesis 18:19. Compare 2 Peter 2:6. In inquiring what “city” is here referred to, it would be necessary to find in it such abominations as characterized Sodom, or so much wickedness that it would be proper to call it Sodom. If it shall be found that this was designed to refer to papal Rome, no one can doubt that the abominations which prevailed there would justify such an appellation. Compare the notes on Revelation 9:20-21.

And Egypt - That is, it would have such a character that the name Egypt might be properly given to it. Egypt is known in the Scriptures as the land of oppression - the land where the Israelites, the people of God, were held in cruel bondage. Compare Ezekiel 23:8. The particular idea, then, which seems to be conveyed here is, that the “city” referred to would be characterized by acts of oppression and wrong toward the people of God. So far as the language is concerned, it might apply either to Jerusalem or to Rome - for both were eminently characterized by such acts of oppression toward the true children of God as to make it proper to I compare their cruelties with those which were inflicted on the Israelites by the Egyptians. Of whichever of these places the course of the exposition may require us to understand this, it will be seen at once that the language is such as is strictly applicable to either; though, as the reference is rather to Christians than to the ancient people of God, it must be admitted that it would be most natural to refer it to Rome. More acts authorizing persecution, and designed to crush the true people of God, have gone forth from Rome than from any other city on the face of the earth; and taking the history of the church together, there is no place that would be so properly designated by the term here employed.

Where also our Lord was crucified - If this refers to Jerusalem, it is to be taken literally; if to another city, it is to be understood as meaning that he was practically crucified there: that is, that the treatment of his friends - his church - was such that it might be said that he was “crucified afresh” there; for what is done to his church may be said to be done to him. Either of these interpretations would be justified by the use of the language. Thus in Hebrews 6:6, it is said of apostates from the true faith (compare the notes on the passage), that “they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh.” If the passage before us is to be taken figuratively, the meaning is, that acts would be performed which might properly be represented as crucifying‘ the Son of God; that, as he lives in his church, the acts of perverting his doctrines, and persecuting his people, would be, in fact, an act of crucifying the Lord again. Thus understood, the language is strictly applicable to Rome; that is, if it is admitted that John meant to characterize that city, he has employed such language as a Jewish Christian would naturally use. While, therefore, it must be admitted that the language is such as could be literally applied only to Jerusalem, it is still true that it is such language as might be figuratively applied to any other city strongly resembling that, and that in this sense it would characterize Rome above all other cities of the world. The common reading of the text here is “our

Lord” - ἡµῶν hēmōnthe text now regarded as correct, however (Griesbach, Tittmann, Hahn), is

“their Lord” - αὐτῶν autōnThis makes no essential difference in the sense, except that it directs the attention more particularly to the fact that they were treated like their own Master.

CLARKE, “The great city - Some say Rome, which may be spiritually called Sodom for its abominations, Egypt for its tyrannous cruelty, and the place where our Lord was crucified, because of its persecution of the members of Christ; but Jerusalem itself may be intended. All these things I must leave to others.

GILL, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city,.... Not Jerusalem, which was destroyed when John had this vision, and which will; not be rebuilt at the time it refers to; nor is it ever called the great city, though the city of the great King; however, not in this book, though the new Jerusalem is so called, Revelation 21:10; but that can never be designed here; but the city of Rome, or the Roman jurisdiction, the whole empire of the Romish antichrist, which is often called the great city in this book; see Revelation 16:19. The city of Rome itself was very large, and the Roman empire still larger, so as to be called the whole world and the antichristian see of Rome has been of great extent. Now as the street of a city denotes a public open place in it, a place of concourse and resort, Proverbs 1:20, the dead bodies of those witnesses being said to lie here, may design the publicness of their silence, disgrace, and contempt; and that the silencing and degrading them, and depriving them of all privileges, will be known all over the antichristian empire; and that they will be exposed to public ignominy and shame, their persons, their characters, their testimony, their doctrines, their writings, their churches, and families, and all that belong to them: or else this "street" may design some part of the Romish jurisdiction, and it may be Great Britain may be particularly designed; for where should the dead bodies of the witnesses lie, but where they are slain? and where can they be slain, but where they are? and where are they, at least where are there so many as in these islands? It may be objected, that Great Britain is not a part of the see of Rome, does not belong to the jurisdiction of it; to this it may be replied, that in this last war of the beast, the outer court will be given to the Gentiles, the bulk of the reformed churches will fall off to Popery, and their countries again fall into the hands of the pope, and, among the rest, Great Britain. The fears of Dr. Goodwin seem to be too just, and well grounded, that the prophecy in Daniel 11:45 respects our island, which speaks of antichrist planting "the tabernacles of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain", or "the mountain of delight, of holiness". Now where has God such a mountain of delight, or a people that are the darling of his soul, as here? where in all the globe is there such a spot where God has so many saints, so many Holy Ones, as in this island? it may have been truly called a glorious holy mountain, or a mountain of delight; and what place between the seas is there to which these characters can agree, but Great Britain? Here then antichrist will plant the tabernacles of his palace; but it will be but a tabernacle, or tent; it will be but for a short time, as it follows, "yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him", Daniel 11:45. Now this great city, in the street of which the bodies of the witnesses will lie exposed, is that

which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt; that is, it is called so in a mystic and allegoric sense, in distinction from the literal sense; see 1 Corinthians 10:3; it is called Sodom because of the fulness of bread, plenty and abundance of all outward good things in it; as well as for the pride and idleness of the priests, monks, and friars which swarm in it; and also for the open profaneness and contempt of true and serious religion in it; and particularly for the sin of sodomy, so frequently committed here, with impunity, yea with allowance, and even with commendation. This sin was extolled with praises, as Brightman observes, by John a Casa, archbishop of Beneventum; and was defended in a book, published for that purpose, by one Mutius; and which was allowed by the bulls and letters patent of Pope Julius the Third; and it is called Egypt, because of its tyranny and oppression; as the Egyptians kept the Israelites in bondage, and made them to serve with rigour, and embittered their lives, so the pope, and his Gentiles, or Egyptians, have in a most oppressive and rigorous manner tyrannised over the souls, bodies, and estates of men; and also because of its great idolatry, Egypt being very remarkable for the number of its deities, and the meanness of them; by which the idols and idolatries of the church of Rome may be fitly expressed:

where also our Lord was crucified; that is, in the great city, which is fitly compared to Sodom and Egypt; for Christ was crucified actually in Judea, which was then become a Roman province, and under Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor, and by his order, and suffered a Roman kind of death, crucifixion, and for a crime he was charged with, though a false one, against Caesar the Roman emperor; and Christ has been crucified at Rome itself in his members, who have suffered persecution and death, and even the death of the cross there; and he has been crucified afresh, both by the sins and immoralities of those who have bore the Christian name there, and by the frequent sacrifices of him in the Mass. Moreover, by this periphrasis may be meant Jerusalem; and the sense be, that as the great city, or jurisdiction of Rome, may be spiritually or mystically called Sodom and Egypt, so likewise the place where our Lord was crucified, that is, Jerusalem; and that for this reason, because that as Jerusalem stoned and killed the prophets of the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of it were found all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, so in Rome, in mystical Babylon, will be found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon earth, Matthew 23:35. The Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions, read, "where also their Lord was crucified"; and the Arabic version more expressly, "the Lord of these two", i.e. the two witnesses.

JAMISO, “8. dead bodies--So Vulgate, Syriac, and ANDREAS. But A, B, C, the oldest manuscripts, and Copticread the singular, "dead body." The two fallen in one cause are considered as one.

the great city--eight times in the Revelation elsewhere used of BABYLON (Revelation 14:8, 16:19,17:18, 18:10,16,18,19,21). In Revelation

21:10 (English Version as to the new Jerusalem), the oldest manuscripts omit

"the great" before city, so that it forms no exception. It must, therefore, have an anticipatory reference to the mystical Babylon.

which--Greek, "the which," namely, "the city which."spiritually--in a spiritual sense.

Sodom--The very term applied by Isaiah 1:10 to apostate Jerusalem (compare Ezekiel 16:48).Egypt--the nation which the Jews' besetting sin was to lean upon.

where . . . Lord was crucified--This identifies the city as Jerusalem, though

the Lord was crucifiedoutside of the city. EUSEBIUS mentions that the scene of Christ's crucifixion was enclosed within the city by Constantine; so it will be probably at the time of the slaying of the witnesses. "The beast [for example, Napoleon and France's efforts] has been long struggling for a footing in

Palestine; after his ascent from the bottomless pit he struggles much more" [BENGEL]. Some one of the Napoleonic dynasty may obtain that footing, and

even be regarded as Messiah by the Jews, in virtue of his restoring them to their own land; and so may prove to be the last Antichrist. The difficulty is, how can Jerusalem be called "the great city," that is, Babylon? By her becoming the

world's capital of idolatrous apostasy, such as Babylon originally was, and then Rome has been; just as she is here called also "Sodom and Egypt."also our--A, B, C, ORIGEN, ANDREAS, and others read, "also their."

Where their Lord, also, as well as they, was slain. Compare Revelation 18:24,

where the blood of ALL slain on earth is said to be found IN BABYLON, just as in Matthew 23:35, Jesus saith that, "upon the Jews and JERUSALEM"

(CompareMatthew 23:37,38) shall "come ALL the righteous blood shed upon earth"; whence it follows Jerusalem shall be the last capital of the world apostasy, and so receive the last and worst visitation of all the judgments ever inflicted on the apostate world, the earnest of which was given in the Roman

destruction of Jerusalem. In the wider sense, in the Church-historical period, the Church being the sanctuary, all outside of it is the world, the great city, wherein

all the martyrdoms of saints have taken place. Babylon marks its

idolatry, Egypt its tyranny, Sodom its desperate corruption, Jerusalem its pretensions to sanctity on the ground of spiritual privileges, while all the while it is the murderer of Christ in the person of His members. All which is true of

Rome. So VITRINGA. But in the more definite sense, Jerusalem is regarded, even in Hebrews (Hebrews 13:12-14), as the world city which believers were then to go forth from, in order to "seek one to come."

COFFMA, “And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is

called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.And their dead bodies lie in the street ... This describes no literal event. "They that dwell on the earth" (Revelation 11:10), meaning "all men" shall see this; and to think of just two individual men remaining unburied in some specific city is ridiculous. Something of far greater import than this is depicted. "The word for street here signifies a broad street, such as the principal street of a city would be."[49] Thus, we may say that the unburied bodies of the dead, decorate Broadway!

Of the great city ... "This phrase never refers to Jerusalem."[50] What does it mean? "It is man in organized community and opposed to God."[51] "It is civilization utterly alien to the will of God."[52] "It is every city, and not city";[53] and therefore, it means all the cities of mankind. This is exceedingly important to the understanding of Revelation 11:13. Its allegorical names (note the plural) are Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem (where the Lord was crucified). There is just as much authority for restricting the meaning here to Sodom as there is for referring it exclusively to Jerusalem, and neither could be correct; and yet countless scholars have fallen into the error of reading this as a reference to literal, earthly Jerusalem. This type of literalism has destroyed the perception of many. For example, Beckwith declared that, "The details make clear that primarily the literal Jerusalem is meant."[54] Jerusalem is not even a "great city" in any sense. Lenski said, "I rode completely around its outer walls in just an hour on an ass, in 1925!"[55] Also, Eller said:

By the triple allegorical name, John has freed the city here of any physical or geographical limitations. It can be located anywhere at any time, just as Picasso's Guernica is at one and the same time, both Guernica, Spain, 1937, and also any and every other place where war has wreaked its destruction.[56]

The spiritual character of the world's great cities this very day lives up to the triple names assigned to them in this marvelous prophecy. Like Jerusalem, they are the headquarters of God's apostate peoples: "Like Sodom, they are corrupt; like Egypt, they are tyrannical."[57] This proper identification of "the great city" here will make the exegesis of Revelation 11:13 understandable.

The dead bodies left in the streets ... Returning to this aspect of the vision again, the bodily presence of dead churches on the principal avenues and "Broadways" of earth's cities all over the

world is attested by their impressive buildings which are the principal adornment of many such streets; and their physical attractiveness explains why the dead are thus permitted to remain "unburied" for all people to see. This thought will be further elaborated under the following verse.

[49] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 73.

[50] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 156.

[51] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 143.

[52] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 218.

[53] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 143.

[54] Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1919), p. 586.

[55] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 75.

[56] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 113.

[57] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 75.

ELLICOTT, “(8-10) And their dead bodies . . .—Better, And their corpse (is) upon the street of the great city, which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified. And some from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations look upon their corpse three days and a half, and do not suffer their corpses to be put into a tomb. And they that dwell upon the earth rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth. Their corpses remain unburied, while congratulations and rejoicings go on; harmony and concord prevail, as when Pilate and Herod were made friends; it is the millennium of evil, the paradise of fools who make a mock at sin; but the forms of the witnesses, though silenced, still in silence witness against evil. At no time are they hid away out of sight. Even in an age of religious and social anarchy the silent tokens of a better order remain, as when in mockery and profanation the harlot was enthroned within Notre Dame, the very sanctuary walls, which no longer echoed to the psalm of Christian life, yet bore silent testimony to the higher genius of the past. They are said to lie in “the street of the great city.” The city is described as the great city (comp. Revelation 16:19), and also as Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem. Do not passages like this show conclusively that to deny the mystical or allegorical sense of the Apocalypse is to keep the husk and cast away the seed? The city is great, for it is all-important in the eyes of the inhabitants, as public opinion is all-important to the weak or the worldly; it is Sodom, for it is the place where, through pleasure and luxuriousness (fulness of bread), the worst forms of immorality take root; it is Egypt, for it is the house of bondage, where the wages of sin become tyrannous; it is Jerusalem, for it is the apostate place where the presence of Christ is hated. The same spirit which slew their Lord is alive to persecute His servants. “It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household;” and the reason of this hatred is told—the words of the witnesses “tormented them.” “The reproof of their gospel and the reproof of their example . . . had been a torture to them; there was a voice in them which echoed its voice—the voice of a convicting conscience, and the voice of an anticipated judgment.”

PULPIT, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is

called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified ; their dead body (in the singular), according to A, B, C, Arethas, and others. The plural is read in N, P, Andreas, Primasius, and others. Omit "lie upon the highway p their Lord." "The great city" is referred to in Rev_16:19; Rev_17:18;Rev_18:10-19. Its signification is always the same, viz. the type of what is ungodly and of the world, and it is always consigned to punishment. Jerusalem, the type of what is holy, is never thus designated. Here we are plainly told the spiritual, that is, the symbolical nature of the designation. Sodom and Egypt are chosen as the type of what is evil (cf. Deu_32:32; Isa_1:10;Eze_16:46; Eze_20:7, etc.). It was in this city, that is, by the influence of

this world power, that the Lord was crucified. In describing the fate of the Church, St. John seems to have in mind the life of Christ. His witness, the opposition he encountered, his death for a brief time at the completion of his work, his resurrection and ascension, and triumph over the devil, are all here reproduced. "The bodies lie in the street" symbolizes, according to Jewish custom, the most intense scorn and hatred.

9

For three and a half days men from every

people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on

their bodies and refuse them burial.

BARES, “And they of the people - Some of the people; a part of the people - ἐκ τῶν λαῶν ek tōn laōnThe language is such as would be employed to describe a scene where a considerable portion of a company of people should be referred to, without intending to include all. The essential idea is, that there would be an assemblage of different classes of people to whom their carcasses would be exposed, and that they would come and look upon them. We should expect to find the fulfillment of this in some place where, from any cause, a variety of people should be assembled - as in some capital, or some commercial city, to which they would be naturally attracted.Shall see their dead bodies - That is, a state of things will occur as if these witnesses were put to death, and their carcasses were publicly exposed.

Three days and an half - This might be either literally three days and a half, or, more in accordance with the usual style of this book, these would be prophetic days; that is, three years and a half. Compare the notes on Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:15.

And shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves - That is, there would be a course of conduct in regard to these witnesses such as would be shown to the dead if they were not suffered to be decently interred. The language used here - “shall not suffer” - seems to imply that there would be those who might be disposed to show them the respect evinced by interring the dead, but that this would not be permitted. This would find a fulfillment if, in a time of persecution, those who had borne faithful testimony were silenced and treated with dishonor and if there should be those who were disposed to show them respect, but who would be prevented by positive acts on the part of their persecutors. This has often been the case in persecution, and there could be no difficulty in finding numerous instances in the history of the church to which this language would he applicable.

CLARKE, “Shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves - They shall be treated with the greatest barbarity. Refusal of burial to the dead was allowed to be the sum of brutality and cruelty. In popish lands they will not suffer a Protestant to have Christian burial, or to have a grave in a churchyard! Contemptible wretches!

GILL, “And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations,.... These are either the enemies of the witnesses, who consisted of the people, kindred, tongues, and nations, out from among whom they were chosen, redeemed, and called; and before or against whom John, representing these witnesses, prophesied; and over whom the Romish antichrist sits and rules, Revelation 5:9; or else their friends, either real or pretended; since it is not said "the people",

nor "all the people, kindred, tongues, and nations", as it is when the antichristian party are spoken of; and seeing "they that dwell upon the earth", in Revelation 11:10, are mentioned as a distinct company from these; and these are said to be some "of", or "out" of the people, &c. and accordingly the following words will admit of different senses:shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. Now, though this is not literally to be understood, yet it may have some reference to the usages of the witnesses enemies, who sometimes have not allowed them a burial: so the bodies of John Huss, and Jerom of Prague, were burnt, and their ashes cast into the Rhine; the body of Peter Ramus was cast about the streets, thrown into ponds and ditches, then dragged out, and beat with rods; and some have had their bones dug up again, after they had been buried many years, and then burnt, and their ashes scattered abroad, as Wickliff and Bucer here in England: but as this is to be understood in a mystical and allusive sense, the meaning is, as it may refer to enemies, that they shall see, and look upon with joy and pleasure, and with scorn and contempt, and insult over the witnesses, being silenced and deprived of power and opportunity of prophesying:, and as quite dispirited, cast down, and trodden under foot; and whereas not to have a burial granted is always reckoned a piece of the greatest barbarity and inhumanity, as well as of ignominy and reproach, and is expressive of a most unhappy and miserable condition; see Psalm 129:2; so it here signifies, that the enemies of the witnesses having obtained power over them, will not only insult them, but treat them in a very cruel and inhuman manner, and expose them to scorn and contempt; and it represents their case as being very uncomfortable, and deplorable: or as it may respect friends, real or pretended, such as had been, or were, the sense is, that they shall see them in their unhappy condition, and look upon them with pity and compassion; and shall thoroughly consider, and lay to heart, their case and circumstances; and shall remember then, their doctrine and testimony, and their godly lives, and not suffer them to be buried in oblivion; and shall also call to mind this prediction concerning them, that they should continue in this state but three days and a half, and then revive; and therefore they shall entertain hopes of them, as persons sometimes do of their friends, when they are in doubt whether they are dead or not, and therefore keep them above ground for some time, and will not suffer them to be buried; for when put into the grave, there is no more hope, or when a person has been dead, as in the case of Lazarus, four days; so that this conduct may express the kindness and hope of these friends: or it may be, the meaning is, that they will not look at them but very shyly, and at a distance, as being ashamed of them, and having no heart to succour, relieve, and encourage them; but act as did the priest and the Levite towards the man that fell among thieves, and was left half dead, looked upon him, and turned from him, to the other side of the way; as also, that they will not entertain them, or give them any shelter and refuge among them, when, in this their distress, they shall apply to them: the grave is a resting place; there the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest, Job 3:17. Such resting places the witnesses in former times have found, as the English in Queen Mary's days found at Frankfort and Geneva, and other places, and since in Holland; and as now the French refugees here, who being killed in a civil sense in their own country, are put into graves, or are allowed places of rest and security here: but now these witnesses will find none; those who pretended to be their friends will look shy upon them, and not harbour them, yea, will not suffer any to do it; they will by some public act, through fear of the Popish party, forbid the reception and entertainment of them. The time that this will last will be "three days and a half"; after which, as in Revelation 11:11, they will live again, which cannot be understood literally of so many precise days; for it will; not be possible, that, in so short a time, the news of the slaying of the witnesses should be spread among the inhabitants of the earth, md they be able to express their general joy and rejoicing, and to send their gifts to one another upon his occasion, as is signified in Revelation 11:10; nor does this design so long a time, as the time and times, and half a time, elsewhere mentioned; or that it is a period of the same date and duration with the forty two months, in which the holy city is trodden under foot, and the 1260 days, or years, in which the witnesses prophesy in sackcloth; for during that time they will prophesy, and hold forth their testimony, though in sackcloth; but now they will be killed, and during this space will lie dead, and in entire silence: besides, it will be when they shall have finished their testimony, or towards the close of the 1260 days or years, that this war and slaughter will be, and when these three days and a half will take place, which are to be understood of three years and a half, according the prophetic style, a day for a year; and seems intended for the comfort of the saints, that this most afflictive and distressed condition of the witnesses should last but for a little while. It is made a question, whether this war with the witnesses, and the slaughter of them, and their lying

unburied, are over or not: some have thought that these things had their accomplishment in the council of Constance, held about the year 1414, and which lasted three years and a half exactly, when those two witnesses, John Huss, and Jerom of Prague, were killed, insulted, and triumphed over by this council, which was made up of almost all nations. Brightman refers it to the Smalcaldic war in Germany in 1547, when the Protestant army was beaten, and John Frederick, elector of Saxony, and Ernest, the son of the landgrave, and after that the landgrave himself, were taken prisoners; which was a grievous blow to the Protestant cause, and occasioned great rejoicing in the Popish party; but in the year 1550, just three years and a half after that defeat, the men of Magdeburgh rose up with great spirit and courage, and revived the cause. About this time was the council of Trent; to which also the same writer accommodates these things, which consisted of men of all nations, and continued three years and a half; when the authority of the Scriptures was destroyed, which he supposes are the witnesses; when they were suppressed and silenced, and lay as a mere carcass, a dead letter, without any life in them: and it is easy to observe, that there have been several periods of time, in which there has been a seeming fulfilment of these things; the persecution under Queen Mary, and the burning of the martyrs in her time, continued about three years and a half; the massacre in France, in 1572, threatened an utter extirpation of the Protestant religion there, which yet revived in 1576, much about the same space of time here mentioned; and there are several others that have been observed by writers; but what seems most remarkable of all is the case of the Protestants in the valleys of Piedmont, commonly called the Vaudois. The duke of Savoy, their sovereign, by an edict, dated January 31, 1685-6, N. S. forbad the exercise of their religion on pain of death, ordered their churches to be demolished, and their ministers to be banished; which was published in the valleys April the 11th, and was put in execution on the 22nd of the same month, by Savoy and French troops, who killed great numbers of them, took others, and put them into prisons, whom they released about the beginning of December, 1686, and suffered them to depart into other countries, where they were kindly received, relieved, and preserved, particularly by the kingdoms and states of England, Holland, Brandenburgh, Geneva, and Switzerland, while the Popish party were rejoicing at their ruin: and toward the latter end of the year 1689, about three years and a half after the publishing of the edict, these people were inspired on a sudden with a spirit of resolution and courage; and, contrary to the advice of their friends, who thought their case desperate, secretly passed the lake of Geneva, and entered Savoy with sword in hand, and recovered their ancient possessions; and by the month of April, A. D. 1690, established themselves in it, notwithstanding the troops of France and Savoy, to whom they were comparatively few, and whom they slew in great numbers, with little loss to themselves; when the duke perceiving they were encouraged and assisted by foreign princes, and he having left the French interest, recalled the rest of them, and reestablished them by an edict, signed June 4, 1690, just three years and a half after their total dissipation, and gave leave to the French refugees to return with them. Now I take it, that these several things which have happened at certain times, in particular places, are so many hints and pledges of what hereafter will be universal to the witnesses in all places where they are. It would be very desirable if it could be ascertained, and concluded upon a good foundation, that this affair of the killing of the witnesses was over; but because of the following things it cannot be; for the outward court is not yet given to the Gentiles, at least not the whole of it, which must be, ere they can come at the witnesses in the inner court to slay them: they have indeed attacked it, and have taken some part of it, as in Germany, Poland, &c. but as yet not in Great Britain, Holland, &c. at least not thoroughly, though it is plain they are getting ground. Moreover, the witnesses have not finished their testimony, they are still prophesying: in sackcloth; whereas it will be when they have finished it, and towards the close of the 1260 days or years, that they will be killed: to which add, that the ruin of antichrist will quickly follow their rising and ascension; so that if any of the above instances had been the fulfilling of these things relating to the witnesses, antichrist must have been destroyed before now. And it may be further observed, that the second woe, which is the Turkish woe, will, upon the fulfilment of these things, pass away; and the third woe, or the sounding of the seventh trumpet, will immediately take place, which brings on the kingdom of Christ; whereas the Turkish government is still in being, and in great power (this was published in 1747. Ed.); and there is no appearance, as yet, of the kingdoms of this world becoming the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ. There may be an allusion, in this space of time, to the time that Antiochus, called Epiphanes, held Jerusalem in his hands, after he had conquered it, which was just three

years and six monthsF19, during which time he spoiled the temple, and caused the daily sacrifice to

cease: this term of time is much spoken of by the Jews; so long they say Nebuchadnezzar besieged

Jerusalem, and likewise Vespasian, and also three years and a half Adrian besieged BitherF20.

JAMISO, “9. they--rather, "(some) of the peoples."

people--Greek, "peoples."

kindreds--Greek, "tribes"; all save the elect (whence it is not said, The

peoples . . . but [some] of the peoples . . . , or, some of the peoples . . . may

refer to those of the nations . . ., who at the time shall hold possession of

Palestine and Jerusalem).

shall see--So Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. But A, B, C, and ANDREAS, the

present, "see," or rather (Greek, "blepousin"), "look upon." The prophetic present.

dead bodies--So Vulgate, Syriac, and ANDREAS. But A, B, C,

and Coptic, singular, as in Revelation 11:8, "dead body." Three and a half days answer to the three and a half years the half of seven, the full and perfect number.

shall not suffer--so B, Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS. But A, C,

and Vulgate read, "do not suffer."

in graves--so Vulgate and PRIMASIUS. But B, C, Syriac, Coptic, and

ANDREAS, singular; translate, "into a sepulchre," literally, "a monument."

Accordingly, in righteous retribution in kind, the flesh of the Antichristian hosts is

not buried, but given to all the fowls in mid-heaven to eat (Revelation 19:17,18,21).

COFFMA, “And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men

look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.Peoples ... tribes ... tongues ... nations ... This is no isolated event in one particular city, but a worldwide phenomenon. It is seen in Houston, New York, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Havana, etc., everywhere. It is simply impossible to refer the scene here to some Passover crowd in the literal Jerusalem, or to any other isolated and specific location and occasion. "Look upon their dead bodies three days and a half ..." Why do they do such a thing? Because unspiritual and apostate Christians take pleasure in the contemplation of the dead relics of what once was true and living faith. Long after churches have literally chiseled the name of the Son of God off the cornerstones of their houses of worship, and after they have denied his holy religion by the rejection of its great essential doctrine, and after they have made "their church" as worldly, unbelieving, and apostate as possible, do they "bury it"? No indeed! It becomes a favorite rendezvous of scoffing unbelievers. This example should not be misunderstood as a fabrication by this writer. Only compassion forbids our naming the mighty "church" near where this writer lived for seventeen years in Gotham, which actually did all that we have suggested. "The citizens of the great city are happy indeed to feast their eyes upon the dead witnesses. They are delighted now to see that the testimony of the Word to the nations will never be heard again."[58] And, as far as a given generation that rejects the word of God is concerned, this is exactly the way it is. However, in reality, neither the Word nor the Church, God's true witnesses, is ever actually destroyed, as indicated by Revelation 11:11.

And suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in the tomb ... Moffatt observed that the climax of pagan malice was "the refusal to let the bodies of the martyrs be buried by their friends."[59] Like many others, Moffatt here made the mistake of limiting the term "witnesses" to only one of its inherent meanings. These particular witnesses are indeed "martyrs," the Incarnate Word himself having died for all people, and the Church herself being entitled to the designation because of her countless sons who were actually martyrs; but here the far more appropriate meaning of "witnesses" is "those who testify to God's truth." We have already noted that a great many expositors seem to

have "hung up" on this term as if it could only mean a certain class who gave up their lives for the faith. Moffatt also missed another point here, perhaps the biggest one in the passage, that being not the mere fact of the burial refused, but of the place where the dead were allowed to lie in the middle of the principal street! This absolutely forbids any literal understanding of this passage.

For three days and a half ... This does not mean merely half a week, but symbolizes a much longer period, but still far short of the thousand two hundred and three score days of the whole dispensation. Human nature being what it is, there is no way to imagine that actual dead corpses would be allowed to lie unburied on a literal city's principal street even for a literal three days and a half; not even the corpse of an animal would be allowed to remain in such a place for such a time. What is indicated is the attractiveness and acceptability of the witness of the "dead" churches.

Here is pictured the church accommodating herself to the ways of the world, proclaiming no unpleasant doctrine, demanding no painful sacrifices, and with the world hailing with satisfaction the prospect of an easy yoke and the cheap purchase of both time and eternity.[60]

Only this kind of a dead corpse would be allowed indefinitely a favored location on Broadway. Preachers and commentators indicating by every word they write or speak that they do not believe the Bible to be God's word at all have indeed "killed it" of any significance for those who are deceived by them; but do they "bury it" or even allow it to be buried? Certainly not. They continue to devote their lives to writing and talking about it.

How great is the delusion of the church, when her silver is turned to dross, her wine to water, and when her voice no longer torments them that dwell upon the earth.[61]

Many excellent examples of this phenomenon are visible in those scholarly enemies of the New Testament who deny, absolutely, that it is an inspired, divine revelation from God, but who nevertheless devote their whole lives to writing and lecturing about it. This writer's library is full of books which prove this. On these very verses describing the "great city" and its reaction to God's witnesses, one of those scholars commented that, "Like the monster (Satan), the great city is a myth!"[62] If that is the truth, why should he have favored mankind with a commentary on a myth? The very attention which he gives to the New Testament indicates that he knows that no part of it is a myth.

Inherent in this vision of the unburied dead is the amazing truth that:

Those who spurn the word, never get rid of it. The wicked cannot let it alone. The world cannot dismiss it. Their rejoicing over its silence keeps them busy.[63]

[58] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 345.

[59] James Moffatt, Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 418.

[60] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 74.

[61] Ibid., p. 75.

[62] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 138.

[63] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 346.

PULPIT, “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their

dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves ; and from among the peoples and tribes, etc., do [men] look upon, etc., and suffer not, etc., in a tomb (Revised Version). The fourfold enumeration points to the wide distribution of the state of things symbolized (cf. Rev_4:6; Rev_5:9, etc.), and seems of itself almost sufficient to demonstrate that the two witnesses are not two individual persons who are hereafter to appear. The period is but three days and a half; again, as in Rev_11:2, Rev_11:3, a broken, that is, a finite but

uncertain period; but, as compared with the three years and a half—the period of the world's existence—very short. (On the signification of the last clause, see on Rev_11:8.) It is the usual Eastern mark of contempt and degradation. The whole verse, together with the preceding and succeeding verses, describes symbolically, but graphically, the scorn and contempt to which the Church and God's Word will be subjected by men.

With television people all over the world can watch what is happening there.

10

The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over

them and will celebrate by sending each other

gifts, because these two prophets had

tormented those who live on the earth.

BARES, “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them - Those dwelling in the land would rejoice over their fall and ruin. This cannot, of course, mean all who inhabit the globe; but, according to the usage in Scripture, those who dwell in the country where this would occur. Compare the notes on Luke 2:1. We now affix to the word “earth” an idea which was not necessarily

implied in the Hebrew word ארץ‛erets(compare Exodus 3:8; Exodus 13:5; Deuteronomy 19:2, Deuteronomy 19:10; Deuteronomy 28:12;Nehemiah 9:22; Psalm 37:9, Psalm 37:11, Psalm 37:22, Psalm 37:29; Psalm 66:4; Proverbs 2:21;Proverbs 10:30; Joel 1:2); or the Greek

word γῆ gēcompare Matthew 2:6, Matthew 2:20-21; Matthew 14:15; Acts 7:7, Acts 7:11, Acts 7:36, Acts 7:40; Acts 13:17. Our word “land,” as now commonly understood, would better express the idea intended to be conveyed here; and thus understood, the meaning is, that the dwellers in the country where these things would happen would thus rejoice. The meaning is, that while alive they would, by their faithful testimony against existing errors, excite so much hatred against themselves, and would be so great an annoyance to the governing powers, that there would be general exultation when the voice of their testimony should be silenced. This, too, has been so common in the world that there would be no difficulty in applying the language used here, or in finding events which it would appropriately deseribe.And make merry - Be glad. See the notes on Luke 12:19; Luke 15:23. The Greek word does not necessarily denote the lighthearted mirth expressed by our word merriment, but rather joy or happiness in general. The meaning is, that they would be filled with joy at such an event.

And shall send gifts one to another - As expressive of their joy. To send presents is a natural expression of our own happiness, and our desire for the happiness of others - as is indicated now by “Christmas” and “New Year‘s gifts.” Compare also Nehemiah 8:10-12; “Then he said unto them, 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 our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength,” etc. See alsoEsther 9:19-22.

d Because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth - They “tormented” them, or were a source of annoyance to them, by bearing testimony to the truth; by opposing the prevailing errors; and by rebuking the vices of the age: perhaps by demanding reformation, and by

denouncing the judgment of heaven on the guilty. There is no intimation that they tormented them in any other way than by the truths which they held forth. See the word explained in the notes on 2 Peter 2:8.

CLARKE, “Shall send gifts - This was a custom in days of public rejoicing. They sent gifts to each other, and gave portions to the poor. See Esther 9:19, Esther 9:22.

GILL, “And they that dwell upon the earth,.... Out of which the beast arose, and over which he reigns, even the inhabitants of the Roman empire, often in this book called the earth, the followers of antichrist, men that mind nothing but earth, and earthly things:shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; as is usual with persons, and was with the Jews, to do in times of public rejoicing; see Esther 9:18.

Because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth; not because they were tormented by them, but because they were now freed from their tormenting ministry; they had tormented them by the preaching of the Gospel, which is foolishness, and the savour of death to natural men, and gives them pain, and fills them with vexation and wrath; by their testimony which they had bore for Christ, and against antichrist; by their sharp reproof of them for their false doctrine and will worship, and their impure lives and conversations; by their own holy lives, which would sometimes flash light into their consciences, and make them uneasy; and by their foretelling the calamities and ruin, temporal and eternal, that would come upon them; but now they are silenced, and they hear and see no more of these things at which they rejoice.

HERY, “The slaying of the witnesses. To make their testimony more strong, they must seal it with their blood. Here observe, 1. The time when they should be killed: When they have finished their testimony. They are immortal, they are invulnerable, till their work be done. Some think it ought to be rendered, when they were about to finish their testimony. When they had prophesied in sackcloth the greatest part of the 1260 years, then they should feel the last effect of antichristian malice. 2. The enemy that should overcome and slay them—the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit. Antichrist, the great instrument of the devil, should make war against them, not only with the arms of subtle and sophistical learning, but chiefly with open force and violence; and God would permit his enemies to prevail against his witnesses for a time. 3. The barbarous usage of these slain witnesses; the malice of their enemies was not satiated with their blood and death, but pursued even their dead bodies. (1.) They would not allow them a quiet grave; their bodies were cast out in the open street, the high street of Babylon, or in the high road leading to the city. This city is spiritually called Sodom for monstrous wickedness, and Egypt for idolatry and tyranny; and here Christ in his mystical body has suffered more than in any place in the world. (2.) Their dead bodies were insulted by the inhabitants of the earth, and their death was a matter of mirth and joy to the antichristian world, Rev. 11:10. They were glad to be rid of these witnesses, who by their doctrine and example had teased, terrified, and tormented the consciences of their enemies; these spiritual weapons cut wicked men to the heart, and fill them with the greatest rage and malice against the faithful.

JAMISO, “10. they that dwell upon . . . earth--those who belong to the earth, as its citizens, not to heaven (Revelation 3:10, 8:13, 12:12, 13:8).

shall--so Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic. But A, B, and C read the present tense;

compare Note, "shall not suffer."rejoice over them--The Antichristianity of the last days shall probably be under the name of philosophical enlightenment and civilization, but really man's

deification of himself. Fanaticism shall lead Antichrist's followers to exult in having at last seemingly silenced in death their Christian rebukers. Like her Lord, the Church will have her dark passion week followed by the bright resurrection morn. It is a curious historical coincidence that, at the fifth Lateran

Council, May 5, 1514, no witness (not even the Moravians who were summoned) testified for the truth, as HUSS and JEROME did at Constance; an orator ascended the tribunal before the representatives of papal Christendom, and said, "There is no reclaimant, no opponent." LUTHER, on October 31, 1517, exactly

three and a half years afterwards, posted up his famous theses on the church at Wittenberg. The objection is, the years are years of three hundred sixty-five, not three hundred sixty, days, and so two and a half days are deficient; but still the coincidence is curious; and if this prophecy be allowed other fulfilments, besides

the final and literal one under the last Antichrist, this may reasonably be regarded as one.send gifts one to another--as was usual at a joyous festival.tormented them--namely, with the plagues which they had power to inflict

(Revelation 11:5,6); also, by their testimony against the earthly.

COFFMA, “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.What a mistake it is to refer this to the rejoicing of the whole world over the two fallen witnesses to some remote event following the alleged triumph of some Antichrist. There could hardly be an age of which these words are a better description than of our own. How is it that Christian people are able to live such comfortable and cozy lives in a society festering in gross sensuality, violence, irreligion, atheism, corruption, drunkenness, and debauchery? Morris answered that question thus:

"Surely it is because we are not true to the word of God."[64] The preaching of God's word with reference to the sins of mankind can never be anything but torment to them that hear it; and there is an urgent need for the tormentors to fulfill their mission in the world today.

How have the witnesses failed? In a spiritual sense, they are "dead," embalmed in socially contented churches that have eliminated from their "gospel" any such things as the wrath of God, the ravages of Satan, the lake of fire and brimstone, and the condemnation of popular sins such as sodomy, adultery, drunkenness, fraud, deception, falsehood, and violence.

The church of our day, in the larger reference, has perverted, changed, or forsaken the great doctrinal foundations upon which her life is constructed. These are listed in Hebrews 6 as: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment. What are the odds, really, that one could hear even one sermon on any one of these fundamentals on a given Sunday morning in any great city in America? Oh to be sure "faith" would be preached, but not in the great New Testament sense of "the obedience of faith."

In such comments, we do not assume any role of a Jeremiah. The prophecy which reveals this regards a time when the witnesses are "dead"; and to the extent that the witnesses are now "alive," our words do not apply; but it is frightening how much of the description seems to speak of current conditions. Are the witnesses truly "dead" today? In some limited context, they are not "dead"; and our prayer is that they may be much more "alive" than might seem to be indicated by the limited information of any single observer.

They that dwell on the earth ... This means everyone except the true and faithful church; that is, it means mankind in general. "This supports the view of the great city as the whole earth."[65]

Rejoice ... make merry . .. send gifts ... "A worldwide rejoicing and celebration occurs wherever the witnesses are silenced."[66] Amazing examples of this are often found in history. There were the celebrations in Paris when the Bible was condemned to death, tied to the tail of an ass ridden by a notorious prostitute, and dragged to the city dump; and again, when Robespierre was inaugurated as the High Priest of the God of Nature, all dressed up in a chartreuse jacket and robin egg blue trousers, in the vaunted Festival of the Supreme Being![67] Another example was that of the Nazis, in our own generation, who burned the Bibles at Nuremberg, launching the celebrations that culminated in the horrors of World War II. The glee felt by wicked men who feel that they have gotten rid of the church and of the word of God is indicated by this verse. Carpenter gave another example of it which took place with the "enthronement of a harlot in the sanctuary of Notre Dame in Paris."[68]

Because these two prophets tormented them ... Inherent in these words is the mission of all true witnesses of the truth of God to sinful people; it is that of being their tormentor, not in a vindictive or gloating sense, of course. The torment should not derive from the attitude of the tormentors, but from the content of their message faithfully delivered. Elijah was called a troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18:17); but the wicked king opposed to him was actually the one who was doing the troubling of God's people.

[64] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 64.

[65] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 227.

[66] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 347.

[67] Stanley Loomis, Paris in the Terror (Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1964), pp. 372,373.

[68] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 588.

PULPIT, “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and

shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth; rejoice and make merry, that dwell (present, though future in meaning; the present tense rendering the description more graphic). Those dwelling on the earth are the ungodly, the worldly. "They send gifts," in accordance with Oriental custom on joyful occasions (cf. Rev_11:9). "The prophets, the witnesses, tormented;" probably rather by the delivery of their message, which would affect the conscience of men, than by the plagues referred to in Rev_11:6, though both may be meant. Alford, Bengel, and Dusterdieck favour the latter view of the two; Hengstenberg takes the former.

11

But after the three and a half days a breath of

life from God entered them, and they stood on

their feet, and terror struck those who saw

them.

BARES, “And after three days and an half - See the notes on Revelation 11:9.The Spirit of life from God - The living, or life-giving Spirit that proceeds from God entered into them. Compare the notes on Job 33:4. There is evidently allusion here to Genesis 2:7, where God is spoken of as the Author of life. The meaning is, that they would seem to come to life again, or that effects would follow as if the dead were restored to life. If, when they had been compelled to cease from prophesying, they should, after the interval here denoted by three days and a half, again prophesy, or their testimony should be again borne to the truth as it had been before, this would evidently be all that would be implied in the language here employed.

Entered into them - Seemed to animate them again.

And they stood upon their feet - As if they had come to life again.

And great fear fell upon them which saw them - This would be true if those who were dead should be literally restored to life; and this would be the effect if those who had given great annoyances by their doctrines, and who had been silenced, and who seemed to be dead, should again, as if animated anew by a divine power, begin to prophesy, or to proclaim their doctrines to the world. The statement in the symbol is, that those who had put them to death had been greatly troubled by these “witnesses”; that they had sought to silence them, and in order to this had put them to death; that they then greatly rejoiced, as if they would no more be annoyed by them. The fact that they seemed to come to life again would, therefore, fill them with consternation, for they would anticipate a renewal of their troubles, and they would see in this fact evidence of the divine favor toward those whom they persecuted, and reason to apprehend divine vengeance on themselves.

GILL, “And after three days and a half,.... When it was certain they were dead, and all hope of reviving was over; see John 11:39; that is, three years and a half:the spirit of life from God entered into them; this phrase is expressive of a resurrection the Jews

frequently call the general resurrection תחייה, "a quickening", and have the very phrase here used;

for, speaking of the resurrection, they sayF21, דחיי רוחא , "the spirit of life" does not dwell but in the

holy land. This resurrection of the witnesses is not to be understood of a corporeal resurrection; for there is no reason to believe that there will be a resurrection of any particular saints until the general resurrection, which will be at the personal coming of Christ, and at the beginning of the thousand years, and after the sounding of the seventh trumpet; whereas this will be before that, and towards the close of the sixth trumpet: and besides, the death of these witnesses is not corporeal, as has been observed: nor is a spiritual resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace intended, which is owing to the Spirit of life from Christ; for these witnesses were such who had been quickened, and raised in this sense antecedent to their prophesying and killing; but a civil resurrection of them, or a resurrection of them as witnesses, when their spirits will revive, and they will take heart and courage again to appear for Christ: and this may be understood of the same individual persons that were silenced, or of those that succeeded such that corporeally died in the war of the beast, or during this interval; and so these witnesses may be said to rise in them, they appearing in the same spirit they did; just as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elias: and this will be owing to the Spirit of life from God entering into them; which is said in allusion to the living soul of man, which returns to God, and at the resurrection, whether particular or general, comes from him, and reenters the body; and which also is owing to the Spirit of God, by whom mortal bodies will be quickened; and in allusion to the breathing on the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision, Ezekiel 37:1; and the sense is, that the Spirit of God will inspire these witnesses with fresh life and rigour, zeal and resolution; so that though they have been so long silent, lifeless, and dispirited, they shall now rise in high spirits, and bravely exert themselves in the cause of Christ; and this will not be by any worldly power and authority, or by any secular arm, that shall encourage them, but by the Spirit of God, who shall breathe upon them, and afresh quicken them, and fill them with resolution and courage:

and they stood upon their feet; in great numbers, like the army in Ezekiel's vision; and will reassume their former station, and be in a position and a state of readiness to serve the Lord, and to defend his truths, and discharge their duty with boldness and courage, fearing the face of none:

and great fear fell upon them which saw them; in this posture; either on their enemies, who may fear that they should be tormented with them again; that the things which they had foretold concerning their ruin are now coming upon them; that they shall be turned out of their places of profit, and lose all their worldly advantages, and carnal pleasures now, and be miserable to all eternity: or upon their friends, either their false hearted ones, that would not succour them when in distress, who may fear that God, whose finger they will see in this matter, will by them resent their conduct towards them; or else their real friends, who may be filled with reverence and awe of the divine Majesty, as the church was upon the business of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:11.

HERY, “The resurrection of these witnesses, and the consequences thereof. Observe, 1. The time of their rising again; after they had lain deadthree days and a half (Rev. 11:11), a short time in comparison of that in which they had prophesied. Here may be a reference to the resurrection of Christ, who is the resurrection and the life. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Or there may be a reference to the resurrection of Lazarus on the fourth day, when they thought it impossible. God’s witnesses may be slain, but they shall rise again: not in their persons, till the general resurrection, but in their successors. God will revive his work, when it seems to be dead in the world. 2. The power by which they were raised: The spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet. God put not only life, but courage into them. God can make the dry bones to life; it is the Spirit of life from God that quickens dead souls, and shall quicken the dead bodies of his people, and his dying interest in the world. 3. The effect of their resurrection upon their enemies:Great fear fell upon them. The reviving of God’s work and witnesses will strike terror into the souls of his enemies. Where there is guilt, there is fear; and a persecuting spirit, though cruel, is not a courageous, but a cowardly spirit. Herod feared John the Baptist.

JAMISO, “11. Translate as Greek, "After the three days and an half."

the Spirit of life--the same which breathed life into Israel's dry bones, Ezekiel

37:10,11 "Breath came into them." The passage here, as there, is closely

connected with Israel's restoration as a nation to political and religious life. Compare also concerning the same, Hosea 6:2, where Ephraim says, "After two

days will He revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight."

into--so B and Vulgate. But A reads (Greek, "en autois"), "(so as to be) IN them."stood upon their feet--the very words in Ezekiel 37:10, which proves the allusion to be to Israel'sresurrection, in contrast to "the times of the Gentiles"

wherein these "tread under foot the holy city."great fear--such as fell on the soldiers guarding Christ's tomb at His resurrection (Matthew 28:4), when also there was a great earthquake (Revelation 11:2).

saw--Greek, "beheld."

COFFMA,”And after three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them,

and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them.

After three days and a half ... This period equals the half of the perfect seven so frequently mentioned in this prophecy. It means that the triumph of evil is never complete, never a true and final victory. Hitler may burn the Bibles, but the fire did not go out until it had consumed into ashes all of the great cities of his blasphemous domain. Paris may drag the Bible to the city dump and enthrone a harlot in Notre Dame, but her government has fallen fifty times since that occurred; and the heel of the invader has for years at a time been planted brutally upon her throat. Satan cannot actually get rid of the witnesses. Sure, he "kills them" again and again; but they rise again!

The breath of life from God entered them ... The resurgence of the Word following every "killing" of it is the most consistently recurring phenomenon of human history, as is also the constantly appearing rebirth of the church after every period of decline and apostasy. This, interpretation does not deny the companion truth of a literal resurrection of the church at the last day, a truth seen proleptically in the following verse.

And they stood upon their feet ... However frequently it may seem that the Church and the Word are "killed," it is not long until they again, "stand upon their feet." The "killing" in these verses should be placed in quotation marks, for it never actually occurs.

When this interpretation of this chapter is compared with "the notion of two individual persons appearing in the Mid-East city of Jerusalem, being mobbed by the citizens, left unburied for half a week, and then coming alive again, it will be seen that such an event could not have the smallest fraction of the impact evident in the view adopted here. Inherent in the error of literalizing this passage is the false theological conception that God could accomplish something in this age of our present world through the instrumentality of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Enoch, Joshua, Peter, Paul, or others, brought back to earth either in a reincarnation or a resurrection, or in a recall from a state of having been translated (as in the case of Enoch), that could not be accomplished by the faithful people of any other age. Such a view does an injustice to God and is contrary to all reason. The power that was effective in all those worthies mentioned (no agreement at all, of course, on which ones), was not theirs, but it was in the Word which they delivered. Once this is understood, the alleged reappearance of any such ancient heroes becomes ridiculous and preposterous.

ELLICOTT, “(11) And after three days . . .—Better, And after the three days and a half (not simply “three days and a half,”) a Spirit of life out of (from) God entered into (or, in; i.e., so as to be in) them, and they stood upon their feet; and a great fear fell upon those who beheld them. The vision of the dry bones will be remembered; in part, the very wording of it is employed here—e.g., “they stood upon their feet” (Ezekiel 37:1-10); and a yet more sacred remembrance—the three days of our Master’s death-sleep—will be traced here. “Where I am there shall also My servant be” (John 12:26). “If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together” (Romans 8:17). There is a resurrection power in even rejected truth; the strength of it is undying. If it be of God, men cannot overthrow it. “The corn of wheat that dies brings forth much fruit.” The cause that seemed dead is found to be possessed of a renewed power and life. “There is an end of resistance to the Papal rule and religion; opposers exist no more !” cried the orator of the Lateran Council in 1514; but within three years and a half the hand of Luther nailed up his theses at Wittenberg. It is one illustration among many.

PULPIT, “And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and

they stood upon their feet. "The three days and an half," viz. these mentioned in Rev_11:9, which see. Not merely "life from God," but the "Spirit from God" (cf. the vision in Eze_37:1-28., especially Eze_37:9, Eze_37:10). "The Spirit of life" has been in the Church of God previously, but she has become "dry bones;" "the Spirit" is now breathed anew into her, and she is restored and

magnified before the world. And great fear fell upon them which saw them. "Beheld" ( θεωρέω ) occurs in the Apocalypse only here and in the next verse. Fear, on account of the vindication of those whom they had treated with contumely, and on account of the judgment, to follow, which was even now shadowed forth.

KRETZMA, “The enemies of the Lord, as in many cases since, rejoiced too soon: And after the three and one-half days the Spirit of Life from God came into them, and they stood upon their feet, and a great fear fell upon those that saw them. That has always been the experience of the Church under the guidance of God: the blood of the martyrs was its seed; Huss was burned at Constance, but Luther took his place in Germany. And by the grace of God such events always have a good effect, at least to some extent; they impress at least some of the souls that have been held in captivity by Anti-Christ, and cause them to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Other miracles attended this remarkable event: And they heard a great voice out of heaven saying to them, Ascend hither; and they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them; and in that hour there happened a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand souls, and the rest became terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. Many of those very witnesses for Christ whom the minions of Anti-Christ slew are now properly reckoned with the saints whom the Lord has taken up to heaven. The enemies themselves, in many cases, were obliged to acknowledge their excellence. The Reformation finally shook the Church like a great earthquake, and many that held to the old, anti-Christian order of things were swept down to eternal destruction in the ruin which threatened the very foundations of Anti-Christ's kingdom. And as for the rest, great numbers were gained for the truth, while others were at least terrified to the extent that they insisted upon, and finally effected, at least a partial external removal of the many abuses that had openly been tolerated in the Church. Having this vision, the seer calls out: The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Everything that had been described till now was only of a preparatory nature before the last great and terrible woe.

BURKITT, “The death of the witnesses was described in the foregoing verses, their resurrection is declared in these. This is understood politically by some, that they who were civilly dead, that is, laid aside as useless, were now politically alive; that is, restored to their public work and employment in the church again, God causing princes and magistrates to own and favour them; and accordingly, by their ascending up into heaven, they understand their re-entering into the church, their re-enjoying their public liberties and gospel privileges, which, in comparison of the low nd sackcloth condition they were in before, was like heaven and earth unto them.

And they ascended in a cloud, that is, gloriously, and their enemies beheld them with an envious eye, because of the work in their hands, which it was not in their power to hinder. Others understand this resurrection (in the manner forementioned) to be meant not of the same spirit and office, restored to the same work, to the admiration of the good, and consternation of the bad; and that the voice of Christ spake to the slain witnesses, saying, Come up hither, that is, into heaven, to receive the reward of your sufferings and services, and others that succeed you in office shall partake of your spirit, and perfect that work which you began and carried on.

Where note, That ofttimes God's faithful witnesses, namely, such magistrates and ministers as have done great things for the church of God, are taken up to heaven before they behold the desired issue, which is left to their successors to see completed.

Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,

The eternal years of God are hers;

But error, wounded, writhes in pain,

And dies among her worshipers.

12

Then they heard a loud voice from heaven

saying to them, "Come up here." And they

went up to heaven in a cloud, while their

enemies looked on.

BARES, “And they heard a great voice from heaven - Some manuscripts read, “I heard”

- ἤκουσα ēkousa- but the more approved reading is that of the common text. John says that a voice was addressed to them calling them to ascend to heaven.Come up hither - To heaven.

And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud - So the Saviour ascended, Acts 1:9; and so probably Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11.

And their enemies beheld them - That is, it was done openly, so that their enemies, who had put them to death, saw that they were approved of God, as if they had been publicly taken up to heaven. It is not necessary to suppose that this would literally occur. All this is, manifestly, mere symbol. The meaning is, that they would triumph as if they should ascend to heaven, and he received into the presence of God. The sense of the whole is, that these witnesses, after bearing a faithful testimony against prevailing errors and sins, would be persecuted and silenced; that for a considerable period their voice of faithful testimony would be hushed as if they were dead; that during that period they would be treated with contempt and scorn, as if their unburied bodies should be exposed to the public gaze; that there would be general exultation and joy that they were thus silenced; that they would again revive, as if the dead were restored to life, and bear a faithful testimony to the truth again; and that they would have the divine attestation in their favor, its if they were raised up visibly and publicly to heaven.

GILL, “And they heard a great voice from heaven,.... The Complutensian edition reads, "I heard", i.e. "John"; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; but the copies in general read "they"; not the enemies, but the witnesses: and this seems not to come from any Christian civil magistrate in the church, but from Christ himself; not but that Christ may make use of, such for the bringing of his people into a more glorious and comfortable state in this world:saying unto them, come up hither; as the angel said to John, Revelation 4:1, and Christ will say to his people, though on another account, Matthew 25:34.

And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; which is to be understood not literally, for no man hath ascended to heaven, nor will any, until the thousand years are ended, when the saints will, in a body, ascend thither; but mystically, of a more glorious state of the church; so to ascend to heaven signifies a more exalted state in a prince, or a kingdom, Isaiah 14:13; and here intends a state of comfortable communion of the saints one with another, of great purity and holiness, of large enjoyments of blessings and privileges, and of great security from enemies, and of great glory, and honour, and power, that shall be bestowed upon them; they now dwelling on high, and their place of defence being the munition of rocks. This will be the beginning of the spiritual reign of Christ; and this ascension of the witnesses will be in a cloud, in allusion to our Lord's ascension to heaven, and as expressive of that glory and majesty which will be put upon these risen witnesses, and in which they shall enter into this happy state of things; or it may be, that this may denote that the first appearance of these happy times, and of Christ's spiritual reign in his church, and their more comfortable enjoyment, will be at first but dim and obscure, and yet such as, in comparison of their former state, will be visible to, and be taken notice of, even by their very enemies:

and their enemies beheld them; going up to heaven, or entering into a purer, and more glorious, and spiritual state; for the mountain of the Lord's house will be established upon the top of the mountains, and Jerusalem shall be made the praise of the whole earth, an eternal excellency, and the joy of many generations; and this shall be seen and known of all, though to their grief and sorrow.

HERY, “The ascension of the witnesses into heaven and the consequences thereof, Rev. 11:12, 13. Observe, 1. Their ascension. By heaven we may understand either some more eminent station in the church, the kingdom of grace in this world, or a high place in the kingdom of glory above. The former seems to be the meaning: They ascended to heaven in a cloud (in a figurative, not in a literal sense) and their enemies saw them. It will be no small part of the punishment of persecutors, both in this world and at the great day, that they shall see the faithful servants of God greatly honoured and advanced. To this honour they did not attempt to ascend, till God called them, and said,Come up hither. The Lord’s witnesses must wait for their advancement, both in the church and in heaven, till God calls them; they must not be weary of suffering and service, nor too hastily grasp at the reward; but stay till their Master calls them, and then they may gladly ascend to him. 2. The consequences of their ascension—a mighty shock and convulsion in the antichristian empire and the fall of a tenth part of the city. Some refer this to the beginning of the reformation from popery, when many princes and states fell off from their subjection to Rome. This great work met with great opposition; all the western world felt a great concussion, and the antichristian interest received a great blow, and lost a great deal of ground and interest, (1.) By the sword of war, which was then drawn; and many of those who fought under the banner of antichrist were slain by it. (2.) By the sword of the Spirit: The fear of God fell upon many. They were convinced of their errors, superstition, and idolatry; and by true repentance, and embracing the truth, they gave glory to the God of heaven. Thus, when God’s work and witnesses revive, the devil’s work and witnesses fall before him.

JAMISO, “ they--so A, C, and Vulgate. But B, Coptic, Syriac, and ANDREAS read, "I heard."

a cloud--Greek, "the cloud"; which may be merely the generic expression for

what we are familiar with, as we say "the clouds." But I prefer taking the article as definitely alluding to THE cloud which received Jesus at His ascension, Acts

1:9 (where there is no article, as there is no allusion to a previous cloud, such as there is here). As they resembled Him in their three and a half years' witnessing,

their three and a half days lying in death (though not for exactly the same time, nor put in a tomb as He was), so also in their ascension is the translation and transfiguration of the sealed of Israel (Revelation 7:1-8), and the elect of all nations, caught up out of the reach of the Antichristian foe. In Revelation 14:14-

16, He is represented as sitting on a white cloud.their enemies beheld them--and were thus openly convicted by God for their unbelief and persecution of His servants; unlike Elijah's ascension formerly, in the sight of friends only. The Church caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and

transfigured in body, is justified by her Lord before the world, even as the man-

child (Jesus) was "caught up unto God and His throne" from before the dragon standing ready to devour the woman's child as soon as born.

COFFMA, “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.This view is a glimpse of the final judgment. Only then will God's saints ascend to heaven (2 Timothy 4:8f). Coming here, as it does, just before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, it occupies a place in the sixth trumpet, just as did the judgment connected with the sixth seal in Revelation 6:14-17.

Is not the resurrection of the witnesses of God and their exaltation the beginning of the last judgment? Paul said, "Each in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, then they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end" (1 Corinthians 15:13). This "end" is immediately referred to here.[69]

And they went up into heaven ... and their enemies beheld them ... All of these judgment scenes show that the wicked shall not be destroyed in the lake of fire until after they have witnessed the salvation of the righteous. There is only one time revealed in the Scriptures when people will go to heaven, and that is at the Second Coming of Christ and the final judgment day. Significantly, this final event is represented here as occurring at a time of near-universal rejection of the two witnesses, and simultaneously with the mockery and glee of an unbelieving world. This was not preceded by any so-called triumph of an Antichrist, nor by any secret "rapture" of the church, nor by any glorious millennium of universal peace and happiness on earth.

And their enemies beheld them ... "The church ascends to heaven in a cloud of glory; and their enemies beheld them. No secret rapture."[70] But John's vision of the judgment at this point retrogresses a bit to show how that event affects the wicked. "The next verse shows what takes place just before this final day."[71]

[69] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 292.

[70] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 158.

[71] Ibid.

ELLICOTT, “12) And they heard . . .—Translate, And they heard (or, I heard; the MS. authority is divided, though the balance inclines to the first) a great voice out of the heaven saying to them. Come up hither. And they went up into the heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. The resurrection of the witnesses is followed by their ascension. It is the token that in this too they shall have a portion with their Lord; rejected and slain, there is welcome and honour for them; they take their place with those who through faith and patience inherit the promises; they rest from their labours. But this is not all. Like Elijah (2 Kings 2:11), they are taken up gloriously, but not, like Elijah, in comparative secret; their enemies see their exaltation. As for the witnesses themselves there is the welcome rest of heaven, so there is the visible recognition of their work and power on earth; the cause which seemed dead revives, and with its revival comes the recognition of those who laboured for it; the martyred are seen transfigured, they become glorious in the eyes of men:

“Persecution dragged them into fame,

And chased them up to heaven.”

They went up in the cloud: There is here, perhaps, a touch of recollection. St. John remembers the cloud which received his Lord out of sight. Since then the cloud mingles with his every thought of ascension or descending from heaven. (Comp. Revelation 1:7; Acts 1:9.) The witnesses, like their Master, disappeared in the cloud.

PULPIT, “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up

hither. The reading ἤκουσα , "I heard," for ἤκουσαν , "they heard," in a correction of à , and in B,

Coptic, Armenian, Andreas, may have arisen from the similarity of the passage to Rev_6:6; Rev_9:13. Dusterdieck, who reads, "I heard," points out that in Rev_6:11; Rev_9:4, the phrase used in addressing others is, "It was said unto them." Thus the fate of the Church is that of her Lord, and it is the fate of each individual who may witness of God. Suffering, apparent extinction, perhaps, but ultimate triumph and ascension into the presence of God is their common inheritance. If so be that they suffer with him, they are also glorified with him (Rom_8:17). Alford remarks that "no attempt has been made to explain this ascension by those who interpret the witnesses figuratively of the Old and New Testaments, or the like." Is it not the resurrection of the just, of the witnesses of God, and their exaltation at the beginning of the last judgment? Thus St. Paul says, "But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end" (1Co_15:13). This "end" is immediately referred to by the seer. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them; in the cloud. The parallelism with Elijah and Christ (see Rev_9:5, Rev_9:6, Rev_9:8) is carried still further. The Church is triumphantly vindicated and glorified as they were; the only difference is that now all men behold it.The cloud is not that which hides them from view, but rather, like that in Rev_14:14, something which exalts and enhances the glory of the witnesses. The effect upon the worldly is told inRev_14:11, Rev_14:13.

Some see the rapture here as in 1Thess. 4:13-17.

13

At that very hour there was a severe

earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed.

Seven thousand people were killed in the

earthquake, and the survivors were terrified

and gave glory to the God of heaven.

BARES, “And the same hour - In immediate connection with their triumph.Was there a great earthquake - “An earthquake is a symbol of commotion, agitation, change; of great political revolutions, etc. See the notes on Revelation 6:12. The meaning here is, that the triumph of the witnesses, represented by their ascending to heaven, would be followed by such revolutions as would be properly symbolized by an earthquake.

And the tenth part of the city fell - That is, the tenth part of that which is represented by the “city” - the persecuting power. A city would be the seat and center of the power, and the acts of persecution would seem to proceed from it; but the destruction, we may suppose, would extend to all that was represented by the persecuting power. The word “tenth” is probably used in a general sense to denote that a considerable portion of the persecuting power would be thus involved in ruin; that is, that in respect to that power there would be such a revolution, such a convulsion or commotion, such a loss, that it would be proper to represent it by an earthquake.

And in the earthquake - In the convulsions consequent on what would occur to the witnesses.

Were slain of men seven thousand - Mart., as in the Greek, “names of men” - the name being used to denote the people themselves. The number here mentioned - seven thousand - seems to have been suggested because it would bear some proportion to the tenth part of the city which fell.

It is not necessary to suppose, in seeking for the fulfillment of this, that just seven thousand would be killed; but the idea clearly is, that there would be such a diminution of numbers as would be well represented by a calamity that would overwhelm a tenth part of the city, such as the apostle had in his eye, and a proportional number of the inhabitants. The number that would be slain, therefore, in the convulsions and changes consequent on the treatment of the witnesses, might be numerically much larger than seven thousand, and might be as great as if a tenth part of all that were represented by the “city” should be swept away.

And the remnant were affrighted - Fear and alarm came on them in consequence of these calamities. The “remnant” here refers to those who still remained in the “city” - that is, to those who belonged to the community or people designed to be represented here by the city.

And gave glory to the God of heaven - Compare Luke 5:26; “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.” All that seems to be meant by this is, that they stood in awe at what God was doing, and acknowledged his power in the changes that occurred. It does not mean, necessarily, that they would repent and become truly his friends, but that there would be a prevailing impression that these changes were produced by his power, and that his hand was in these things. This would be fulfilled if there should be a general willingness among mankind to acknowledge God, or to recognize his hand in the events referred to; if there should be a disposition extensively prevailing to regard the “witnesses” as on the side of God, and to favor their cause as one of truth and righteousness; and if these convulsions should so far change public sentiment as to produce an impression that theirs was the cause of God.

CLARKE, “A great earthquake - Violent commotions among the persecutors, and revolutions of states.Slain of men seven thousand - Many perished in these popular commotions.

The remnant were affrighted - Seeing the hand of God's judgments so remarkably stretched out.

Gave glory - Received the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and glorified God for his judgments and their conversion.

GILL, “And the same hour was there a great earthquake,.... Or the same day, as the Complutensian edition, and some copies, read; that is, at the time of the resurrection and ascension of the witnesses, as there was at the resurrection of Christ; and is to be understood of a very great commotion in the civil affairs of kingdoms and nations within the Roman jurisdiction, as there was when Rome Pagan was near its ruin,Revelation 6:12.And the tenth part of the city fell. Mr. Daubuz interprets the "earthquake" of the irruption of the Ottomans upon the Grecian empire, and the "tenth" part of the city, of the Greek church, and the falling of it, of its loss of liberty, and falling into slavery; but something yet to come is here intended. By "the city" is meant the city of Rome, the great city, mentioned in Revelation 11:8; and by "the tenth part" of it may be designed either Rome itself, which as it now is, according to the observation of some, is but a tenth part of what it was once; so that the same thing is meant as when it is said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen",Revelation 14:8, or it may design the tithes and profits which arise from the several kingdoms belonging to the jurisdiction and see of Rome, which now will fall off from those who used to share them, upon this new and spiritual state of things; the Gospel daily gaining ground, and enlightening the minds of men, and freeing them from the slavery they were held in; or else the ten fold government of the Roman empire, or the ten kings that gave their kingdoms to the whore of Rome, and are the ten horns of the beast, on which she sits, who will now hate her, and burn her flesh with fire; or rather one of the ten kingdoms, into which the Roman western empire was divided. Dr. Goodwin seems inclined to think that Great Britain is intended, which having been gained over to the Popish party, will now fall off again: but I rather think the kingdom of France is meant, the last of the ten kingdoms, which rose up out of the ruins of the Roman empire, which will be conquered, and which will be the means of its reformation from Popery.

And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand; the meaning is, that in the commotions, massacres, tumults, and wars which will be throughout the empire, such a number of men will be slain; which is either put for a greater number; a certain for an uncertain, as in Romans 11:4; and perhaps in reference to the account there; otherwise seven thousand is but a small number to be slain in battle; or as it is in the original text, "the names of men seven thousand". Now it is observed by some, that the smallest name of number belonging to men is a centurion, or captain of an hundred men; and supposing that to be meant, then seven thousand names of men will imply, that in an hour, or about a fortnight's time, may be slain throughout all Europe, in battles and massacres, about seven hundred thousand men, which is a very large number: or names of men may signify men of name, of great renown, as in Numbers 16:2; and then if seven thousand men of name, officers in armies, should be slain, how great must be the number of the common soldiers? Some have thought, that ecclesiastical dignities, or men distinguished by names and titles, such as cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, &c. and the whole rabble of the antichristian hierarchy, which will now fall, and be utterly demolished, are intended:

and the remnant were affrighted; who were not slain in this earthquake; these will be affected with the judgments of God upon others, and be made sensible of their danger, and of their deliverance, which will so work upon them, as to reform them from Popery:

and gave glory to the God of heaven; will acknowledge the justice of God, and the righteousness of his judgments upon those that were slain, and his goodness to them who are spared; will confess their transgressions and sins they have been guilty of; and give the glory of their deliverance, not to their idols and images, but to the true God, whose religion they now embrace; for this respects the large conversions among the Popish party to the true religion, under the influence of the grace of God, through the preaching of the Gospel, which will now be spread throughout the world.

JAMISO, “13. "In that same hour"; literally, "the hour."great earthquake--answering to the "great earthquake" under the sixth seal, just at the approach of the Lord (Revelation 6:12). Christ was delivered unto His

enemies on the fifth day of the week, and on the sixth was crucified, and on the sabbath rested; so it is under the sixth seal and sixth trumpet that the last suffering of the Church, begun under the fifth seal and trumpet, is to be

consummated, before she enters on her seventh day of eternal sabbath. Six is the number of the world power's greatest triumph, but at the same time verges

on seven, the divine number, when its utter destruction takes place. Compare "666" in Revelation 13:18, "the number of the beast."tenth part of the city fell--that is, of "the great city" (Revelation

16:19, Zechariah 14:2). Ten is the number of the world kingdoms (Revelation

17:10-12), and the beast's horns (Revelation 13:1), and

the dragon's (Revelation 12:3). Thus, in the Church-historical view, it is hereby implied that one of the ten apostate world kingdoms fall. But in the narrower

view a tenth of Jerusalem under Antichrist falls. The nine-tenths remain and become when purified the center of Christ's earthly kingdom.

of men--Greek, "names of men." The men are as accurately enumerated as if their names were given.

seven thousand--ELLIOTT interprets seven chiliads or provinces, that is, the seven Dutch United Provinces lost to the papacy; and "names of men," titles of

dignity, duchies, lordships, &c. Rather,seven thousand combine the two mystical

perfect and comprehensive numbers seven and thousand,implying the full and

complete destruction of the impenitent.the remnant--consisting of the Israelite inhabitants not slain. Their conversion forms a blessed contrast to Revelation 16:9; and above, Revelation 9:20,21.

These repenting (Zechariah 12:10-14,13:1), become in the flesh the

loyal subjects of Christ reigning over the earth with His transfigured saints.gave glory to the God of heaven--which while apostates, and worshipping the beast's image, they had not done.

God of heaven--The apostates of the last days, in pretended scientific

enlightenment, recognize noheavenly power, but only the natural forces in the

earth which come under their observation. His receiving up into heaven the two

witnesses who had power during their time on earth to shut heavenfrom raining (Revelation 11:6), constrained His and their enemies who witnessed it, to

acknowledge the God of heaven, to be God of the earth (Revelation 11:4). As

in Revelation 11:4 He declared Himself to be God of the earth by His two

witnesses, so now He proves Himself to be God of heaven also.

COFFMA, “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.And in that hour there was a great earthquake ... "Here we have the same picture as in Revelation 6:12f."[72] The whole verse deals with the disastrous events associated with the onset of the final judgment.

And the tenth part of the city fell ... Many have marveled that only a tenth of it fell. This remarkable statement makes it impossible to refer this to the literal Jerusalem, no matter when the book of Revelation was written. If it was written before 70 A.D., which is our conviction, then this prophecy of the fall of a tenth of Jerusalem (literally) and the death of a mere 7,000 people, was totally disproved by events within a year or so that saw all of the city totally destroyed and the death of 1,100,000 people! In such an event, the church would never have received this book as canonical. On the other hand, if it was written near the end of the first century, John could hardly have applied this to a literal city whose destruction had been so extensively beyond what is indicated here. Therefore, we conclude that there can be no intelligent way of applying this prophecy to a literal Jerusalem.

Furthermore, when accurately understood, what is described here is a devastating worldwide judgment of the most extensive dimensions. "The first complete stone (one-tenth) falls out of the arch, so that the complete arch (ten-tenths) shall cave in."[73] What is actually meant here is that a tenth of all the great cities on earth shall totally collapse. Remember who the great city is! When wickedness shall at last so predominate in the earth that the organized cities of the earth begin to collapse, one by one, everywhere, the judgment is near. The collapse of a tenth (God's tithe) of all the great earthly cities (think of such a disaster) shall be attended by enormous casualties, as indicated in the next clause.

Seven thousand persons were killed ... This is not a literal number at all, but a symbolical depiction of an infinitely greater number. Caird, Plummer, Roberson, Mounce, and others can attach "no special significance"[74] to this number; and yet it obviously stands for the slain resulting from the urban collapse of human civilization in the world! As Cox observed, "Of those who deserved divine judgment, none escaped."[75]

The rest were affrighted and gave glory to God ... Some hail this as a prophecy of the repentance of nine-tenths of the earth! When people are either watching, or have just witnessed the resurrection of the dead, it will be too late to repent. There cannot be here, "A hint of God's uncovenanted mercies,"[76] nor any suggestion whatever that, "The rest of the people were aroused to repentance."[77] These people's giving "glory to God" was in the same category as that of the wicked in Revelation 6:16f. Repentance is not even mentioned here. No. What we have is a glimpse of the universal terror of the wicked when they behold the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Second Advent, exactly the same as in Revelation 6:12ff. Many, of course, have discerned this:

This cannot mean that now at last those not slain repented. Repentance without the Word is impossible.[78]

There is no sign that they repented, nor did John expect that they would.[79]

There is no repentance; there is terror; there is a tribute of awe to the God of heaven who has vindicated his cause; but there is nothing more.[80]SIZE>

And in that hour ... Although first in this verse, this is reviewed here to emphasize the truth that all the events foretold here are connected in time with the final judgment visible inRevelation 11:12. All of the judgment scene in this whole chapter belongs to the Second Woe, despite some past-tense references to it, as in Revelation 11:18. The judgment scene was accomplished in the Second Woe, not merely introduced.

[72] Ibid.

[73] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 350.

[74] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 292.

[75] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 75.

[76] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 293.

[77] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 603.

[78] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 351.

[79] Martin Rist, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 448.

[80] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 75.

ELLICOTT, “(13) And the same hour . . .—Better, And in that hour there was (took place) a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and, there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand: and the rest became affrighted, and gave glory to the God of the heaven. The hour of their triumph is the hour of a retributive warning on the city where they were slain convulsion, with the overthrow of dwellings and the death of seven thousand men. Is it accidental that the number is the same as the number of those who had not bowed to Baal? (1 Kings 19:18.) Rejected reformation avenges itself in revolution, and the city which might have been purified by the word is purged by the spirit of judgment (Isaiah 4:4); good is effected, even through fear; some are saved though as by fire; and, unlike those who repented not (Revelation 9:21), they give glory to the God of heaven. The visible Church of Christ is stirred; there is a reaction from the spirit of worldliness.

PULPIT, “And the same hour was there a great earthquake. In the visions of the seals it is set forth, under the sixth seal, how the destruction of the world is accompanied by earthquakes, etc.; the fear of the wicked is portrayed, and the preservation of the just takes place at the same time. Here, under the sixth trumpet, we have the same events shown forth, the triumph of the godly being mentioned first, though the rest happens "in that same hour." This is the conclusion of the sixth judgment, the consequence of the non repentance mentioned in Rev_9:21. The intervening narrative (Rev 10:1-11:12) serves to show that opportunities of knowing God's will are given to

men, as well as warnings of judgment in ease of disobedience. Rev_9:13 of Rev_11:1-19. might follow Rev_9:21, but for the desire of the seer to demonstrate the long suffering goodness and mercy of God. And the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men

seven thousand. Both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version have in the margin,

"names of men, seven thousand," and some writers make much of the expression. Thus Alford says, "As if the name of each were recounted;" and Wordsworth, "Persons known and distinguished.'' But, in truth, the phrase is a Hebraism, to which we can attach no special significance (cf. Act_1:15;Rev_3:4). Whatever may he the system of interpretation adopted, this passage presents many difficulties. The whole account appears to relate to the judgment day, and it is therefore more peculiarly prophetic than many parts of the Apocalypse, and for that reason its meaning must needs be more or less obscure. The account in this verse informs us that a part (a tenth) of the city (that is, of the wicked) suffers destruction; that the number so destroyed is described as seven thousand; that the rest (nine tenths), in fear, recognize the power of God, to which they had hitherto refused attention. What is the final fate awarded to the nine tenths we are not told. We have, therefore, to inquire the meaning of the numbers given. Now, it seems inherently impossible to interpret these numbers literally, and, moreover, as we have repeatedly seen, it is not the habit of the writer of the Apocalypse to indicate exact numbers. We must, therefore, try to discover the symbolical meaning which St. John attached to these expressions, the qualities rather than the quantities which he intended to signify. In the Bible the tenth part invariably signifies the tithe—the portion due from the community to God or to the ruler (cf. Gen_28:22; Le Gen_27:32; Num_18:21; 1Sa_8:15, 1Sa_8:17). it seems probable that this was the idea intended to be conveyed, viz. that God was now exacting his due, that men who had refused to recognize what was due from them to God were now forced to recognize his sovereignty by the exaction for punishment of a tithe, and as an evidence that all are under his sway. But, it may be objected, are not all the wicked punished at the judgment? This verse really seems to hint at a possibility of some course by which, even at the last moment, a chance of escape may be presented to men. But it does not distinctly state this; it seems, indeed, purposely to leave the fate of the rest of the ungodly untold. All it does assert is that God comes to the wicked as a Conqueror or a King, and exacts what is due to himself. But, further, why are seven thousand men slain? Again interpreting symbolically, seven involves the idea of completeness (see on Rev_1:4; Rev_5:1, etc.). A thousand signifies a large number, though not an infinitely large number, for which we have "thousands of thousands," etc. This number, therefore, informs us that God's vengeance overtakes a large number, and that that number is complete, none escaping who deserve to be included. Perhaps this is mentioned as a precaution against any possibility of mistake in the interpretation of the "tenth part." It is as though St. John would say, "In that hour God exacted vengeance, demanding what was due to his justice; but do not imagine that that vengeance reached only a small part of mankind. It was far extending and complete, though I do not attempt to define its exact limits, which cannot be known until the judgment day itself shall reveal everything." And the

remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The rest gave glory, being, perhaps (though not necessarily), repentant (cf. Jos_7:19; Joh_9:24; Rev_4:9; Rev_14:7; Rev_16:9). Possibly we have here a hint of God's uncovenanted mercies (vide supra), though there is nothing sufficiently definite to encourage men to postpone the day of repentance. No mention is made of the ultimate fate of "the remnant." "The God of heaven," in contrast to things of the world, upon which their affections had been hitherto set (cf. Rev_16:11). In these two places alone of the New Testament is this expression found; but it is not uncommon in the Old Testament (cf. Ezr_1:2; Neh_1:4; Dan_2:18).

BURKITT, “These words are conceived by interpreters to set forth the great success of the witnesses' ministry after their resurrection; it was accompanied with a mighty earthquake, or a great

shaking of the kingdom of antichrist; insomuch that a tenth part of the city fell; that is, many nations and kingdoms under antichrist's tyranny and dominion shook off the yoke, and disowned his jurisdiction, and fell off from him.

Observe farther, What this earthquake and fall produced, namely, a twofold effect.

1. Seven thousand were slain.

2. Others were affrighted, turned from their sins, and gave glory to God.

Behold here the great power of the word of God, and the happy success thereof, to the shaking of antichrist's kingdom, which falls not at once, but by degrees, as it rose. The man of sin is to be consumed with the breath of Christ's mouth at first, which is a gradual death, till at last be be quite abolished by the brightness of his coming.

Upon the whole then we may comfortably conclude, that whatever ground antichrist on the one hand may seem to have gained of late in any place, that yet he is certainly in a deep consumation; nay, far gone in it, and will languish more and more till he draws his last breath: and, on the other hand, whatever clouds may overspread the church of Christ in any place, it will not be long ere they will vanish, and that affairs are moving forward towards the church's highest outward prosperity, and most flourishing condition that she shall ever arrive to on this side of heaven, which is to be

under the blessed Millinium, or thousand years, which began probably with the resurrection of the witnesses at the beginning of the Protestant reformation, by the preaching of Luther.

Thus speaks our learned Dr. More, Myst. Inq. p 477. "I doubt not," says he, "but this vision of the resurrection of the witnesses was a prediction of our Protestant reformation, begun at Spires in

Germany, Anno 1529, when several German princes and imperial cities made a solemn protestation against the innovations and usurpations of the church of Rome; from whence came the name of Protestants, which continues to this day."

"This therefore," says he, [mark his inference]" should make our reformation the more sacred, and keep all persons that wish well to our holy religion, from casting any dirt upon our first reformers, whose names ought to be had in honour, and will be so in the church of God throughout all generations."

14

The second woe has passed; the third woe is

coming soon.

Remember that when the seventh angel sounded, the mystery of God which was declared

to the prophets would be finished (10:7). When the seventh angel sounded, there were

great voices in heaven saying, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of

our Lord, and his Christ." (Vs. 15). This is precisely as Daniel the prophet declared (Dan.

2:44-45; 7:21-27). Thus, the seventh trumpet or the third woe represents the last

judgment against Rome which will finish the words spoken by the prophets, will bring

victory for the saints, and will demonstrate that the kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

The song of thanksgiving is sung by the twenty-four elders (probably the redeemed of

both Testaments; see comments under 4:4). They gave thanks to God because (1) "Thou

hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned." He has demonstrated His reigning

strength, indicating that Christians have nothing to fear. (2) "Thy wrath is come" (see

Rev. 16:19 for an example of His wrath against the great city). (3) "And the time of the

dead, that they should be judged" (probably God's judgment against the spiritually dead

rather than the final judgment--as in Dan. 7:26-27). (4) "Thou shouldest give reward"

(probably here the reward of deliverance from persecution and avenging the blood of the

righteous dead). (5) "And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth" (the wicked at

that time who were killing Christians). It is possible that the above is referring to the final

judgment; however, it seems far better to give the book a consistent interpretation rather

than repeatedly changing from John's day to the end of time. Each set of seals, trumpets,

and bowls of wrath cover the same period of time. Each set concerns God's judgment

against the wicked from beginning to end, and each set is more severe than the preceding

one.

The opening of heaven to show the ark of the covenant shows that God keeps His

covenant with His people. Although the church is in a tremendous conflict with the

world, and it appears that the church will lose, God will keep His covenant--the church

will be victorious. Also, at the same time (as vs. 19b shows) God's judgment of

impending doom and disaster is reserved for the wicked (see also Isa. 29:6). By way of

summary, we have studied regarding the seven churches (chs. 1-3), the seven seals (chs.

4-7) the seven trumpets (chs. 8-11), and now, the seven figures (chs. 12-14). DAVID

RIGGS

BARES, “The second woe is past - That is, the second of the three that were announced as yet to come,Revelation 8:13; compare Revelation 9:12.And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly - The last of the series. The meaning is, that what was signified by the third “woe” would be the next, and final event, in order. On the meaning of the word “quickly,” see the notes on Revelation 1:1; compare Revelation 2:5, Revelation 2:16; Revelation 3:11;Revelation 22:7, Revelation 22:12, Revelation 22:20.

In reference now to the important question about the application of this portion of the Book of Revelation, it need hardly be said that the greatest variety of opinion has prevailed among expositors. It would be equally unprofitable, humiliating, and discouraging to attempt to enumerate all the opinions which have been held; and I must refer the reader who has any desire to become acquainted with them to Poole‘s Synopsis, in loco, and to the copious statement of Prof. Stuart, Cove. vol. 2, pp. 219-227. Prof. Stuart himself supposes that 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; that they should proclaim the truths of the gospel; and that the Jews by destroying them, would bring upon themselves an aggravated and an awful doom,” 2:226. Instead of attempting to examine in detail the opinions which have been held, I shall rather state what seems to me to be the fair application of the language used, in accordance with the principles pursued thus far in the exposition. The inquiry is, whether there have been any events to which this language is applicable, or in reference to which, if it be admitted that it was the design of the Spirit of inspiration to describe them, it may be supposed that such language would be employed as we find here.

In this inquiry it may be assumed that the preceding exposition is correct, and the application now to be made must accord with that - that is, it must be found that events occurred in such times and circumstances as would be consistent with the supposition that that exposition is correct. It is to be assumed, therefore, that Revelation 9:20-21, refers to the state of the ecclesiastical world after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and previous to the Reformation; that Revelation 10:1-

11 refers to the Reformation itself; that Revelation 11:1-2, refers to the necessity, at the time of the Reformation, of ascertaining what was the true church, of reviving the Scripture doctrine respecting the atonement and justification, and of drawing correct lines as to membership in the church. All this has reference, according to this interpretation, to the state of the church while the papacy would have the ascendency, or during the twelve hundred and sixty years in which it would trample down

the church as if the holy city were in the hands of the Gentiles. Assuming this to be the correct

exposition, their what is here said Revelation 11:3-13 must relate to that period, for it is with reference to that same time - the period of “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” or twelve

hundred and sixty years - that it is said Revelation 11:3 the witnesses would “prophesy,” “clothed in sackcloth.”

If this be so, then what is here stated Revelation 11:3-13 must be supposed to occur during the ascendency of the papacy, and must mean, in general, that during that long period of apostasy, darkness, corruption, and sin, there would be faithful witnesses for the truth, who, though they were few in number, would be sufficient to keep up the knowledge of the truth on the earth, and to bear testimony against the prevailing errors and abominations. The object of this portion of the book, therefore, is to describe the character of the faithful witnesses for the truth during this long period of darkness; to state their influence; to record their trials; and to show what would he the ultimate result in regard to them, when their “testimony” should become triumphant. This general view will be seen to accord with the exposition of the previous portion of the book, and will be sustained, I trust, by the more particular inquiry into the application of the passage to which I now proceed. The essential points in the passage Revelation 11:3-13respecting the “witnesses” are six:

(1)who are meant by the witnesses;

(2)the war made on them;

(3)their death;

(4)their resurrection;

(5)their reception into heaven; and,

(6)the consequences of their triumph in the calamity that came upon the city.

I. Who are meant by the witnesses, Revelation 11:3-6. There are several specifications in regard to this point which it is necessary to notice:

(a) The fact that, during this long period of error, corruption, and sin, there were those who were faithful witnesses for the truth - people who opposed the prevailing errors; who maintained the great doctrines of the Christian faith; and who were ready to lay down their lives in defense of the truth. For a full confirmation of this it would be necessary to trace the history of the church down from the rise of the papal power through the long lapse of the subsequent ages; but such an examination would be far too extensive for the purpose contemplated in these notes, and, indeed, would require a volume by itself. Happily, this has already been done; and all that is necessary now is to refer to the works where the fact here affirmed has been abundantly established. In many of the histories of the church - Mosheim, Neander, Milner, Milman, Gieseler - most ample proof may be found, that amidst the general darkness and corruption there were those who faithfully adhered to the truth as it is in Jesus, end who, amidst many sufferings, bore their testimony against prevailing errors. The investigation has been made, also, with special reference to an illustration of this passage, by Mr.

Elliott, Hover Apoca. vol. 2, pp. 193-406; and although it must be admitted that some of the details are of doubtful applicability, yet the main fact is abundantly established, that during that long period there were “witnesses” for the pure truths of the gospel, and a faithful testimony borne against the abominations and errors of the papacy. These “witnesses” are divided by Mr. Elliott into:

(1) the earlier Western witnesses - embracing such men, and their followers, as Serenus, bishop of Marseilles; the Anglo-Saxon church in England; Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons from 810 to 841 a.d., on the one side of the Alps, and Claude of Turin on the other; Gotteschalcus, 884 a.d.; Berenger, Arnold of Brescia, Peter de Bruys, and his disciple Henry, and then the Waldenses.

(2) the Eastern, or Paulikian line of witnesses, a sect deriving their origin, about 653 a.d., from an Armenian by the name of Constantine, who received from a deacon, by whom he was hospitably entertained, a present of two volumes, very rare, one containing the Gospels, and the other the Epistles of Paul, and who applied himself to the formation of a new sect or church, distinct from the Manicheans, and from the Greek Church. In token of the nature of their profession, they adopted the name by which they were ever after distinguished, Paulikiani, Paulicians, or “disciples of the disciple of Paul.” This sect continued to bear “testimony” in the East from the time of its rise until the

eleventh or twelfth centuries, when it commenced a migration to the West, where it bore the same honorable character for its attachment to the truth. See Elliott, 2:233-246,275-315.

(3) Witnesses during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, up to the time of Peter Waldo. Among these are to be noticed those who were arraigned for heresy before the councils of Orleans, Arras, Thoulouse, Oxford, and Lombers, in the years 1022,1025,1119,1160,1165, respectively, and who were condemned by those councils for their departure from the doctrines held by the papacy. For a full illustration of the doctrines held by those who were thus condemned, and of the fact that they were “witnesses” for the truth, see Elliott, it. 247-275.

(4) The Waldenses and Albigenses. The nature of the testimony borne by these persecuted people is so well known that it is not necessary to dwell on the subject; and a full statement of their testimony would require the entire transcription of their history. No Protestant will doubt that they were “witnesses” for the truth, or that from the time of their rise, through all the periods of their persecution, they bore full and honorable testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus. The general ground of this claim to be regarded as Apocalyptic witnesses, will be seen from the following summary statements of their doctrines. Those statements are found in a work called The Noble Lesson, written within some twenty years of 1170. The treatise begins in this manner: “O brethren, hear a Noble Lesson. We ought always to watch and pray,” etc. In this treatise the following doctrines are drawn out, says Mr. Elliott, “with much simplicity and beauty: the origin of sin in the fall of Adam; its transmission to all people, and the offered redemption from it through the death of Jesus Christ; the union and cooperation of the three persons of the blessed Trinity in man‘s salvation; the obligation and spirituality. of the moral law under the gospel; the duties of prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, unworldliness, humility, love, as ‹the way of Jesus Christ;‘ their enforcement by the prospect of death and judgment, and the world‘s near ending; by the narrowness, too, of the way of life, and the fewness of those who find it; as also by the hope of coming glory at the judgment and revelation of Jesus Christ. Besides which we find in it a protest against the Roman Catholic system generally, as one of soul-destroying idolatry; against masses for the dead, and therein against the whole doctrine of purgatory; against the system of the confessional, and asserted power of the priesthood to absolve from sin; this last point being insisted on as the most deadly point of heresy, and its origin referred to the mercenariness of the priesthood, and their love of money; the iniquity further noticed of the Roman Catholic persecutions of good people and teachers that wished to teach the way of Jesus Christ; and the suspicion half-hinted, and apparently half-formed, that, though a personal antichrist might be expected, yet Popery itself might be one form of antichrist.”

In another work, the Treatise of Antichrist, there is a strong and decided identification of the anti-Christian system and the papacy. This was written probably in the last quarter of the fourteenth century. “From this,” says Mr. Elliott (ii. 355), “the following will appear to have been the Waldensian views: that the papal or Roman Catholic system was that of antichrist; which, from infancy in apostolic times, had grown gradually by the increase of its constituent parts to the stature of a full-grown man; that its prominent characteristics were - to defraud God of the worship due to Him, rendering it to creatures, whether departed saints, relics, images, or antichrist; - to defraud Christ, by attributing justification and forgiveness to antichrist‘s authority and words, to saints‘ intercession, to the merits of people‘s own performances, and to the fire of purgatory; to defraud the Holy Spirit, by attributing regeneration and sanctification to the opus operation of the two sacraments; that the origin of this anti-Christian religion was the covetousness of the priesthood; its tendency, to lead people away from Christ; its essence, a ceremonial; its foundation, the false notion of grace and forgiveness.” This work is so important as a “testimony” against antichrist, and for the truth, and is so clear as showing that the papacy was regarded as antichrist, that I will copy, from the work itself, the portion containing these sentiments - sentiments which may be regarded as expressing the uniform testimony of the Waldenses on the subject:

“Antichrist is the falsehood of eternal damnation, covered with the appearance of the truth and righteousness of Christ and his spouse. The iniquity of such a system is with all his ministers, great and small: and inasmuch as they follow the law of 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, who is the son of perdition.

“His first work is, that the service of “latria,” properly due to God alone, he perverts unto antichrist himself and to his doings; 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, or carcasses, or relics. His doings are the sacraments, especially that of the eucharist, 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, and justification, and regeneration, and remission of sins, and sanctification, and confirmation, and spiritual nourishment; and imputes and attributes them to his own authority, or to a form of words, or to his own performances, or to the saints and their intercession, or to the fire of purgatory. Thus he divides 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 work of antichrist, agreeably to the preaching that man‘s salvation depends on his own deeds.

“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 the mere outward consecration of baptism regeneration may be procured.

“His fourth work is, that he rests the whole religion 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 everything to be seen, and to glut his insatiable avarice.

“His sixth work is, that he allows manifest sins without ecclesiastical censure.

“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, and persecutes, and searches after, and robs and destroys 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 pagan. 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” (Elliott, it. 354,355).

It is impossible not to be struck with the application of this to the papacy, and no one can doubt that the papacy was intended to be referred to. And, if this be so, this was a bold and decided” testimony “against the abominations of that system, and they who bore this testimony deserved to be regarded as “witnesses” for Christ and his truth.

If to the “testimony” thus briefly referred to, we add that of such men as Wycliffe, John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, and then that of the Reformers, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melancthon, and their fellow-laborers, we can see with what propriety it was predicted that even during the prevalence of the great apostasy there would be a competent number of “witnesses” to keep up the knowledge of the truth in the world. And supposing that this is what was designed to be represented, it is easy to perceive that the symbol which is employed is admirably appropriate. The design of what is here said is merely to show that during the whole of the period of the papal apostasy whenever it may be supposed to have begun, and whenever it shall cease, it is and will he true that the Savior has had true “witnesses” on the earth - that there have been those who have “testified” against these abominations, and who, often at great personal peril and sacrifice, have borne a faithful testimony for the truth.

(b) The number of the witnesses. In Revelation 11:3, this is said to be “two,” and this has been shown to mean that there would be a competent number, yet probably with the implied idea that the number would not be large. The only question then is, whether, in looking through this long period, it would be found that, according to the established laws of testimony under the divine code, there was a competent number to bear witness to the truth. And of this no one can doubt, for, in respect

to each and every part of the period of the great apostasy, it is possible now to show that there was a sufficient number of the true friends of the Redeemer to testify against all the great and cardinal errors of the papacy. This simple and obvious interpretation of the language, it may be added, also, makes wholly unnecessary and inappropriate all the efforts which have been made by expositors to find precisely two such witnesses, or two churches or people with whom the line of the faithful testimony was preserved: all such interpretations as that the Old and New Testaments are referred to, as Melchior, Affelman, and Croly suppose; or that preachers are referred to who are instructed by the law and the Gospel, as Pannonins and Thomas Aquinas, supposed; or that Christ and John the Baptist are referred to, as Ubertinus supposed; or that Pope Sylvester and Mena, who wrote against the Eutychians, are meant, as Lyranus and Ederus supposed; or that Francis and Dominic, the respective heads of two orders of monks, are intended, as Cornelius k Lapidc supposed; or that the great wisdom and sanctity of the primitive preachers are meant, as Alcassar maintained; or that John Huss and Luther, or John Huss and Jerome of Prague, or the Waldenses and Albigeuses, or the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Aelia, are intended, as others have supposed.

According to the obvious and fair meaning of the language, all this is mere fancy, and can illustrate nothing but the fertility of invention of those who have written on the Apocalypse. All that is necessarily implied is, that the number of true and uncorrupted followers of the Saviour has been at all times sufficiently large to bear a competent testimony to the world, or to keep up the remembrance of the truth upon the earth - and the reality of this no one acquainted with the history of the church will doubt.

(c) The condition of the “witnesses” as “clothed in sackcloth,” Revelation 11:3. This has been shown to mean that they would be in a state of sadness and grief; and they would be exposed to trouble and persecution. It is unnecessary to prove that all this was abundantly fulfilled. The long history of those times was a history of persecutions; and if it be admitted that the passage before us was designed to refer to those above mentioned as “witnesses,” no more correct description could be given of them than to say that they were “clothed in sackcloth.”

(d) The power of the witnesses, Revelation 11:5-6. Of this there are several specifications:

(1) They had power over those who should injure or hurt them, Revelation 11:5. This is represented by “fire proceeding out of their mouth, and devouring their enemies.” This has been shown to refer to the doctrines which they would proclaim, and the denunciations which they would utter, and which would resemble consuming fire. This would be accomplished or fulfilled if their solemn testimony - their proclamations of truth - and their denunciations of the wrath of God should have the effect ultimately to bring down the divine vengeance on their persecutors. And no one can doubt that this has had an ample fulfillment. That is, the effect of the testimony borne; of the solemn appeals made; of the deuunciations of the judgment of heaven, has been to show that that great persecuting power that oppressed them is arrayed against God, and must be finally overthrown. In order to see the complete fulfillment of this, it would be necessary to trace all the effect of the testimony of the witnesses for the truth from age to age on that power, and to see how far it has been among the causes of the ultimate and final overthrow of the papacy.

Of course, it may be said that in an important sense it is all to be traced to that, since if they had forborne to bear that testimony, and to protest against those corruptions and abominations, that colossal power would have stood unshaken. But the solemn appeals made from age to age by the friends of truth, amidst much persecution, have contributed to weaken that power, and to prepare the world for its ultimate fall as if fire from heaven fell upon it. The causes of the decline of the papal power were, therefore, laid far back in the solemn truths urged by those persecuted “witnesses”; and the calamities which have ravaged Europe for these three hundred years, and the changes now occurring which make it so certain that this mighty power hastens to its fall, may all be the regular results of the “testimony” for the truths of a pure gospel borne long ago by the people that dwelt amidst the Alps, and their fellow-sufferers in persecution.

(2) they “have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy,” Revelation 11:6. This has been shown to mean that they would have power to cause blessings to be withheld from people as if the rain were withheld. The reference here is probably to the spiritual heavens, and to that of which rain is the natural emblem the influences of truth, and the influences of the Divine Spirit on the world. So Moses says, in Deuteronomy 32:2, “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, and

my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.” So the psalmist Psalm 72:6, “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.” So Isaiah Isaiah 55:10-11, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, so shall my word be,” etc. Compare Micah 5:7. The meaning here, then, must be, that spiritual influences would seem to be under their control; or that they would be imparted at their bidding, and withheld at their will. This found an ample fulfillment in the history of the church in those dark periods, in the fact that it was in connection with these “witnesses,” and in answer to their prayers, that the influences of the Holy Spirit were imparted to the world, and that the true religion was kept up on the earth. “It is an historical fact,” says the author of The Seventh Vial (p. 130), “that 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.”

(3) they had power over the waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues,Revelation 11:6. That is, as explained above, calamities would come upon the earth as if the waters were turned into blood, and this would be so connected with them, and with the treatment which they would receive, that these calamities would seem to have been called down from heaven in answer to their prayers, and in order to avenge their wrongs. And can anyone be ignorant that wars, commotions, troubles, disasters have followed the attempts to destroy those who have borne a faithful testimony for Christ in the dark period of the world here referred to? The calamities that have befallen the papal communion from time to time may have been, and seem to have been, to a great degree, the consequence of its persecuting spirit, and of its attempts to quench the light of truth. When the oppressed and persecuted nations of Europe had borne it long, and when attempts had long been made to extinguish every spark of true liberty, the spirit of freedom and revenge was roused. The yoke was broken; and in the wars that ensued rivers of blood flowed upon the earth, as if these “witnesses” or martyrs had, by their own power and prayers, brought these calamities upon their oppressors. A philosophic historian carefully studying human nature, and the essential spirit of Christianity, might find in these facts a sufficient explanation of all the calamities that have come upon that once colossal power - the papacy - and a full demonstration that, under the operation of these causes, that power must ultimately fall - as if in revenge called down from heaven by the martyrs for the wrongs done to them who had borne a faithful testimony to the truth.

II. The war against the witnesses, Revelation 11:7. There are several circumstances stated in regard to this which demand explanation in order to a full understanding of the prophecy. Those circumstances relate to the time when this would occur; to the government by which this war would be waged; and to the victory:

(a) The time when the war referred to would be waged. The whole narrative (compare Revelation 11:3,Revelation 11:5) supposes that opposition would be made to them at all times, and that their condition would be such that they could properly be represented as always clothed in sackcloth; but it is evident that a particular period is here referred to, when there would be such a war waged with them that they would be for a time overcome, and would seem to be dead. This time is referred to by the phrase “when they shall have finished their testimony” Revelation 11:7; and it is to the period when this could be properly said of them that we are to look for the fulfillment of what is here predicted. This must mean, when they should have borne full or ample testimony; that is, when they had borne their testimony on all the great points on which they were appointed to bear witness. See the notes on Revelation 11:7. This, then, must not be understood as referring to the time of the completion of the twelve hundred and sixty years, but to any time during that period when it could be said that they had borne a full and ample testimony for the truths of the gospel, and against the abominations and errors that prevailed.

In this general expression there is not, indeed, anything that would accurately designate the time, but no one can doubt that this herd been done at the time of the Reformation. In the preceding remarks it has been shown that there was a succession of faithful witnesses for the truth in the darkest periods of the church, and that to all the great points pertaining to the system of religion revealed in the gospel, as well as against the errors that prevailed, they had borne an unambiguous testimony. There is no impropriety, therefore, in fixing this period at about the time of the

Reformation, for all that is necessarily implied in the language is fulfilled on such a supposition. Faithful testimony had been borne during the long period of the papal corruptions, until it could be said that their special work had been accomplished. The earlier witnesses for the truth - the Paulicians, the Waldenses, the Vaudois, and other bodies of true Christians - had borne an open testimony, from the beginning, against the various corruptions of Rome - her errors in doctrine, her idolatries in worship, and her immoralities, until in the end of the twelfth century - the same century in which, according to Mr. Gibbon, the meridian of papal greatness was attained - they proclaimed her, as we have seen, to be the antichrist of Scripture, the Harlot of the Apocalypse. Thus did they fulfil their testimony; and then was the war waged against them, with all the power of apostate Rome, to silence and to destroy them.

This war was commenced in the edicts of councils, which stigmatized the pure doctrines of the Bible, and branded those who held them as heretics. The next step was to pronounce the most dreadful anathemas on those who were regarded as heretics, which were executed in the same remorseless and exterminating manner in which they were conceived. The confessors of the truth were denied both their natural and their civil rights. They were forbidden all participation in dignities and offices; their goods were confiscated; their houses were to be razed and never more to be rebuilt; and their lands were given to those who were able to seize them. They were shut out from the solace of human converse; no one might give them shelter while living, or Christian burial when dead. At length a crusade was proclaimed against them. Preachers were sent abroad through Europe to sound the trumpet of vengeance, and to assemble the nations.

The pope wrote to all Christian princes, exhorting them to earn their pardon and win heaven rather by bearing the cross against heretics than by marching against the Saracens. The war, in particular, which was waged against the Waldenses, is well known, and the horror of its details is among the darkest pages of history. The peaceful and fertile valleys of the Vaudois were invaded, and speedily devastated with fire and sword; their towns and villages were burnt; while not one individual, in many cases, escaped to carry the tidings to the next valley. To all the cruelties of these wars, and to all the open persecutions Which were waged, are to be added the horrors of the Inquisition, as an illustration of the fact that “wars” would be made against the true witnesses for Christ. Calculations, more or less accurate, have been made of the numbers that Popery has slain; and the lowest of those calculations would confirm what is said here, on the supposition that the reference is to the papal power.

From the year 1540 to the year 1570, comprehending a space of only thirty years, no fewer than nine hundred thousand Protestants were put to death by the papists, in different countries of Europe. During the short pontificate of Paul the Fourth, which lasted only four years (1555-1559 a.d.), the Inquisition alone, on the testimony of Vergerius, destroyed a hundred and fifty thousand! When he died, the indignant populace of Rome crowded to the prison of the Inquisition, broke open the doors, and released seventeen hundred prisoners, and then set fire to the building (Bowers‘ History of the Popes, 3:319, edit. 1845). Those who perished in Germany during the wars of Charles the Fifth, and in Flanders, under the infamous Duke of Alva, are reckoned by hundreds of thousands. In France several million were destroyed in the innumerable massacres that took place in that kingdom. It has been computed that since the rise of the papacy, not fewer than fifty million of persons have been put to death on account of religion! Of this vast number the greater part have been cut off during the last six hundred years; for the papacy persecuted very little during the first half of its existence, and it was in this way that it was not until the witnesses had “completed” their testimony, or had borne full and ample testimony, that it made war against them. Compare The Seventh Vial, pp. 149-157. For a full illustration of the facts here referred to, see the notes on Daniel 7:21. There can be no reasonable doubt that Daniel and John refer to the same thing.

(b) By whom this was to be done. In Revelation 11:7, it is said that it would be by “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” This is undoubtedly the same as the fourth beast of Daniel (Revelation 11:7. That is, they would gain a temporary victory over them, and the witnesses would seem for a time to be dead. The subsequent statement shows, however, that they would revive again, and would again resume their prophesying. Compare the notes on Revelation 9:20. The victory over them would appear to be complete, and the great object of the persecuting power would seem to have been gained. A few facts on this subject will show the propriety of the statement that “when they had finished,” or had fully borate their testimony, a victory was obtained over them, and

that they were so silenced that it might be said they were killed. The first will be in the words of Milner, in his account of the opening of the sixteenth century (History of the Church, p. 660, ed. Edin. 1835): “The sixteenth century opened with a prospect of all others the most gloomy, in the eyes of every true Christian. Corruption both in doctrine and in practice had exceeded all bounds; and the general face of Europe, though the name of Christ was everywhere professed, presented nothing that was properly evangelical. The Waldenses were too feeble to molest the popedom; and the Hussites, divided among themselves, and worn out by a long series of contentions, were reduced to silence. Among both were found persons of undoubted godliness, but they appeared incapable of making effectual impressions on the kingdom of antichrist. The Roman pontiffs were still the uncontrolled patrons of impiety; neither the scandalous crimes of Alexander VI., nor the military ferocity of Julius II., seemed to have lessened the dominion of the court of Rome, or to have opened the eyes of people so as to induce them to make a sober investigation of the nature of true religion.”

The language of Mr Cunninghame may here be adopted as describing the state of things at the beginning of the sixteenth century: “At the commencement of the sixteenth century, Europe reposed in the deep sleep of spiritual death, under the iron yoke of the papacy. That haughty power, like the Assyrian of the prophet, said in the plenitude of his insolence, ‹My hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs, I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.‘” And in a similar manner, the writer of the

article on the Reformation, in theEncyclopaedia Britannica - in a statement made, of course, with no reference to the fulfillment of this passage - thus speaks of that period: “Everything was quiet; every heretic was exterminated, and the whole Christian world supinely acquiesced in the enormous absurdities inculcated by the Roman Catholic church.” These quotations will show the propriety of the language used here by John, on the supposition that it was intended to refer to this period. No symbol would be more striking, or more appropriate to that state of things, than to represent the witnesses for the truth as overcome and slain, so that, for a time at least, they would cease to bear their testimony against the prevailing errors and corruptions. It will be remembered, also, that this occurred at a time when it might be said that they had “fulfilled” their testimony, or when, in a most solemn manner, they had protested against the existing idolatries and abominations.

III. The witnesses dead, Revelation 11:8-10. The preceding verse contains the statement that they would be overcome and killed; these verses describe their treatment when they would be dead; that is, when they would be silenced. There are several circumstances referred to here which demand notice:

(a) The “place” where it is said that this would occur - that “great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified,” Revelation 11:8. In the explanation of this verse, it has been shown that the language used here is such as would be properly employed, on the supposition that the intention was to refer to Rome, or the Roman Catholic communion. A few testimonies may serve to confirm the interpretation proposed in the notes on Revelation 11:8, and to show further the propriety of applying the appellation “Sodom” and “Egypt” to Rome. Thus among the Reformers, “Grosteste perceived that the whole scheme of the papal government was enmity with God, and exclaimed that nothing but the sword could deliver the church from the Egyptian bondage” (D‘Aubigne). Wycliffe compared the Roman Catholic priest-craft to “the accursed sorceries with which the sages of Pharaoh presumed to emulate the works of Yahweh” (LeBas‘ Wycliffe, pp. 68,147).

Luther, in a letter to Melancthon, says, “Italy is plunged, as in ancient times in Egypt, in darkness that may be felt.” And of Zuingle in Switzerland, they who longed for the light of salvation said of him, “He will be our Moses, to deliver us out of the darkness of Egypt.” Any number of passages could be found in the writings of the Reformers, and even some in the writings of Romanists themselves, in which the abominations that prevailed in Rome are compared with those in Sodom. Compare Elliott, ii. pp. 386,387, notes. Assuming this to be the correct interpretation, the meaning is, that a state of things would exist after the silencing of the witnesses which would be well represented by supposing that their dead bodies would lie unburied; that is, that there would be dishonor and indignity heaped upon them, such as is shown to the dead when they are suffered to lie unburied. No one needs to be informed that this accurately represents the state of things

throughout the Roman world. To the “witnesses” thus persecuted, downtrodden, and silenced, there was the same kind of indignity shown which there is when the dead are left unburied.

(b) The exposure of their bodies, Revelation 11:8. That is, as we have seen, they would be treated with indignity, as if they were not worthy of Christian burial. Now this not only expresses what was in fact the general feeling among the papists in respect to those whom they regarded as heretics, but it had a literal fulfillment in numerous cases where the rites of Christian burial were denied them. One of the punishments most constantly decreed and constantly enforced in reference to those who were called “heretics,” was their exclusion from burial as persons excommunicated and without the pale of the church. Thus, in the third council of Lateran (1179 a.d.), Christian burial was denied to heretics; the same in the Lateran council 1215 a.d., and the papal decree of Gregory IX, 1227 a.d.; the same again in that of Pope Martin, 1422 a.d.; and the same thing was determined in the council of Constance, 1422 a.d., which ordered that the body of Wycliffe should be exhumed, and that the ashes of John Huss, instead of being buried, should be collected and thrown into the lake of Constance. It may be added that Savonarola‘s ashes were in a similar manner east into the Arno, 1498 a.d.; and that in the first bull entrusted to the cardinal Cajetan against Luther, this was one of the declared penalties, that both Luther and his partisans should be deprived of ecclesiastical burial. See Waddington, p. 717; D‘Aubigne, 1:355; Foxe, v. 677.

(c) The mutual congratulations of those who had put them to death; their exultation over them; and the expression of their joy by the interchange of presents: “And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them,” etc., Revelation 11:10. The language used here is expressive of general joy and rejoicing, and there can be no doubt that such joy and rejoicing occurred at Rome whenever a new victory was obtained over those who were regarded as heretics. Patens remarks on the passage in Luke 15:32, “It was meet that we should make merry,” etc., that “when heretics are burnt, papists play at frolicsome games, celebrate feasts and banquets, sing Te Deum laudamus, and wish one another joy.” And so too Bullinger, in loco. But there was special rejoicing, which accorded entirely with the prediction here, at the close of the sessions of the Lateran council 1517 a.d., in the splendor of the dinners and fates given by the cardinals. The scene on the closing of the council is thus described by Dr. Waddington: “The pillars of the papal strength seemed visible and palpable; and Rome surveyed them with exultation from her golden palaces. The assembled princes and prelates separated from the council with complacency, confidence, and mutual congratulations on the peace, unity, and purity of the church.” Still, while this was true of that particular council, it should be added that the language used here is general, and may be regarded as descriptive of the usual joy which would be felt, and which was felt at Rome, in view of the efforts made to suppress heresy in the church.

(d) The “time” during which the witnesses would remain “dead.” This, it is said Revelation 11:9, would be for “three days and an half,” during which time they would “not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves”; that is, there would be a course of conduct, and a state of things, as if the dead were left unburied. This time, as we have seen (notes on Revelation 11:9), means probably three years and a half; and in the application of this we are to look for some striking event relating to the “witnesses,” when they should have “finished their testimony,” or when they had fully borne their testimony, that would fully correspond with this. Now it happens that there was a point of time, just previous to the Reformation, when it was supposed that a complete victory was gained for over over those who were regarded as “heretics,” but who were in fact the true witnesses for Christ. That point of time was during the session of the council of Lateran, which was assembled 1513 a.d., and which continued its sessions to May 16,1517.

In the ninth session of this council a remarkable proclamation was made, indicating that all opposition to the papal power had now ceased. The scene is thus described by Mr. Elliott (ii. 396,397): “The orator of the session ascended the pulpit; and, amidst the applause of the assembled council, uttered that memorable exclamation of triumph - an exclamation which, notwithstanding the long multiplied anti-heretical decrees of popes and councils, notwithstanding the yet more multiplied anti-heretical crusades and inquisitorial fires, was never, I believe, pronounced

before, and certainly never since - ‹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.‘” This occurred May 5,1514. It is, probably, from this “time” that the three days and a half, or the three years and a half,

during which the “dead bodies of the witnesses remained unburied,” and were exposed to public gaze and derision, are to be reckoned.

But it was with remarkable accuracy that a period of three years and a half occurred from the time when this proclamation was made, and when it was supposed that these “witnesses” were “dead,” to the time when the voice of living witnesses for the truth was heard again, as if those witnesses that had been silenced had come to life again; and “not in the compass of the whole ecclesiastical history of Christendom, except in the case of the death and resurrection of Christ himself, is there any such example of the sudden, mighty, and triumphant resuscitation of his church from a state of deep depression, as was, just after the separation of the Lateran council, exhibited in the protesting voice of Luther, and the glorious Reformation.” All accounts agree in placing the beginning of the Reformation in 1517 ad. See Bowers‘ History of the Popes, iii. 295; Murdock‘s Mosheim, iii. 11, note. The effect of this, as compared with the supposed suppression of heresy, or the death of the witnesses, and as an illustration of the passage before us, will be seen from the following language of a writer in theEncyclopaedia Britannica: “Everything was quiet; every heretic exterminated; and the whole Christian world supinely acquiescing in the enormous absurdities inculcated in the Roman Catholic church, when, in 1517, the empire of superstition received its first attack from Luther.” Or, in the language of Mr. Cunninghame, “At the commencement of the sixteenth century, Europe reposed in the deep sleep of spiritual death, under the iron yoke of the papacy. There was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped: when suddenly in one of the universities of Germany the voice of an obscure monk was heard, the sound of which rapidly filled Saxony, Germany, and Europe itself, shaking the very foundations of the papal power, and arousing people from the lethargy of ages.”

The remarkable coincidence in regard to time - supposing that three years and a half are intended - will be seen from the following statement. The day of the ninth session of the Lateran council, when the proclamation above referred to was made, was, as we have seen, May 5,1514; the day of Luther‘s posting up his theses at Wittemberg (the well-known epoch of the beginning of the Reformation), was October 31,1517. “Now, from May 5,1514, to May 5,1517, are three years; and from May 5,1517, to October 31 of the same year, 1517, the reckoning in days is as follows:

d May

d 5-31- 27

d August

d 31- 31

d

d June

d 30- 30

d September

d 30- 30

d

d July

d 31- 31

d October

d 31- 31

d

d

In all - 180, or half of 360 days, that is, half a year; so that the whole interval is precisely, to a day, three and a half years” (Elliott, 2:402,403). But, without insisting on this very minute accuracy, anyone can see, and all must be prepared to admit, that, on the supposition that it was intended by

the Spirit of God to refer to these events, this is the language which would be used; or, in other words, nothing would better represent this state of things than the declaration that the witnesses would be “slain,” and would be suffered to “remain unburied” during this period of time, and that at the end of this period, a public testimony would be borne again for the truth, and against the abominations of the papacy, as if “the Spirit of life from God should again enter into them, and they should stand upon their feet,” Revelation 11:11.

IV. The resurrection of the witnesses, Revelation 11:11. Little need be added on this point, after what has Been said on the previous portions of the chapter. We have seen (notes on Revelation 11:11) that this must mean that a state of things would occur which would be well represented by their being restored to life again; and if the previous illustrations are correct, there will be little difficulty in admitting that this had its fulfillment in the commencement of the Reformation. As to the time when they would revive, we have seen above how remarkably this accords with the commencement of the Reformation in 1517; and as to the correspondence of this with what is here symbolized, nothing would better represent this than to describe the witnesses as coming to life again. It was as if “the Spirit of life from God entered into” those who had been slain, and “they stood upon their feet” again, and again bore their solemn testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus. For:

(a) it was the same kind of testimony - testimony to the same truths, and against the same evils - which had been borne by the long array of the confessors and martyrs that had been put to death. The truths proclaimed by the Reformers on the great doctrines of grace were the same which had been professed by the Waldenses, by Wycliffe, by John Huss, and others; and the abominations of image-worship, of the invocations of the saints, of the arrogant claims of the pope, of the doctrine of human merit in justification, of the corruptions of the monastic systems, of the celibacy of the clergy, of the doctrine of purgatory, against which they testified, were the same.

(b) That testimony was borne by people of the same spirit and character. In what would now be called personal religious experience there was the closest resemblance between the Waldenses and the other “witnesses” before the Reformation, and the Reformers themselves - between the piety of Huss, Jerome of Prague, Wycliffe, and Peter Waldo; and Luther, Melancthon, Zwingli, Calvin, Bucer, Latimer, Ridley, and Knox. They were men who belonged to the same spiritual communion, and who had been moulded and fashioned in their spiritual character by the same power from on high.

(c) The testimony was borne with the same fearlessness, and in the midst of the same kind of persecution and opposition. All that occurred was as if the same “witnesses” had been restored to life and again lifted up their voice in the cause for which they had been persecuted and slain. The propriety of this language, as applied to these events, may be further seen from expressions used by the “witnesses” themselves, or by the persecuted friends of the truth. “And I,” said John Huss, speaking of the gospel-preachers who should appear after he had suffered at the stake, “and I, awaking as it were from the dead, and rising from the grave, shall rejoice with exceeding great joy.” Again, in 1523, after the Reformation had broken out, we find Pope Hadrian saying, in a missive addressed to the Diet at Nuremberg, “The heretics Huss and Jerome are now alive again in the person of Martin Luther” (The Seventh Vial, p. 190).

V. The ascension of the witnesses, Revelation 11:12; “And they ascended to heaven in a cloud.” We have seen (notes on this verse) that this means that events would take place as if they should ascend in triumph to heaven, or which should be properly symbolized by such an ascent to heaven. All that is here represented would be fulfilled by a triumph of the truth under the testimony of the witnesses, or by its becoming gloriously established in view of the nations of the earth, as if the witnesses ascended publicly and were received to the presence of God in heaven. All this was fulfilled in the various influences that served to establish and confirm the Reformation, and to introduce the great principles of religious freedom, giving to that work ultimate triumph, and showing that it had the favor of God. This would embrace the whole series of events after the Reformation was begun, by which its triumph was secure, or by which that state of things was gradually introduced which now exists, in which the true religion is free from persecution, in which it is advancing into so many parts of the world where the papacy once had the control, and in which, with so little molestation, and with such an onward march toward ultimate victory, it is extending its conquests over the earth. The triumphant ascent of the witnesses to heaven, and the public proof of the divine favor thus shown to them, would be an appropriate symbol of this.

VI. The consequences of the resurrection, ascension, and triumph of the witnesses, Revelation 11:13. These are said to be, that there would be “in the same hour a great earthquake; that a tenth part of the city would fall; that seven thousand would be slain, and that the remainder would be affrighted and would give glory to the God of heaven.”

(a) The earthquake. This, as we have seen (notes on Revelation 11:13), denotes that there would be a shock or a convulsion in the world, so that the powers of the earth would be shaken, as cities, trees, and hills are in the shocks of an earthquake. There can be little difficulty in applying this to the shock produced throughout Europe by the boldness of Luther and his fellow-laborers in the Reformation. No events have ever taken place in history that would be better compared with the shock of an earthquake than those which occurred when the long-established governments of Europe, and especially the domination of the papacy, so long consolidated and confirmed, were shaken by the Reformation. In the suddenness of the attack made on the existing state of things, in the commotions which were produced, in the overthrow of so many governments, there was a striking resemblance to the convulsions caused by an earthquake. So Dr. Lingard speaks of the Reformation: “That religious revolution which astonished and convulsed the nations of Europe.” Nothing would better represent the convulsions caused in Germany, Switzerland, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden, Denmark, and England by the Reformation than an earthquake.

(b) The fate of a part of the city: “And the tenth part of the city fell.” That is, as we have seen (notes onRevelation 11:13), of what is represented by the city, to wit, the Roman power. The fall of a “tenth part” would denote the fall of a considerable portion of that power; as if, in an earthquake, a tenth part of a city should be demolished. This would well represent what occurred in the Reformation, when so considerable a portion of the colossal papal power suddenly fell away, and the immediate effect on the portions of Europe where the Reformation prevailed, as compared with the whole of that power, might well be represented by the fall of the length part of a city. It is true that a much larger proportion ultimately fell off from Rome, so that now the number of Romanists and Protestants is not far from being equal; but in the first convulsion - in what passed before the eye in vision as represented by the earthquake - that proportion would not be improperly represented by the tenth part of a city. The idea is, that the sudden destruction of a tenth part of a great city by an earthquake would well represent the convulsion at the breaking out of the Reformation, by which a considerable portion of the papal power would fall.

(c) Those who were slain, Revelation 11:13; “And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.” That is, as we have seen (notes on Revelation 11:13), a calamity would occur to this vast papal power, as if this number should be killed in the earthquake, or which would be well represented by that. In other words, a portion of those who were represented by the city would be slain, which, compared with the whole number, would bear about the saint proportion which seven thousand would to the usual dwellers in such a city. As the numbers in the city are not mentioned, it is impossible to form any exact estimate of the numbers that would be slain on this supposition. But if we suppose that the city contained a hundred thousand, then the proportion would be something like a fourteenth part; but if it were half a million, then it would be about a seventieth part; if it were a million, then it would be about a hundred and forty-fifth part; and, as we may suppose that John, in these visions, had his eye on Rome as it was in the age in which he lived, we may, if we can ascertain what the size of Rome was at that period, take that estimate as the basis of the interpretation.

Mr. Gibbon (2:251,252) has endeavored to form an estimate of the probable number of the inhabitants of ancient Rome; and, after enumerating all the circumstances which throw any light on the subject, says: “If we adopt the same average which, under similar circumstances, has been found applicable to Paris, and indifferently allow about twenty-five persons for each house, of every degree, we may fairly estimate the inhabitants of Rome at twelve hundred thousand.” Allowing this to be the number of the inhabitants of the city, then the number here specified that was slain - seven thousand - would be about the one hundred and seventieth part, or one in one hundred and seventy. This would, according to the purport of the vision here, represent the number that would perish in the convulsion denoted by the earthquake - a number which, though it would be large in the aggregate, is not probably too large in fact as referring to the number of persons that perished in papal Europe in the wars that were consequent on the Reformation.

(d) The only other circumstance in this representation is, that “the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven,” Revelation 11:13. That is, as we have soon (notes on Revelation 11:13), fear and consternation came upon them, and they stood in awe at what was occurring, and acknowledged the power of God in the changes that took place. How well this was fulfilled in what occurred in the Reformation, it is hardly necessary to state. The events which then took place had every mark of being under the divine hand, and were such as to fill the minds of people with awe and to teach them to recognize the hand of God. The power which tore asunder that immense ecclesiastical establishment, that had so long held the whole of Europe in servitude; which dissolved the charm which had so long held kings, and princes, and people spell-bound; which rent away forever so large a portion of the papal dominions; which led kings to separate themselves from the control to which they had been so long subjected, and which emancipated the human mind, and diffused abroad the great principles of civil and religious liberty, was well adapted to fill the mind with awe, and to lead people to recognize the hand and the agency of God; and if it be admitted that the Holy Spirit in this passage meant to refer to these events, it cannot be doubted that the language used here is such as is well adapted to describe the effects produced on the minds of people at large.

CLARKE, “The seconds wo is past - That which took place under the sixth trumpet, and has been already described.The third wo cometh - Is about to be described under the seventh trumpet, which the angel is now prepared to sound.

Of the three woes which were denounced, Revelation 8:13, the first is described, Revelation 9:1-12; the second, Revelation 9:13-21. These woes are supposed by many learned men to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. The first wo - the seditions among the Jews themselves. The second wo - the besieging of the city by the Romans. The third wo - the taking and sacking of the city, and burning the temple. This was the greatest of all the woes, as in it the city and temple were destroyed, and nearly a million of men lost their lives.

GILL, “The second woe is past,.... Not in John's time, only in a visionary way; the meaning is, that the second woe trumpet, which is the sixth, will now have done sounding, when the four angels, bound in the river Euphrates, shall have been loosed, and they, with their horsemen, shall have done what they were designed to do; when the two witnesses shall have been slain, and are raised again, and ascended to heaven; and the things attending, or following thereon, as the earthquake, and slaughter, and the conversions of men, are accomplished.And behold the third woe cometh quickly; immediately, upon the passing of the other; namely, the sounding of the seventh trumpet, as follows.

JAMISO, “14. The second woe--that under the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:12-21), including also the prophecy, Revelation 11:1-13: Woe to the world, joy to the faithful, as their redemption draweth nigh.the third woe cometh quickly--It is not mentioned in detail for the present, until first there is given a sketch of the history of the origination, suffering, and

faithfulness of the Church in a time of apostasy and persecution. Instead of the third woe being detailed, the grand consummation is summarily noticed, the thanksgiving of the twenty-four elders in heaven for the establishment ofChrist's

kingdom on earth, attended with the destruction of the destroyers of the earth.

COFFMA, “The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.

Most commentators hold to the view expressed by Eller that, "The vision has brought us through the fortunes of the church to the end-time, and up to the end itself ... No. 7 is the end."[81] Our view

does not correspond with this. We have already gone through the end in the Second Woe; and exactly like the seventh seal, this seventh trumpet does not depict any earthly development whatever. Why then should it be called a Woe at all? Because it dramatizes the eternal consequences and the irrevocable finality of the rejection of God on the part of rebellious people; and that is indeed "Woe" enough. "The significance of the judgment day (already past) with respect to God and Christ, and both believers and unbelievers is pointed out."[82] Plummer supported this view thus:

This verse brings us to the end of the world, just as the sixth seal led to the same termination; and both are followed by the seventh which gives a reference to the eternal peace of heaven.[83]

[81] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 121.

[82] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 159.

[83] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 293.

ELLICOTT, “(14) The second woe . . .—Translate, The second woe is past. (Omit the word “and,” which weakens the proclamation.) The eagle flying in mid-heaven had announced the three woe trumpets. A voice now reminds us that two of these had passed, just as at the close of the fifth trumpet a voice proclaimed that the first woe was past. We must remember, too, that the angel which descended from heaven declared that the end should not be delayed beyond the sounding of the seventh trumpet; the last woe trumpet, therefore, is the trumpet which will usher in the closing woe and the finishing of the mystery of God. Whatever view we adopt concerning the interpretation of the Apocalypse must be governed by the plainly declared fact that the seventh trumpet brings us to the very end. The next verse only serves to make this plainer.

PULPIT, “The second woe is past. The full description of this woe occupies Rev 9:13-11:14. The account describes the natural spiritual punishment which is inflicted upon men in consequence of their sins (Rev_9:13-21). This is insufficient to lead men to avert the final judgment by timely repentance. We have then a further description of God's long suffering, and the rejection of his mercy, accompanied by an assurance of the safety of the faithful (Rev 10:1-11:10). This brings us to the end of the world (Rev_11:11-14), just as the sixth seal led to the same termination (Rev_7:12-17), and both are followed by the seventh, which gives a reference to the eternal peace

of heaven. And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. Omit "and." It is not said, in the case of the other "woes," that they come quickly. In his description of the preservation and glorification of the Church under the form of the "witnesses," the writer had been led to anticipate in some degree what follows under the seventh trumpet. Thus the seventh comes quickly. When events have progressed so far that the faithful Church is ascended to heaven with her Lord, then immediate]y follows the eternal rest set forth under the seventh trumpet. But this period is described as "the third woe," because it is the period of time final punishment of the wicked; and it is the judgment of the ungodly which is the theme of the trumpet visions, although mention is incidentally made of the preservation and reward of the just. This is the time foretold in Rev_10:7. Just as in the case of the seals, the period of the seventh seal is recorded but not described, so here, in the case of the seventh trumpet, its advent is recorded, and its nature is indicated in verse 18, but no further description is given of the woe; only a slight reference to the bliss of those who are secure in heaven. Thus St. John does not attempt a complete picture of either the blessings of heaven or the woes of hell.

BARCLAY, “THE FORECAST OF THINGS TO COME

Rev. 11:14-19

What makes this passage difficult is that it seems to indicate that things have come to an end in final

victory, while there is still half the book to go. The explanation, as we have seen, is that this passage is a

summary of what is still to come. The events foreshadowed here are as follows.

(i) There is the victory in which the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his

Anointed One. This is really a quotation of Ps.2:2, and is another way of saying that the Messianic reign

has begun. In view of this victory the twenty-four elders, that is, the whole Church, break out in

thanksgiving.

(ii) This victory leads to the time when God takes his supreme authority (Rev. 11:17). That is to say, it

leads to the thousand year reign of God, the Millenium, a thousand year period of peace and prosperity.

(iii) At the end of the Millenium there is to come the final attack of all the hostile powers (Rev. 11:18); they

will be finally defeated and then will follow the last judgment.

In Rev. 11:19 we come back, as it were, to the present. There is a vision of the heavenly Temple opened

and of the Ark of the Covenant. Two things are involved in this vision.

(i) The Ark of the Covenant was in the Holy of Holies, the inside of which no ordinary person had ever

seen, and into which even the High Priest went only on the Day of Atonement. This must mean that now

the glory of God is going to be fully displayed.

(ii) The reference to the Ark of the Covenant is as a reminder of God's special covenant with his people.

Originally that covenant had been with the people Israel; but the new covenant is with all of every nation

who love and believe in Jesus. Whatever the terror to come, God will not be false to his promises.

This is a picture of the coming of the full glory of God, a terrifying threat to his enemies but an uplifting

promise to the people of his covenant.

BURKITT,”An account is here given of the angel's sounding the seventh trumpet, at the beginning of Antichrist's ruin and downfall; St. John heard great acclamations and shoutings in

heaven for the victory which Christ by his witnesses had gotten over him, saying, The kingdoms

of this world, that is, several kingdoms, or main bodies of kingdoms and nations, are now brought in to acknowledge Christ for their sovereign and lawgiver, who did not so before: but whereas formerly they owned another master, namely, antichrist, now they do especially own and acknowledge Christ, by professing to believe in him, and be coming a pure church to him; and he

shall reign for ever and ever. Even under antichrist's reign and tyranny Christ had a kingdom; but he will have a more visible kingdom in the world, and which shall continue without any eclipse by antichrist, or any other, as it suffered before.

15

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and

there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

"The kingdom of the world has become the

kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he

will reign for ever and ever."

BARES, “And the seventh angel sounded - See the notes on Revelation 8:2, Revelation 8:6-7. This is the last of the trumpets, implying, of course, that under this the series of visions was to end, and that this was to introduce the state of things under which the affairs of the world were to be wound up. The place which this occupies in the order of time, is when the events pertaining to the colossal Roman power - the fourth kingdom of Daniel Daniel 7:9-14, Daniel 7:27-28 should have been introduced. This, both in Daniel and in John, is to occur when the mighty power of the papacy shall have been overthrown at the termination of the twelve hundred and sixty years of its duration. See the notes on Daniel 7:25. In both Daniel and John the termination of that persecuting power is the commencement of the reign of the saints; the downfall of the papacy, the introduction of the kingdom of God, and its establishment on the earth.And there were great voices in heaven - As of exultation and praise. The grand consummation had come, the period so long anticipated and desired when God should reign on the earth had arrived, and this lays the foundation for joy and thanksgiving in heaven.

The kingdoms of this world - The modern editions of the New Testament (see Tittmann and Hahn) read this in the singular number - “The kingdom of this world has become,” etc. According to this reading, the meaning would be, either that the sole reign over this world had become that of the Lord Jesus; or, more probably, that the dominion over the earth had been regarded as one in the sense that Satan had reigned over it, but had now become the kingdom of God; that is, that “the kingdoms of this world are many considered in themselves; but in reference to the sway of Satan, there is only one kingdom ruled over by the ‹god of this world‘” (Prof. Stuart). The sense is not materially different whichever reading is adopted; though the authority is in favor of the latter (Wetstein). According to the common reading, the sense is, that all the kingdoms of the earth, being many in themselves, had been now brought under the one scepter of Christ; according to the other, the whole world was regarded as in fact one kingdom - that of Satan - and the scepter had now passed from his hands into those of the Saviour.

The kingdoms of our Lord - Or, the kingdom of our Lord, according to the reading adopted in the previous part of the verse. The word “Lord” here evidently has reference to God as such - represented as the original source of authority, and as giving the kingdom to his Son. See the notes

on Daniel 7:13-14; compare Psalm 2:8. The word “Lord” - Κυριος Kurios- implies the notion of possessor, owner, sovereign, supreme ruler - and is thus properly given to God. See Matthew 1:22; Matthew 5:33; Mark 5:19; Luke 1:6,Luke 1:28; Acts 7:33; Hebrews 8:2, Hebrews 8:10; James 4:15, al. saepe.

And of his Christ - Of his anointed; of him who is set apart as the Messiah, and consecrated to this high office. See the notes on Matthew 1:1. He is called “his Christ,” because he is set apart by him, or appointed by him to perform the work appropriate to that office on earth. Such language as what occurs here is often employed, in which God and Christ are spoken of as, in some respects, distinct - as sustaining different offices, and performing different works. The essential meaning here is, that the kingdom of this world had now become the kingdom of God under Christ; that is, that that kingdom is administered by the Son of God.

And he shall reign forever and ever - A kingdom is commenced which shall never terminate. It is not said that this would be on the earth; but the essential idea is, that the scepter of the world had now, after so long a time, come into his hands never more to pass away. The fuller characteristics of this reign are stated in a subsequent part of this book Psalm 2:8; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 45:22; 60; Daniel 2:35,Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel 7:27-28; Zechariah 14:9; Malachi 1:11; Luke 1:33. On this whole subject, see the very ample illustrations and proofs in the notes on Daniel 2:44-45; Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel 7:27-28; compare the notes on Revelation 2022.

CLARKE, “There were great voices in heaven - All the heavenly host - angels and redeemed human spirits, joined together to magnify God; that he had utterly discomfited his enemies and rendered his friends glorious. This will be truly the case when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God and of his Christ, But when shall this be? Some say, that is meant by these words has already taken place in the destruction of the Jewish state, and sending the Gospel throughout the Gentile world. Others say that it refers to the millennium, and to the consummation of all things.

GILL, “And the seventh angel sounded,.... The last of the seven angels, who had trumpets given them to sound, Revelation 8:2. The days of the voice of this angel, as in Revelation 10:7, cannot refer to the times of Constantine; for though there was then a strange turn of affairs in favour of the kingdom of Christ, when there was a great spread of the Gospel, and large conversions in many places, and many churches were raised and formed in several countries, and the whole empire became Christian; yet this, as we have seen, came to pass under the sixth seal, before any of the trumpets were sounded, and much less this seventh and last; nor do they belong to the times of the Reformation in Germany. Brightman fixes the sounding of this trumpet to the year 1558, when the kings of Sweden and Denmark set up the Gospel in their kingdoms, and reformed them from Popery; and when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne of England, and rooted out great part of the Romish superstition: but it is certain that this angel has not yet sounded his trumpet, and therefore cannot refer to anything past, but to what is to come; we are yet under the sixth trumpet; the outward court is not yet given to the Gentiles; the witnesses are not slain, and much less risen and ascended; the earthquake, the fall of the tenth part of the city, and the slaughter of seven thousand names of men, with what will follow thereon, are things yet to come; the Turkish woe is not over, and antichrist still reigns, and the kingdoms of this world are far from appearing to be the kingdoms of Christ. Some think, and indeed the generality of interpreters, that this respects the voice of the archangel, and trump of God, the last trump, which will sound at the resurrection of the dead, and the day of judgment; but none of these appear in the account of things under this trumpet; but rather the whole has a view to the spiritual reign of Christ, when both the eastern and western antichrist will be destroyed; the Gospel will be carried all over the world, and there will be large conversions both among Jews and Gentiles, and Christ will reign in a spiritual manner over all the earth. Hence it follows,and there were great voices in heaven; these are either the voices of the angels in heaven, who rejoice at every appearance, and breaking forth of Christ's kingdom and glory, as in Revelation 5:11; and indeed, if they rejoice at the conversion of one sinner, at a single addition to Christ's interest, then much more will they, when the kingdoms of this world become his; or rather these may be the voices of the multitude of the saints in the churches, the same company with those in Revelation 19:1; who express their joy at the judgment of the great whore, and at the marriage of the Lamb; and who, as here, are attended with the thanksgivings and hallelujahs of the four and twenty elders: and it may be, that these are also the voices of the four living creatures, the ministers of the word, since the four and twenty elders generally follow them, Revelation 4:9; they may be the witnesses, who were silenced, but are now raised up, and are ascended into heaven, and their mouths are opened, and their voices heard again:

saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; by "the kingdoms of this world" are meant worldly kingdoms, which are set up by worldly power, and are supported by worldly policy, and subsist upon worldly principles and maxims; the government of which proceeds upon worldly ends and views; in distinction from the kingdom of Christ, which is not of this world, and is not supported by any such methods; and they are the kingdoms, into which the world is divided, which, and the glory of them, Satan showed to Christ, and insolently offered to give him them, if he would worship him; but these were to come to Christ in another way, and at another time. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin version, and all the Oriental versions, read in the singular number, "the kingdom of this world"; the whole government of it, which is his by right of nature, and will be overturned, and overturned again and again, till he comes, whose right it is; and then all power, rule, and authority, will be put down, and his kingdom, which will tilt the face of the whole earth, will take place: all the antichristian states and kingdoms are here intended, particularly the kingdoms into which the Roman empire, sometimes

called the whole world, Luke 2:1, is divided, which are ten; one of the ten, a tenth part of the city or jurisdiction of Rome, will fall at the close of the sixth trumpet, and the other nine, or the other nine parts, will fall at the sounding of the seventh; the ten kings, that have given their kingdoms to the beast, will have an aversion to the whore, hate her, and burn her flesh, will fall off from her, and into the hands of Christ; there will be a general and thorough reformation from Popery in all the kingdoms of the Roman empire: but though these are greatly intended, yet not only they, but the Mahometan nations also, as the Turkish woe will now be over, and the great river Euphrates dried up, to make way for the kings of the east, those large kingdoms and countries of China, Tartary, and Persia; and these now under the power of the Turk will embrace the Christian faith; and also all the Pagan nations are to be taken into the account, and who will now enjoy the light of the Gospel: and all, and everyone those Pagan, Papal, and Mahometan kingdoms, will "become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ"; by "our Lord" may be designed God the Father, who is the Lord of the whole earth, the Lord God Almighty, and is acknowledged as such by angels and men; and by "his Christ", his Son Jesus Christ, who is equal with him; and what belongs to the one belongs to the other; and who, as Mediator, is his anointed One; anointed to be prophet, priest, and King; anointed with the oil of gladness, the Holy Ghost; see Psalm 2:2, where the same distinction is. In the

Targum on Isaiah 4:2 mention is made of דיי משוחא , "the Messiah"; or "Christ of Jehovah": and in

the same Targum on Isaiah 53:10, it is said, "they shall look" משיחהזן במלכות , "upon the kingdom

of their Messiah"; though it may be rather that Christ is designed by both these phrases, and the words be rendered, "our Lord, even his Christ"; since the phrase, "our Lord", as well as Christ, is generally understood of Jesus Christ in the New Testament; and who is Lord of all, of angels, and of men, and the Christ of God. Now these kingdoms will become his, not merely by right, for so they are his already, by right of nature, and creation, and preservation; but these have shaken off his government, and have refused to have him to reign over them, and have fallen into the hands of usurpers, as Satan, the god of this world, the Romish antichrist, that reigns over the kings of the earth, and Mahomet the king of the locusts; but now these will, in fact, come into his hands, and be under his government; they will acknowledge him as their Lord and Sovereign, and fear and worship him, as King of saints: and this will be brought about, not by force of arms, as Mahomet got his dominions; nor by policy and fraud, by imposture and lying wonders, by which the pope of Rome has obtained his authority over the nations; but partly by the pouring out of the vials of God's wrath upon the seat of the beast, and upon the river Euphrates, that is, both upon the pope and Turk, which will weaken and destroy their power and authority, and make way for Christ to set up his kingdom; and partly, and chiefly, by the preaching of the Gospel: now will an open door be set, which none can shut; many will run to and fro, and knowledge will be increased; the earth will be covered with it, as the sea with waters; multitudes of souls everywhere will be converted; a nation will be born at once; churches will be set up in every place, which are Christ's kingdom, where he reigns, and where his subjects are, and his laws are put in execution; where his word will be now faithfully preached, his ordinances purely administered, and he, in his person, office, and grace, will be alone exalted: the consequence of which will be,

and he shall reign for ever and ever; no usurper will ever start up more, or obtain, neither Satan, nor the beast, nor the false prophet, shall ever regain their power and authority any more; neither Paganism, nor Judaism, nor antichristianism, either Papal or Mahometan, shall ever have place more: Christ will reign in this spiritual way, more or less, until he comes personally, and then he will reign with his people on earth a thousand years; and when they are ended, he will reign with them in heaven to all eternity; for though, at the end of these years, he shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, yet he will not cease to reign; indeed he will not reign in the same manner, but he will reign with equal power and authority, and over, and with the same persons. The Vulgate Latin version adds, "Amen".

JAMISO, “15. sounded--with his trumpet. Evidently "the LAST

trumpet." Six is close to seven, but does not reach it. The world judgments are

complete in six, but by the fulfilment of seven the world kingdoms become Christ's. Six is the number of the world given over to judgment. It is half

of twelve, the Church's number, as three and a half is half of seven, the divine

number for completeness. BENGEL thinks the angel here to have been Gabriel,

which name is compounded of El, GOD, and Geber,MIGHTY MAN (Revelation 10:1). Gabriel therefore appropriately announced to Mary the advent of

themighty God-man: compare the account of the man-child's birth which follows (Revelation 12:1-6), to which this forms the transition though the seventh trumpet in time is subsequent, being the consummation of the historical

episode, the twelfth and thirteen chapters. The seventh trumpet, like the seventh seal and seventh vial, being the consummation, is accompanied differently from the preceding six: not the consequences which follow on earth, but those IN HEAVEN, are set before us, the great voices and thanksgiving of

the twenty-four elders in heaven, as the half-hour's silence in heaven at the

seventh seal, and the voice out of the temple in heaven, "It is done," at the

seventh vial. This is parallel to Daniel 2:44, "The God of heaven shall set up

a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to

other people, but it shall break to pieces all thesekingdoms, and it shall stand for

ever." It is the setting up of Heaven's sovereignty over the earth visibly, which, when invisibly exercised, was rejected by the earthly rulers heretofore. The distinction of worldly and spiritual shall then cease. There will be no beast in opposition to the woman. Poetry, art, science, and social life will be at once worldly and Christian.

kingdoms--A, B, C, and Vulgate read the singular,

"The kingdom (sovereignty) of (over) the world is our Lord's and His Christ's."

There is no good authority for English Version reading. The kingdoms of the

world give way to the kingdom of (over) the world exercised by Christ. The

earth-kingdoms are many: His shall be one. The appellation "Christ," the

Anointed, is here, where His kingdom is mentioned appropriately for the first time used in Revelation. For it is equivalent to KING. Though priests and

prophets also were anointed, yet this term is peculiarly applied to Him as King, insomuch that "the Lord's anointed" is His title as KING, in places where He is distinguished from the priests. The glorified Son of man shall rule mankind by His transfigured Church in heaven, and by His people Israel on earth: Israel shall

be the priestly mediator of blessings to the whole world, realizing them first.he--not emphatic in the Greek.

shall reign for ever and ever--Greek, "unto the ages of the ages." Here begins the millennial reign, the consummation of "the mystery of God" (Revelation 10:7).

COFFMA, “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 for ever and ever.This does not signal the approaching end of the world; that event has already occurred. Only then, or after then, shall it be true that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ. As we were told in Revelation 10:7, "In the days of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished (not shall be finished) the mystery of God. When the seventh angel sounds, it is already finished. On the cross, Jesus bowed his head and said, "It is finished," and this seventh trumpet is the echo of the glorious achievement there. What is finished? It is finished with evil, with Satan, with wicked men, with sin, and with death. "This announcement tells us that the battle of the ages is ended."[84] "Evil has finally and forever been put down; and good is finally and forever triumphant."[85] Caird was wrong in seeing here, "a jubilant fanfare proclaiming the

enthronement of the King of Kings."[86] That event occurred at the ascension of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20).

And there followed great voices in heaven ... These are the voices of the redeemed of all ages, and including all of the heavenly host. Lenski's beautiful summary of this is:

Whose great voices are here referred to? They certainly are the voices of all the saints and all the angels in heaven after the day of judgment has brought the world and time to an end. This entire vision is wonderful in majesty and in beauty and is beyond all human and earthly conceptions. Our stammering comment must not dim any of the glory. The great chorus declares the fact in two beautiful poetical lines: The kingship of the world became our Lord's and his Christ's; And he shall reign for the eons of the eons.[87]

The kingdom of the world is become ... Lenski translated the verb here "became" because it refers to an event already past in the vision. It happened in Revelation 11:1-13.

Those are undoubtedly right who perceive that these three series (seals, trumpets and bowls) are not consecutive, are not twenty-one successive chapters of world history, or of church history, but that each group of seven takes us over the same ground and shows us three groups of parallel scenes.[88]

The kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ ... The use of the singular "kingdom" should be noted. It is not the "kingdoms" but the "kingdom" of the world that now belongs to the Lord. The time here is evidently that foretold in 1 Corinthians 15:24, when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to the Father; but this took nothing from Christ, who is still on the throne with the Father. Thus, the great heavenly chorus is not here celebrating the beginning of the reign of Christ, but in a sense, the end of it! The glorious and eternal extension of it in the everlasting state fuses it into God's eternal kingdom.

And he shall reign for ever and ever ... The "He" here is the Father and the Son; they are one, and that unity appears here.

Such observations as these, however, must not obscure the truth that this eternal reign of Christ is now going on in that glorious kingdom of Christ which began on Pentecost. "The reign of God began with the Incarnation (and related events) ... It is the reign of God through his anointed, the Messiah."[89] McDowell also viewed the subsequent vision of the birth of Christ (Revelation 12) as a proof of this.

[84] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 76.

[85] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 77.

[86] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 141.

[87] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 353.

[88] Ibid.

[89] Edward A. McDowell, The Meaning and Message of the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), p. 122.

ELLICOTT, “(15) And the seventh angel . . .—Better, And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in the heaven (persons) saying, The kingdom of the world is become (the possession) of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign to the ages of ages. The literal translation is, The kingdom of the world is become our Lord’s, and of His Christ. As far as the expression “our Lord’s” is concerned, there is no need that any word, such as kingdom or possession, should be supplied, but the additional phrase “of His Christ” creates an awkwardness, and the word “possession,” or inheritance, may not inappropriately be used from the Psalm which foretells this final establishment of the kingdom of the anointed Messiah, the Christ of God. “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psalms 2:8). It is the kingdom—not, as in the English version, “the kingdoms”—of

the world which has become Christ’s possession. The contest is not for the kingdoms, the separate nationalities: the varying political systems might exist, as far as mere organisation is concerned, under the rule of Christ; the contest is for the kingdom of the world. Satan was willing to surrender the kingdoms of the world to our Lord on condition of a homage which would have left him still in possession of the kingdom of the world. But now the close of the contest is the overthrow of the kingdom of evil, the establishment of the kingdom of good: that is, of God; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Dean Alford pointed out that our familiarity with the “Hallelujah Chorus” tempted us to put an emphasis on the word He which is not sanctioned by the Greek; it is the reign of the Lord which is the prominent thought. The reign is unto the ages of ages. Surely this means always. We are not told whose voices sing this chorus; it is just the tumultuous sound of heavenly voices, growing into natural and irresistible chorus as the trumpet heralds the approach of the glorious end.

PULPIT, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying . The participle "saying" is masculine, λέγοντες , in A, B; the feminine, λέγουσαι , is read in à , C, P. Though the latter would be more correct, grammatically, yet irregular construction in such cases is not uncommon in the Apocalypse. The voices were possibly those of the angels rejoicing in the triumph of the kingdom of God. Or perhaps they proceeded from the four living beings, since the elders are next mentioned (Rev_11:17) as offering the praises of the redeemed Church which they represent. At the opening of the seventh seal there was silence in heaven; here, at the sound of the seventh angel's trumpet, voices are heard "in heaven," but there is silence as to the fate of the wicked, with whom the trumpet visions have been chiefly concerned. In the revelation of the fate in store for the Church, as well as in that of the doom awarded to the ungodly, the visions stop short of describing circumstances connected with the life after the judgment day. The kingdoms of this

world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and

ever. Ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλαία , in the singular, is found in à , A, B, C, P, and versions, and is adopted

by the Revised Version. Ἐγένοντο αἱ βασιλεῖαι , the plural, is read in two cursives. We can understand the first part of this verse by referring to Rev_12:10. God's power and authority is established by the final overthrow of Satan. It naturally follows the account, in Rev_12:12,Rev_12:13, of the vindication of God's witnesses, and of the glory rendered by the rest of mankind. With God the Father is associated Christ, by whose means the overthrow of the devil is effected, and by whom his servants overcome (cf. Rev_1:6; Rev_5:9; Rev_7:14; Rev_12:11). This is the final victory; henceforth "he shall reign forever and ever."

CHARLES SIMEO, “THE REIGN OF CHRIST ON EARTH

Rev_11:15-17. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The

kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign

for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon

their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and

wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

WE read of our blessed Lord weeping over Jerusalem, in the contemplation of the guilt they had

contracted by their misimprovement of his mercies, and the heavy judgments which were about to

be inflicted on them. And, in truth, wherever we turn our eyes, whether towards the heathen or the

Christian world, we see but too just occasion to weep over their unhappy state. It is almost

impossible to behold the universal reign of sin and Satan, and not to participate the feelings of

David, when he said, “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy law

[Note: Psa_119:136.].” But it will not be always thus. There is a time coming, and, we hope, now

near at hand, when the whole world shall be converted to the faith of Christ, and “the knowledge of

the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea.” Of this period the Apostle speaks in my

text. Respecting the sounding of the seven angels I forbear to speak, because of the obscurity in

which the subject is involved. But of the universal establishment of the Redeemer’s empire, and of

the joy expressed amongst the heavenly hosts at the prospect of it, I may speak with certainty;

because it is a subject so fully opened in the sacred writings, that we can entertain no doubt

respecting it.

Let me then call your attention to,

I. The approaching reign of Christ on earth—

The kingdoms of this world have hitherto been almost entirely under the dominion of the prince of

darkness—

[Satan is called “the god of this world,” because he has reduced the world to a state of entire

subjection to himself. That wicked fiend beguiled our first parents in Paradise, and brought under his

own tyrannic sway the whole of the human race. The effect produced by him on his vassals may be

seen in the first-born child of man; who was a murderer, and slew his own brother solely from an

envious hatred of his superior piety. Some few, a little remnant, God has in every age delivered

from his dominion; but, from the fall of Adam to the present hour, he has kept in bondage the great

mass of mankind, and is therefore justly called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now

worketh in all the children of disobedience.” Not that he has power to make men act contrary to their

will. They are possessed of a corrupt nature; and he knows how to take advantage of their evil

propensities, and to ensnare them with temptations suited to their corrupt appetites. His wiles and

devices are inconceivably subtle: the spirits also that are confederate with him are innumerable: and

men are but too willing to comply with his solicitations: so that he takes them in his snares, and

“leads them captive at his will.” He does not indeed impel every one to the same crimes. Some he

instigates to fulfil the desires of the flesh; others to tread more nearly in his own steps, by gratifying

the desires of the mind in the indulgence of pride, envy, malice, and other hateful passions; which

are no less odious in the sight of God, than those lusts which assimilate us rather to the beasts. But,

whatever diversity there may be in the outward conduct of mankind, all agree in this, they cast off

the yoke of God, and walk after the imagination of their own evil hearts — — —

Such is the state of all the kingdoms of this world, as well of those which enjoy the light of revelation

as those that are yet immersed in Pagan darkness.]

But they will in due season “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ”—

[The prophets have fully declared this: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom,” which shall not,

like the kingdoms of this world, be destroyed, but shall be universal in its extent, and everlasting in

its duration [Note: Dan_2:44.]. To “the Son of man,” the Lord Jesus Christ, shall this be committed;

and “all people, nations, and languages shall serve him [Note: Dan_7:13-14.];” “all kings shall fall

down before him,” and “his enemies shall lick the dust.” Not that he will interfere with the exercise of

kingly power amongst the different potentates of the earth: for “his kingdom is not of this world:” the

seat of his empire is the heart: and there will he establish his throne; not by the sword of man, but

by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Of what kind his dominion will be, we may

form some judgment from what took place on the day of Pentecost. His word on that day was “quick

and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,” and thousands instantly fell before it. So,

when the time shall have come for the full establishment of his kingdom, all opposition, whether of

men or devils, shall fall, as Dagon before the ark, and “all nations shall be subdued to the obedience

of faith.” Then where sin and Satan have hitherto maintained an undisputed sway, the grace of God

shall reign, and iniquity from thence-forth shall hide its face — — —]

No sooner was this glorious event announced, than all the hosts of heaven were moved to welcome

it. Their thanksgivings will lead me to set before you,

II. The joy expressed in heaven at the prospect of it—

Verily, the reign of Christ is a ground of joy, and may well be made so by all on earth, and by all in

heaven. Consider the effect of it,

1. As it respects the honour of God—

[God is banished, if I may so say, from the very world which he has made; and the whole of the

human race are up in arms against him. His authority is altogether despised. Let any one attempt to

impress on men the obedience which they owe to God, how will he be regarded? What will he meet

with from every quarter but ridicule and contempt? I speak not of the liberty which by courtesy is

allowed to ministers in the discharge of their public duty, but of expostulations or entreaties in social

life: and who is there that knows not how such a liberty would be resented? Nor would it give

offence only amongst the profligate and abandoned, but amongst the more moral and decent part of

the community: nothing more need be done than to exalt God’s law as the rule of our conduct, and

his authority as paramount to every other consideration, and it will soon be seen how entirely all

subjection to him is cast off, and man is become a god unto himself. The same effect will be

produced if we speak of the love and mercy of our God. Let us. declare to those around us what

God has done for the redemption of a ruined world; let us invite them to believe in Christ, to apply to

him for the gift of his Holy Spirit, to live in the continual exercise of prayer and praise; shall we be a

whit more acceptable to carnal men, than when calling them to submit to the commands of God?

No: the language of their hearts is, There is “no God” to controul us [Note: Psa_14:1.]; or, if there

be, we will not submit to him: “We know not the Lord, neither will we obey his voice

[Note: Exo_5:2. Job_21:14-15.].” And as for his Son, whom you represent as sent to gather in the

fruits of his inheritance, “let us cast him out,” and live in the undisturbed enjoyment of our own

hearts’s lusts.

Now who that considers this must not blush, and be confounded for the indignities which are cast

upon his God? How can we reflect upon it a moment, and not wonder, that the whole earth is not

swallowed up again with an universal deluge, or burnt up with fire as Sodom and Gomorrha?

But it is delightful to know, that a period is coming, when “God will take to him his great power and

reign,” from one end of the earth even to the other. In this contemplation our minds find some relief.

Our God shall not always be thus dishonoured: his authority shall one day be universally

acknowledged, and his will be universally obeyed. The mysteries of his love also shall be duly

appreciated, and all the wonders of his grace be extolled on earth even as they are in heaven. Well

might the four and twenty elders, the representatives of the whole body of the redeemed, “fall down

and worship God” in the prospect of this time, “saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,

because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”]

2. As it respects the happiness of man—

[Were we to look only to the temporal happiness of man, we shall find it greatly enhanced by the

diffusion of true religion in the world. For partly through the calamities to which we are unavoidably

exposed, and partly through the evils which men, through the influence of their evil passions, inflict

upon each other, this world is, more or less, to every man, a vale of tears. But religion induces such

habits of mind as to dispose us to an universal exercise of love; whilst it affords such consolations

as turn afflictions themselves into occasions of joy. In reference to individuals, it may be said, that

“instead of the thorn grows up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier grows up the myrtle-tree

[Note: Isai. 56:13.];” and, in reference to communities, that the wolf is made to dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard to lie down with the kid; nor will there be any to hurt or to destroy in all God’s holy

mountain [Note: Isa_11:6-9.].

Great as the change is in this respect, it is far more glorious in a spiritual view. Where is the man

who knows any thing of solid peace? He does not exist upon the face of the whole earth, except

among the little remnant of God’s peculiar people. Many possess what they call peace, that is, a

mere thoughtlessness and indifference about the eternal world: but who derives joy from the

contemplation of death and judgment? Who is “looking for, and hasting unto, the coming of the day

of Christ,” as the period for the completion and consummation of his bliss? Or who finds a real

delight in God as his reconciled God and Father? This is the portion of those only who have

believed in Christ. They do possess it: they walk with God as dear children: they maintain sweet

fellowship with the Father and the Son: they live as on the borders of eternity, and enjoy already a

foretaste of their heavenly inheritance. Of this indeed none can judge, but those who experience it

in their souls: there is “a stone given to them with a new name upon it which they alone can read

[Note: Rev_2:17.]:” but though the stranger intermeddleth not with their joy, it is real, “unspeakable,

and glorified.”

For the full effect of the reign of Christ we must wait till we come into the eternal world. We must be

added to the heavenly hosts before we can at all conceive of their bliss: but when exalted to a

participation of their lot, we shall feel precisely as they do; and “fall on our faces before the throne of

God,” to adore him with all the blended emotions of humility and love. Where Christ is not known,

the very superstitions of men impose on them such a yoke as makes life itself a burthen: but,

wherever he reigns, “the wilderness blossoms as the rose,” and earth becomes a nursery for

heaven.]

Let me now, in conclusion, address myself,

1. To those in whose hearts the kingdom of Christ has been established—

[Mark, I pray you, the conduct of those in heaven. In the prospect of this glorious period, they, not

on their own account, but on account of those who should hereafter participate their bliss,rose from

their thrones whereon they were seated, and all with one accord fell upon their faces before God,

the very instant that the glad tidings were proclaimed, and burst forth into the devoutest praises and

thanksgivings to him on account of the blessings which were about to flow down on man, and the

honour which would thereby accrue to God. And will not you prostrate yourselves before

him; you who are so deeply interested in this event, and who have through the sovereign grace of

God been already made partakers of the benefit? I charge you, brethren, to cultivate this very spirit.

This is what I wish to see in all the religious world: this is the true and proper effect of redeeming

love upon the soul: and I call upon you all to make this improvement of it, and to grow downward in

humility, whilst you bring forth fruit upward to the praise and glory of your God.]

2. To those who have never yet bowed to the sceptre of his grace—

[Do you not know that this revolution which is to take place in the world at large, must take place in

the heart of every individual; and that, till it is experienced by you, you are subjects and vassals of

the prince of darkness? Know of a surety, that, if ever you would be acknowledged by Christ as his

redeemed people, you must be “turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto

God.” Yes indeed; you must submit to Christ; you must bow to the sceptre of his grace, or be

“broken in pieces as a potter’s vessel.” Remember what he has said respecting those who reject

“his light and easy yoke;” “Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should

reign over them, and slay them before me.” My dear brethren, cast away the weapons of your

rebellion ere it be too late; and yield a willing obedience to your Saviour now, that you may reign

with him in glory for ever and ever.]

KRETZMANN, “Now comes the beginning of the destruction which would take away all power

from the destroyer. The announcement is made in a solemn manner: And the seventh angel

sounded his trumpet, and there occurred loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the earth

has become that of our Lord and His Christ, and He will be King forever and ever. It is an exultant

song of praise in honor of God and Christ, sung by all the angels and saints in heaven. When the

end comes, Christ will not only reign in the midst of His enemies, but, being exalted above all

heavens, He will deliver all kingdoms and rules and authorities and powers to God, even the Father,

and He, being one with the Father, will rule with Him forever and ever, throughout all eternity.

This hymn is taken up and enlarged upon by the circle about the throne: And the twenty-four elders

that were before God, that sat upon their seats, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying,

We praise Thee, Lord God the Almighty, who is and who was, because Thou hast received Thy

great power and hast reigned, and the heathen were enraged, and Thine anger was come and the

time for the dead to be judged, and to give a reward to Thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints

and to those that fear Thy name, the small and the great, and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.

Here the Church, represented by the twenty-four elders, praises and worships Jesus Christ, the

eternal Son of God, the exalted Son of Man. They praise the revelation of the wonderful power of

Jehovah, which formerly was considered weakness and foolishness by the world. The form of the

servant, in which Christ chose to appear while performing His work in the world is now no longer in

evidence. He not only possesses almighty power, but uses this power in ruling heaven and earth.

The heathen, including all the antichristian powers, were filled with rage, but it avails them nothing.

For now, after so long a time of patience and mercy, the Lord's wrath is poured out upon the earth.

All the dead had to appear before the Lord for judgment, and the righteous anger of the Lord struck

the destroyers of the earth, in whatever guise they were found, while those that had been faithful to

the end, the prophets, the saints, those that feared His name, received a wonderful reward of

mercy, everlasting life with all its bliss. Thus this vision of the end of time serves for the comfort of

all Christians, especially in view of the fact that the last woe is yet to be described.

And another source of comfort for all believers is this: And the temple of God in heaven was

opened, and there was seen the Ark of His covenant in the temple, and there occurred lightnings

and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail. That is the revelation of the Kingdom of

Glory as it will appear to us on the last day. The Ark of the Jewish people was taken to Babylon and

never returned to its accustomed place in the second and third Temple, but the covenant of the New

Testament is an eternal covenant, namely, the promise that we are His people, His children by faith

in Christ Jesus, and shall live and reign with Him forever and ever, in the temple of heaven. God is

faithful; He can and will keep that which we have committed to Him against that day. Meanwhile His

enlightening and powerfully sounding voice goes forth in the earth in spite of Mohammed and Anti-

Christ, to deliver those that are His from all floods of tribulation, but to visit His enemies with His

judgments, as earthquakes and hail-storms devastate the land.

Summary

The seer records a vision full of comfort to the believers, showing that the Word of God was

proclaimed by at least a few faithful witnesses in the midst of antichristian heresy, and that their

witness, even after their death, did not remain without fruit; he records a scene from the end of time

to show that the Lord will finally deliver those that are His from every evil work and translate them

into His heavenly kingdom.

GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, “The Kingdom of our Lord

The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign

for ever and ever.—Rev_11:15.

The vision of the author of the Book of Revelation presents a sublime drama of the unfolding of the

Divine idea in the world and its conflict with the secular spirit. It sets forth the play of spiritual forces

and their victorious issue. What the Seer beheld was Christ triumphant in the whole sphere of

human thought and feeling. By “the kingdom of the world” he did not mean merely the realms over

which kings reigned. He meant the ruling ideas of the world—its dominant forces, social, intellectual,

political. All these were, and are to be, brought under the dominion of Christian principles. All

departments of life are to be consecrated and sanctified by the spirit of Jesus. The text suggests the

vision of a world-empire, once dominated by an usurping power, which has now at length passed

into the hands of its true Owner and Imperator.

It is “the kingdom”—not, as in the Authorized Version, “the kingdoms”—“of the world,” which has

become Christ’s possession. The contest is not for the kingdoms, the separate nationalities; the

varying political systems might exist, as far as mere organization is concerned, under the rule of

Christ; the contest is for the kingdom of the world. Satan was willing to surrender the kingdoms of

the world to our Lord on condition of a homage which would have left him still in possession of the

kingdom of the world. But now the close of the contest is the overthrow of the kingdom of evil, the

establishment of the kingdom of good; that is, of God.1 [Note: W. B. Carpenter, The

Revelation, 151.]

This is the future triumph-song of the Christian Church. We cannot rightly sing it yet; we can only

join in its prelude. As sung by the inhabitants of heaven it is the fulfilment of a wondrous and long-

continued prophecy; as heard by us it is the inspiration of all true Christian service. It is, even now,

by anticipation, the song of the blessed over the earth, as it will be hereafter, by the complete

realization, the song of the earth over itself. No false note quavers through its music. To the

redeemed in glory it is the completion of a great joy; to the redeemed in heaven it is the

embodiment of a living hope.1 [Note: W. Watson.]

I

The Kingdom

1. The text is the announcement of the time of the arrival of the restored Kingdom to which men had

looked forward since the loss of Eden. Its burden is this: God’s purposes have now become

finished. The work of the Redeemer has been successful. This world, devil-conquered, has now

become Christ-restored. The sceptre has been wrested from the hands of that spiritual tyrant who

has cursed it with so much sin and misery. And now “the kingdom of this world is become the

kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ”; henceforth a reverse history of it is to begin—holiness

instead of sin, happiness instead of misery, life instead of death; and no further reversion is to be

feared, for “He shall reign for ever and ever.”

The text is a vision, but it is not visionary. It is a vision only in the sense that it unfolds to us things

yet future. The Christian prophet here dips into the future farther than human eye can see, and sees

the vision of the world, and all the wonder that shall be. And it is the certainty of that “shall be” that

redeems it from unreality. It is a vision of the world—of this world; and it is a vision of something that

will certainly be seen in it. God’s truth is pledged to this; and it is as certain as anything that has

been in the history of the past. Hence the historic form of the language—“the kingdom of this

world”—not merely shall be, but is—“is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” It is so

put because there can be no contingency, no doubtfulness about it. It has been God’s plan to bring

about this issue from the beginning—from the first inception of His purposes of grace respecting the

redemption of this world. And, as time has rolled on, all has been slowly tending to its final

accomplishment. All prophecy has sung of it; and it is only part of a series that has ever been

fulfilling.

The conception of the Kingdom of God on which Jesus based His gospel was determined for Him

by contemporary Judaism; but in its essence it is fundamental to all religion. Amidst the

imperfections of the present, men have ever looked forward to some glorious consummation, and

have lived and worked in the faith of it. To the prophets of Israel it was the new age of

righteousness—to the Greek thinkers, the world of pure intelligible forms—to Augustine and Dante,

the holy theocratic state—to the practical thought of our own time, the renovated social order. Each

successive age will frame to itself its own vision of the great fulfilment; but all the different ideals can

find their place in that message of the Kingdom which was proclaimed by Jesus. He expressed it,

for He could not do otherwise, in the language of His own time; but the aspiration which He

cherished will ever find its response in the hearts of men. “Thy Kingdom come—thy will be done on

earth, as it is in heaven.”

Jesus foretold the coming of that Kingdom, and transformed the dream of it into a living hope. In His

own Person He was the Messiah of the Kingdom. The title to which He laid claim was inherited by

Him from a bygone world of Jewish thought; but He filled it with a new and lasting significance by

identifying it with Himself. He has taught us to see in Him the Anointed One—the chosen Leader of

mankind, by whom God will bring in His Kingdom.1 [Note: E. F. Scott, The Kingdom and

the Messiah, 256.]

2. The event concerning which the seventh angel of the Apocalypse “sounded,” and which

occasioned great voices of jubilation in heaven, is not an event which is happening in the region of

heaven; it is an event which is to happen on this earth. This wonderful transference is to take place

in this very world in which we are now living. Nor is the word “world” in either reading that word

which, in the original, is sometimes confined to the Roman Empire, or to the habitable world; it is

that world which embraces the whole of this earth, or the whole of the visible cosmos. It is this that

is said to pass at this time into a great Theocracy, or, more definitely still, into a Christocracy. That

rule under which the world has heretofore been is to pass away and it is to become, what it was not

before, the Kingdom of the Christ of God.

This earth, which was the scene of the usurper’s conquest, the scene of the Redeemer’s conflict

with him, the scene of the Redeemer’s travail, toil, agony, shame, and death, the scene of all His

Church’s conflicts and sufferings, is yet to be the theatre of His triumphs. He is not to win in some

ghostly region far away, and leave this world to the devil or to ashes. But here, in this tangible world,

is He yet to triumph, and over the field of His sufferings is He yet to wield His sceptre. The prayer

that has been going up from the Church for two millenniums shall yet receive its glorious answer:

“Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Christianity shall not, cannot, be

worsted. “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, and that right

early.”

We pray day by day, “Thy kingdom come.” Have we ever stayed to think what will be when God at

last grants that prayer? We often speak of the ways in which we may promote God’s Kingdom: by

seeking His glory and obeying His will in our daily lives, or by aiding those machineries which are at

work in the world for its improvement or evangelization. Have we ever thought what it will be when

God’s Kingdom is come? What will be left then of this life, of this world, which is now so much to all

of us, which is now all in all to many? In other words, How much of our present lives is entirely holy

and heavenly? how much can survive the wreck of earth, and be transferred into a world in which

God is all?p At present we are familiarized by long use with many things which are not according to

God’s will; and few men live out their “threescore years and ten” without finding their sensibilities

somewhat blunted, and their estimate of the sinfulness of sin robbed of something of its severity.

How shall we ever learn to echo that doxology of the elders, “We thank thee, O Lord God Almighty,

because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and because thy kingdom is come”? What a

change, what a wonderful change, is implied in the announcement, “Thy kingdom is come”! If we

are ever to learn that song, “what manner of persons ought we to be now in all holy conversation

and godliness!” Yes, that is the lesson for us. Let God’s Kingdom come to us, to us personally; let it

come now, that kingdom which is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost”; that

“kingdom of God” which is “within”; in the secret heart that loves God, in the devoted life which does

God service!1 [Note: C. J. Vaughan, Lectures on the Revelation of St. John, 280.]

3. No doubt the battle is not yet over. And we are sometimes afraid of the issue. The reason is that

our view of the battlefield is too narrow. Even in modern warfare the commanding brain sits far away

from the conflict, surrounded with maps and messengers, to direct and order the shifting changes of

conflict, where general victory is consistent with defeat in detail, and the general advance with a

partial retirement. The seat of God’s government is in heaven. He has no vicar upon earth who can

act as a substitute. His reign over all is consistent with partial defeats and partial retirements; a

victory is won here, an apparent defeat is suffered there.

The progress of improvement, intellectual and moral, individual and national, is like the flowing tide.

A wave advances beyond the rest, and it falls back again: you would suppose that the sea was

retreating; but the next wave pushes farther still, and still the succeeding one goes beyond that; so

that by a gradual, and for some time imperceptible, but sure and irresistible progress, the mighty

element bears down every obstruction, and, in due time, occupies its destined station. Even before

the inadvertent spectator is aware, the soil and slime, and all unsightly and rugged objects,

disappear, and the whole space is occupied by the beautiful and majestic main. Such, no doubt, will

be the uncontrollable progress of amelioration, under the Divine government, till that auspicious era

shall arrive which is marked in resplendent characters in the decrees of heaven, and to which the

golden index of prophecy continually points, when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the

Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” and the reign of truth, freedom, virtue, and happiness shall be

universal and everlasting

Say not, the struggle nought availeth,

The labour and the wounds are vain,

The enemy faints not, nor faileth,

And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;

It may be, in yon smoke concealed,

Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,

And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,

Seem here no painful inch to gain,

Far back, through creeks and inlets making,

Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only,

When daylight comes, comes in the light,

In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,

But westward, look, the land is bright.1 [Note: A. H. Clough.]

II

The King

1. The true Theocracy is reached when the kingdom of the world becomes the Kingdom of the Lord.

The advance of that Kingdom of God is by the increasing recognition of the truth, the truth of God

and the truth of humanity as in Christ, sin and evil passing away as the mind of Christ possesses

the spirit of man.

We identify Christ with the Church. But the “Kingdom” and the “Church” are not opposing, but

complementary, terms in their New Testament meaning. We have to restore to the Church the

empire assigned to it by Christ, the empire that knows no frontier. The Church must not be simply

an agency of the Kingdom, but must be completely identified with it. And let the Church stand for the

Kingdom, let the Church stand for what Christ stands for, let the Church be identified with Christ’s

purpose and passion, want what He wants, yearn for what He yearns, the conquest of the world, of

all the kingdoms of the world, let the Church consume with this passion, let the supremacies be

supreme, and there will be an end of sectarian strife, denominational rivalries, and ecclesiastical

competition, and the one Holy Catholic Church will stand for the complete realization of the

Kingdom of God upon earth.

A good many are asking such revolutionary questions even now [Is the Church of any use; were it

not well that it perished that Christianity might the better thrive?], and it is foolish for Churchmen

simply to be shocked and to characterize them as profane. The Church is only a means to an end; it

is good only so far as it is Christian. There is no merit or profit in mere ecclesiasticism. Whatever

reveals the true Christ is of value and will live. Whatever hides Christ, be it pope, priest or presbyter,

sacraments or ecclesiastical misrule, is pernicious, and must pass away; but we may hope that

there will always be enough of Christ’s spirit in the society which bears His name to keep it from

becoming utterly savourless and to bring about such reforms as may be necessary to make it serve

the end for which it was instituted. Should this hope be disappointed, then the visible Church, as we

know it, must and will pass away, leaving the spirit of Christ free room to make a new experiment,

under happier auspices, at self-realization. To be enthusiastic about the Church in its present

condition is impossible; to hope for its future is not impossible, but if it were, there is no cause for

despair. Christ will ever remain the same yesterday, to-day and for ever, and the kingdom of God

will remain a kingdom that cannot be moved.1 [Note: A. B. Bruce, The Kingdom of God.]

2. We profess to believe, as Christians, in the reality of the Divine Kingdom. Faith makes us

members of it, and brings us into it. We share in its strength and freedom because we own Christ as

Lord and Saviour. Our place is therefore the index to our duty. We cannot be subjects of so vast a

realm without at the same time retaining the consciousness of our responsibility to Him who has

placed us where we are, and to those who are not where we are. This world of sin can never be

changed into a world of holiness except through the changed histories of those who call themselves

by Christ’s name. The only limit, therefore, we can place on the range of the gospel of Christ is that

which is offered by the final satisfaction of the human race. Christ declared Himself not the Saviour

of a people or the Deliverer of any particular land, but the Son of Man, born for humanity, living and

dying for them.

Christ as King must oust every usurper. The gospel comes into collision—it puts itself purposely in

collision—with all opposing forces, lays down the most stringent regulations for human life and

human peace. It lays down the most inspiring hopes for the human heart, and its very incredibilities

are the things that are winning the credence of human minds everywhere. It is the standing miracle

of history, and there is nothing that more conclusively proves its Divineness than what we call its

success, although the word success is not a word to be used in this connexion. No, we have not to

think of success. Christ did not send forth successful men; He only sent forth witnesses. We have

nothing whatever to do with the success of the gospel of Jesus Christ; we are merely to proclaim;

we have merely to witness to the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have nothing to do with

the establishment of the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ; all we have to do with is the

proclamation of it.

Max Müller, speaking as a scientific student of the world’s religions, said in 1876, in Westminster

Abbey: “Every Christian is, or ought to be, a missionary.” Do we realize this? Do we believe it? Or is

it not so, that we look upon the making Christ and His gospel known to all nations as something

quite “outside the ordinary course of the service of God—a thing that some men may take up

because they are interested in it,” but which is by no means obligatory upon all Christians just

because they are Christians?1 [Note: R. H. M‘Kim, The Gospel in the Christian Year,

327.]

We have so far only been playing at the work of winning the world for Christ. We have relied on a

campaign of flying columns for the conquest of the world. The call which now rings in the ears of the

Churches is a call summoning to a concerted world-wide campaign. The day of playing at this work

is past. The day of self-sacrifice is come. What Christianity is summoned to prove is this: to

establish its claim to wield the destinies of the world. Is it a living and a conquering energy—or a

decadent and a spent force? In Abyssinia a degenerate Christian Church is yielding day by day

converts to Islam. Is that to be the fate of Christianity as a whole? As one surveys the ancient races

entrenched in their hoary faiths, and the vast territories still unoccupied and untouched by

Christianity; as one sees the forces of ignorance and superstition and lust massed, presenting a

solid front against the progress of the gospel; and as one looks at the Christian Churches and sees

how few they are who feel the call to go forth and conquer the world, and how few are willing to

make any sacrifice for the glory of their Lord—then there comes the hesitating doubt: can this task

ever be accomplished? And the question rings in the ear, uncertain of its answer, “Can the world be

won for Christ?” But the question throws us back on God. With Him the answer lies. Can the Church

find now, as the Church ever found of old in the day of trial, such new treasures of power and

energy, and vitalizing force, such new revelations of the riches and the glory of God, that it will arise

and go forth and conquer, not in its own strength, but in the irresistible might of God? Therein lies

the hope of conquering the world for Jesus Christ. The summons that rings through Christendom is

a summons calling the Christian host, if it would conquer, to fall back on God. To the world the task

may seem impossible, and its performance a vain dream, but what are Christians in the world for

but to achieve the impossible by the help of God!1 [Note: Norman Maclean, Can the World

be Won for Christ? 16.]

3. No language can go beyond the terms in which the Lord sets forth His absolute power. “All

authority,” He says, “is given unto me in heaven and on earth.” To feel the force of such a sentence,

we must remember that He who spoke had been crucified not many days before amidst the

mockery of His enemies and the despair of His followers. But now He lays open the eternal issues

of that death. Not earth only but heaven is subject to His dominion. All created being has been

brought under His sway—angels, and men, and nature. In Him whatever before was most widely

separated has found a final unity. The power is given Him. It represents the love of the Father no

less than the victory of the Son. It is the pledge of the triumph of the Father’s will; and His will is the

salvation of men.

If Christians only knew the meaning of the words: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same

beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing,” then there would be in the Church a

mighty, irresistible power which would sweep over every frontier, and possess every land in the

name of Jesus Christ. They would realize that all the power of God was working through them, that

all the forces of the universe were working for them, that the stars in their courses were fighting on

their side, and that against the Church of God, glowing with His omnipotent Spirit, nothing could

stand. It was in the power of the ever-present Lord, in the might of the Holy Spirit, that in the early

days Christianity won its triumphs. There is no other way, and no other power, through which

Christianity will win triumphs to-day. The conquering power will manifest itself when Christians again

realize their personal obligation to Jesus Christ. A Christendom in which the followers of Christ are

dead to the stirring of personal obligation, in which the mass of Christians view with indifferent eyes

the enterprise of missions, in which only a small fraction of the Christian host take any thought of

what the glory of Christ demands—such a Christendom will never win the world for Christ.p The

work to which the Church is urgently called is to make the faith of Christ again live in the hearts and

souls of men. Then will the power come which will win the world for Jesus Christ. Then will that

spiritual power which once swept Westward, anon sweep Eastward, until every knee shall bow and

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.1 [Note: Norman Maclean, Can the World

be Won for Christ? 144.]

III

The King’s Reign

1. It is well that the Church should realize, in a way she is far from doing now, that the ascended

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords; that He has established His Kingdom on the earth; that He

claims dominion over the whole human race, which He has redeemed by His blood; that the

increasing purpose which through the ages runs, the one far-off divine event towards which all

things are moving, and to which the complicated influences of historical development are slowly

leading the human race, is the establishment of the Kingdom of the King of Love and Truth in the

hearts of men all over the world. Many a time Christianity has been tempted, and has yielded to the

temptation, to lean on an arm of flesh, to grasp carnal weapons, instead of relying on spiritual

weapons alone. The result has always been disastrous. Every such weapon has been found a

boomerang. It is only by tenderness and love, by meekness and patience and sacrifice and

martyrdom that its victories have been won, and these are its guarantee of the future. It is an

inexhaustible source from which to obtain supplies. The indwelling spirit of its Master is the constant

generative force to reproduce the conquering power; and it is bound to survive and triumph through

its inherent power of an endless, an indissoluble, life.

If striving with all your might to mend what is evil, near you and around, you would fain look for a

day when some Judge of all the Earth shall wholly do right, and the little hills rejoice on every side;

if, parting with the companions that have given you all the best joy you had on Earth, you desire

ever to meet their eyes again and clasp their hands,—where eyes shall no more be dim, nor hands

fail;—if, preparing yourselves to lie down beneath the grass in silence and loneliness, seeing no

more beauty, and feeling no more gladness—you would care for the promise to you of a time when

you should see God’s light again, and know the things you have longed to know, and walk in the

peace of everlasting Love—then, the Hope of these things to you is religion, the Substance of them

in your life is Faith. And in the power of them, it is promised to us, that the kingdom of this world

shall yet become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.1 [Note: Ruskin, The Bible of

Amiens, § 60 (Works, xxxiii. 174).]

2. In Tennyson’s pathetic poem, In the Children’s Hospital, a sceptic murmurs: “The good Lord

Jesus has had His day,” and the believing nurse makes the comment: “Had? has it come? It has

only dawn’d. It will come by and by.” “Only dawn’d?” Why is Christianity, after all these centuries,

only beginning to be manifested? It is at least partly because of the apathy, the divisions, the evil

lives of us who profess and call ourselves Christians; because we have wrangled about the

secondary and the comparatively unimportant and have neglected the weightier matters of the law;

because we have so left to those beyond the Church the duty of proclaiming and enforcing

principles which our Lord and His Apostles put in the forefront of their teaching. We have narrowed

the Kingdom of Christ, we have claimed too little for Him, we have forgotten that He has to do with

the secular as well as with the spiritual, that He must be King of the nation as well as Head of the

Church. But now, in the growing prominence of social questions, which so many fear as an

evidence of the waning of religion, have we not an incentive to show that the social must be

pervaded by the religious, that our duties to one another are no small part of the Kingdom of Christ?

For all sorts and conditions of men, for masters and servants, for rulers and ruled, for employers

and employed, is there not ever accumulating proof that only as they bear themselves towards each

other in the spirit of the New Testament can there be true harmony and mutual respect; that only, in

short, as the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, will men in

reality bear one another’s burdens; that only as the Everlasting Gospel of the Everlasting Love

prevails will all strife and contention, whether personal or political or ecclesiastical or national, come

to an end; that only as men enter into the fellowship of that Son of Man who came not to be

ministered unto but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many, will the glorious vision of old

be fulfilled: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of

heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was

given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should

serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that

which shall not be destroyed.”

A few months ago the country was held in the icy grip of winter. The reign of frost was supreme;

vegetation, river, lake, and even parts of the sea were slaves of this tyrant. The sun’s rays seemed

as helpless as a child’s breath to soften the tyrant’s heart or loosen his hand. A child, had he heard

some prophet speak of the summer, the glory of whose reign is just commencing, might have

doubted, so strong was the cold and so completely conquered was nature, that the prophet’s vision

would ever be realized. Leave out experience, and none would have believed. When this text was

written, so impossible did the prediction seem, it appeared absurd. The reign of the kingdom of

darkness seemed complete. The world was one great catacomb where religion, morality, education,

liberty and love lay buried. To say that the kingdoms of evil would change and become the kingdom

of Christ was to talk of the impossible. To all human calculation, as well might some dreamy

Esquimau prophesy that the helpless sun’s rays will at last change the Arctic regions to the warmth

and luxury of the Tropics. It was the helpless kingdom of the dying Christ and Paul pitted against

earthly kingdoms, whose power and permanence were typified by the “eternal” Roman Empire. But

the icy heart of winter has softened, and its hand has loosened, and summer has come with its

faithful retinue of warm sun and showers, of bud and blossom and of leaf and bird—a time of life

and beauty and song. So has a change come to the world of man. Through all the centuries, Christ

has been coming with His retinue of high thoughts, of true emotions, of pure purposes and unselfish

deeds, of great trust and imperishable hope, and has laid the foundations of His kingdom of love

and righteousness and liberty. The kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our Lord, and

of His Christ.1 [Note: C. A. Vincent.]

Every one is familiar with the custom which prevails of the whole audience rising and standing when

the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel’s “Messiah” is sung. It originated in the spontaneous act of King

George II. under the spell of the music when first he heard it. The king’s tribute was no mere

compliment to the composer; it was a solemn acknowledgment of Him of whom it sang. It was the

reproduction in another way of what Handel himself felt when he composed its strains. How did he

explain the writing of his masterpiece? “I did think I did see all heaven before me and the great God

Himself.” That is his own account of it. It was an inspiration. It was the majesty of the theme that

evoked the music. It voices the climax of heavenly song, in the Book of the Revelation, the victory of

the Lamb over the last great effort of His foes. When it broke on John’s ear, he heard, as it were,

the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty

thunderings saying, “Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.” What has called out this

shout of triumph? The powers of evil had joined issue with the forces of God, and Babylon is fallen,

and “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; and He

shall reign for ever and ever.” That was John’s vision of what was coming. That was what made

heaven ring with Hallelujahs. That is the Christian conviction; that is Faith’s Certainty, the Christian’s

assured hope as to the Future.2 [Note: R. J. Drummond, Faith’s Certainties, 401.]

3. Christ is still among us, speaking to those who listen through the manifold discoveries of the age,

guiding even our fierce and selfish conflicts so as to minister to His purpose. And we ourselves

consciously or unconsciously are serving Him. He uses us if we do not bring ourselves to Him a

willing sacrifice. We cannot doubt this; and we cannot fail to see what a different world it would be,

if, still remaining faithful to our personal convictions, abandoning nothing of the truth which has been

made known to us, yielding no fragment of the position which has been committed to our keeping,

we could all agree in holding as a living fact the reality of Christ’s universal Presence; in looking to

Him in the execution of our designs, as using them for some larger end; in making Him the witness

of our actions, as tributary to a counsel beyond our thoughts. Nothing less than this is the scope of

His words: “I am with you all the days, unto the end of the world.” I—perfect God and perfect Man,

able to help and to sympathize to the uttermost—I am with you. The promise has never been

revoked. It has been forgotten; it has been practically denied; but it stands written still to reveal the

heaven which lies about us, the powers which are ready for our hands.

We let living facts stiffen into doctrinal abstractions, until Truth itself begins to wear a cold and

fictitious aspect; it is not in fact true for us until we have made it our own through needing it, and

loving it. It is not through a merely intellectual recognition that the human spirit can give its Amen to

the Yea of God. We see how firm a hold the Church of the Early and Middle Ages kept upon this

great truth, the actual presence of Christ with His people; how this belief revealed and as it were

transfigured itself in legends which superstition itself cannot rob of their undying significance. When

St. Francis stoops down to kiss the leper’s wound, and sees that his place has been taken by the

Saviour; when St. Martin hears these words in his vision, “Behold, Martin, who hath clothed me with

his cloak,” we see that the Church to these men is not the mere tomb of Christ, but His warm and

living body sending a pulsation through every member.1[Note: Dora Greenwell, The

Patience of Hope (ed. 1894), 66.]

The religious temper of his mind shows itself in the meditations he recorded from time to time while

at Tübingen, which abound in expressions of longing for closer communion with Christ. On the last

evening of the year 1838 he thus unbosomed himself:—

“I am quite full of the blessed nearness of the Saviour which I have felt in these last days of

Christmas week, and especially as I have listened to preaching. I have learned again that the most

precious of all experiences is the experience of His presence. There are happy hours spent in the

friendships of the world where we say one to the other “I am thine, thou art mine.” But those who

feel the secret presence of Christ know that these pass into the shadow before the experiences we

have in His communion, when we rise, as on the wings of eagles, through prayer and faith to Him

the highest of all beings, the beginning and the end and the moving centre of all things. Here, one

has answer to his questionings; here, peace which passeth knowledge. Our faith and hope, how

can they fail to be sources of blessing, since they look towards Christ, who is not a hard master, but

the Redeemer, the Wonderful, the Prince of Peace!”2 [Note: D. S. Schaff, The Life of Philip

Schaff, 24.]

Jesus, Fountain of my days,

Well-spring of my heart’s delight,

Brightness of my morning rays,

Solace of my hours of night!

When I see Thee, I arise

To the hope of cloudless skies.

Oh, how weary were the years

Ere Thy form to me was known!

Oh, how gloomy were the fears

When I seemed to be alone!

I despaired the storm to brave

Till Thy footprints touched the wave.

But Thy presence on the deep

Calmed the pulses of the sea,

And the waters sank to sleep

In the rest of seeing Thee,

And my once rebellious will

Heard the mandate, “Peace, be still!”

Now Thy will and mine are one,

Heart in heart, and hand in hand;

All the clouds have touched the sun,

All the ships have reached the land;

For Thy love has said to me,

“No more night!” and “no more sea!”1 [Note: G. Matheson, Sacred Songs, 115.]

PULPIT 15-18, “The seventh trumpet and the song which is to follow.

Although we have found manifold reasons why we cannot fix dates in interpreting the Apocalypse,

we find equally manifest reasons for doing that which is of far more importance—even for indicating

the principles which it discloses. The previous section taught us that the extent and limit of the

Church of God are perfectly measured; that God will preserve for himself a successionof witnesses

during the mysterious and protracted period of the Church's witness bearing; that at some time or

other there would be such an onrush of evil as if a beast were let loose from the deep abyss; that,

for a while, the witnesses would be silenced; but that God would interpose, and cause providence to

work where prophecy had failed, until the last obstruction to the final triumph of the Church should

be taken out of the way. Then the seventh trumpet shall sound; under that seventh trumpet the end

should come; and following on the end there shall be heard heaven's triumphant song. We therefore

regard the words from the fifteenth to the eighteenth verses inclusive as overleaping the rest of the

book; as, in fact, retrospective, giving us a hint of the sublime satisfaction which all holy souls will

feel, in the review of God's dealings, when all those events are accomplished which the remaining

chapters are about to specify. Here we propose to indicate these only in briefest outline, as the

several details will be hereafter dealt with one by one.

I. HOWEVER GLOOMY AND PROTRACTED THE PERIOD MAY BE THROUGH WHICH GOD'S

WITNESSES MAY HAVE TO PROPHESY, LIGHT WILL BREAK AT LAST.

From Rev_6:9,Rev_6:10, and Rev_8:3, Rev_8:4, we see that a great burden of prayer has been for

long, long years spread out before God, the cry of which is, "Thy kingdom come." In the verses

before us we catch a glimpse of the time when this prayer shall have been fulfilled, and when the

fulfilment will call forth a shout of praise (verses 15-18). And in the words of this song, which is sent

up in praise to God on account of the conflict being at an end, we get an indication of what had

happened ere the strife ceased, as they look upon the struggle from its further side; cf. verse 18,

"The nations were angry"—the spirit of revolt against God rose to its height (Psalm it.)—"and thy

wrath came;" i.e. its manifestation. In the kingdoms of olden time, when the cup of iniquity was full,

the judgments of God came and swept them away. So it will be again. We nowhere get any warrant

from Scripture for supposing that God will govern in a future age on any different principles from

those on which he has governed in the past, or on which he governs now. But those principles will

be manifested more dearly than they have been. "And the time of the dead, that they should be

judged." This is spoken of as belonging to a bygone time. So that the passage brings us, by

anticipation, to the other side of the judgment of the dead, actually past the dread scene

in Rev_20:11-13. "And to give their reward to thy servants the prophets"—those who bore faithful

testimony for God for the twelve hundred and sixty years, dad in sackcloth—"and to the saints"—to

the holy ones who were in covenant relation to God by sacrifice—"and them that fear thy Name," "in

every nation under heaven" (cf. Act_10:35), "both small and great." All life's "poor distinctions" will

vanish most utterly away in the light of the great white throne. "And to destroy them that destroy the

earth." Those who destroy the earth by corrupting it with their sin, God will destroy by desolating

with his judgments. This expression again overleaps the scenes of Rev_12:1-17 :22, and includes

all those wild and weird forms of ill which are referred to in the remaining eleven chapters of this

book. These are:

(1) The dragon (Rev_12:3, Rev_12:9).

(2) The first beast (Rev_13:1).

(3) The second beast (Rev_13:11).

(4) Three unclean spirits (Rev_16:13).

(5) Babylon the Great (Rev_17:1-18.).

(6) The ungodly (Rev_20:12-15).

(7) Death and Hades (Rev_20:14). (See the homilies under these several passages.)

When the decisive judgment on all these is over, then does Jehovah take to himself his great

power, and reign. And then the four and twenty elders, seated on their thrones, as if associated with

their Lord in regal state, and sharers in his triumphs, rejoice over the grand issue, when every

enemy is still as a stone.

II. THE PARAGRAPH BEFORE US INDICATES NOT ONLY WHAT THE ISSUE WILL BE, BUT A

LSO THE MAIN EVENTS WHICH WILL PRECEDE IT. (Verse 18.) (These will be found to be dealt

with in the homilies on the passages indicated above. The order of those events will be found to be

indicated in the homily on Rev_22:20.) These verses are, in fact, as stated above, an anticipatory

summary of the whole.

III. WHEN THE RIGHTEOUS SEE THE ISSUE OF THE GREAT CONFLICT, THEY WILL BE FILL

ED WITH JOY, AND WILL GIVE VENT THERETO IN ADORING PRAISE. The results of the

resurrection, of the judgment, and of the sentence, will perfectly satisfy all righteous souls

(Rev_12:7). Let us note here that only righteous souls will be satisfied. No unrighteous man ever will

be satisfied with what God does. Such will be speechless, because they know that God does only

what is right, and the fact that a righteous administration condemns them can never bring them rest.

So that it is not the fault of the administration if it brings torment to the ungodly, but of the

ungodliness. But as for the righteous, even here they gave thanks at the remembrance of God's

holiness; how much more will they do this when it

"... shall break thro' every cloud

That veils and darkens his designs"!

Then, with the clearer vision with which they will be endowed in their glorified natures, with the

views of the manifold wisdom of God which the unfoldings of providence shall yield, with the glory of

the Son of God unveiled before them without a cloud, when redemption's work is completed, when

all the chosen are gathered, when the righteousness and love of God are perfectly vindicated, when

all the ransomed ones are found as an unbroken unity at the feet of him who died for them,—then

will the hallelujahs of the glorified rise up in holy song! All conflicts will be past, believers will be

ushered into that rest which remaineth, and the "joy of their Lord" will be complete.

In conclusion:

1. Let us not be astonished at any violent outbreaks of evil which may perplex and bewilder many.

The Holy Ghost hath said, "perilous times shall come."

2. Let us not judge of the progress of the work of God by the aspect of the world at any one

moment. As reasonably might one think, when he watched the ebbing tide, that the sea was

disappearing!

3. Let us not forget, that however dark the avenues through which the Church of God may have to

pass, yet

(1) this book has sketched them in all their darkness, and

(2) has shown us also the brightness that lies beyond them.

4. However fierce the conflicts of our age may be, never let us falter in the witness which we bear

for God and the right. Ours is a good fight. "In your patience possess ye your souls." The light will

break at last.

5. Finally, if we would be kept in perfect peace, let our minds ever be stayed on him who "rides upon

the storm." In his own time he will say, "Peace, be still," and the tossing billows shall subside to an

eternal calm.

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successdive journey's run,

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moons shall wax and wane no more."

16

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated

on their thrones before God, fell on their faces

and worshiped God,

BARES, “And the four and twenty elders which sat H - See the notes on Revelation 4:4.Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God - Prostrated themselves before him - the usual form of profound adoration. See the notes on Revelation 5:8-14.

GILL, “And the four and twenty elders,.... The same with those in Revelation 4:4;

which sat before God on their seats; as they are also there described; and which may be expressive of their enjoyment of the divine Presence; and also of their quiet and undisturbed situation, being restored to their former places, which they now possess without molestation and interruption; for as these are the representatives of Gospel churches in all ages, they were with the church in the wilderness during the 1260 days, or years: hence we hear nothing of them from the time of the sealing of the hundred and forty and four thousand, and during the sounding of the trumpets; but now they are restored to their former seats, and upon this wonderful change of things in the world, they

fell upon their faces and worshipped God; in a very humble and reverential posture, and in a way of praise and thanksgiving.

COFFMA, “And the four and twenty elders who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon

their faces and worshipped God,These represent the church. They were those made "a kingdom" (Revelation 1:6). They therefore fitly take up the burden of praise to him who has now established his universal and everlasting kingdom.[90]

Who sit before God on their thrones ... These thrones suggest the truth that the redeemed have already been reigning with Christ throughout the whole dispensation.

ENDNOTE:

[90] A. Plummer. op. cit., p. 294.

ELLICOTT, “(16) And the four . . .—Translate, And the four-and-twenty elders, who before God were seated upon their thrones (not “seats”), fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. The four-and-twenty elders represent the Church of God in all ages; they sit with Christ in heavenly places, even while they are toiling and sorrowing on earth; every one of the true children of the kingdom appear before God, and their angels behold the presence of their Father who is in heaven. They were seated on thrones, not “seats” (comp. Revelation 4:4), as in English version; the word used is the same which is translated “throne” when it refers to our Lord. It is the same word which is rendered “seat” (Revelation 2:13; Revelation 16:10) when it refers to Satan; but it is better rendered throne throughout, for by this variation of translation, as “Archbishop Trench has pointed out, two great ideas which run through this book, and, indeed, we may say through the whole of the New Testament, are obliterated: the one, that the true servants of Christ are crowned with Him and share His sovereignty; the other, that the antagonism of the Prince of Darkness to the Prince of Light develops itself in the hellish parody of the heavenly kingdom” (Prof. Lightfoot, Revision of New Testament, p. 41). It is specially desirable that this thought should be kept before us in this passage, which proclaims that the kingdom and throne and power of the wicked one have passed away, and the hour has come when the victorious saints may sit down with Christ in His throne (Revelation 3:21).

PULPIT, “And the four and twenty elders. "The elders" represent the Church (see on Rev_4:4); they are those who were made "a kingdom" (Rev_1:6); they therefore fitly take up the burden of praise to him who has now established his universal and everlasting kingdom. Which sat

before God on their seats; which sit before God on their thrones (Revised Version). Thus they are described inRev_4:4. Fell upon their faces, and worshipped God. (So also in Rev_4:10; Rev_5:14; Rev_19:4.)

BURKITT, “This chapter concludes with a doxolgy and solemn thanksgiving in heaven, for the victory which Christ obtained over antichrist here on earth, that is, for the begun victory over him.

Here observe, 1. The persons rendering praises, the four and twenty elders; all the ministers of the church, say some; the whole church, say others, who are said to sit before God; denoting,

1. That they rest from their labours; they walked as pilgrims before, they sit now. Would we with

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, sit down in the kingdom of God in heaven? we must with Abraham walk before God in uprightness here on earth, Gen_17:5.

2. It denotes the honour and dignity unto which they were now advanced; as servants

they stood before, as friends they sit now: but upon this great occasion mark their humble gesture, their prostrations and adorations before God, They fell upon their faces and worshipped.

Observe, 2. The ground and occasion of it; what it is which they thus solemnly bless God for, namely, for Christ's victory over his enemies, for assuming to himself his great power, and universal dominion; and because the kingdoms of the world were now become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ.

For if there be joy in heaven at the conversion of one sinner unto Christ, what is there, suppose we, at the conversion of nations and kingdoms unto Christ: behold here the whole host of heaven, the church triumphant in the New Jerusalem, breaking forth into the highest praises for establishing the public exercise of religion in its purity, never more to be driven into corners, as it was twice before; first by Pagans, next by Pagan Christians.

Observe, 3. The doxology or thanksgiving itself, Lord God Almighty, we give thee thanks for this begun overthrow of Antichrist, which by thy almighty power thou wilt certainly carry on, being always the same, and as able to help thy church as ever, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

As if they had said, in the time of antichrist's full power, when thy church was under a bitter and bloody persecution, thy power seemed to be laid aside, and thou seemedst not to reign, having thy power obscured by his tyranny; but now thou showest thyself to be a ruler over all the world, both king of saints and king of nations.

Observe, 4. The indignation and wrath which the friends of antichrist express upon this

occasion, Rev_11:18. The nations were angry, that is, the idolatrous nations; they who formerly persecuted, do now fret because they are overcome; they gnash their teeth at the successful

progress of the gospel; and because thy wrath, that is, the time to execute thy wrath, is

come,upon all idolaters and false worshippers.

And the time of the dead, that they should be judged and rewarded: that is, the time is now come when those witnesses, which were civilly dead, and accounted as dead by the world, shall

revive again; or, the time of the dead, that is, of those that have been slain by Antichrist; the time is come that their blood shall be avenged, and all thy faithful servants and sufferers recompensed

and rewarded; particularly thy prophets, whose work being greater, such shall their reward be also.

And all that fear thy name, both small and great; that is, all true believers of a more private capacity, who have cleaved unto Christ's pure and undefiled religion, how obscure soever they have been in the world, none of these shall miss of a recompence, when God's time of rewarding is

come; and then he will destroy them which destroy the earth; that is, those bloody persecutors, who destroy the inhabitants of the earth by persecutions, or false doctrines.

Observe, 5. The great blessing which follows upon the downfall of antichrist, Rev_11:19. The

temple of God was opened; alluding to the frequent shutting up of the temple of Jerusalem by idolatrous princes, Ahaz, and others, when the ark, in which the law of God lay, was not seen; but Hezekiah and Josiah, those two reforming princes, opened the temple, and restored the true worship of Almighty God.

In like manner, during antichrist's reign, the temple of God was shut up, his true worship suppressed: but now, since antichrist's falling, the temple is opened, the ark seen, the pure word of God expounded, and a more than ordinary presence of God (of which the ark was a symbol) found in his church. Well might the church then, upon this happy occasion, triumphantly say, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

17

saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God

Almighty, the One who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power and

have begun to reign.

BARES, “Saying, We give thee thanks - We, as the representatives of the church, and as identified in our feelings with it (see the notes on Revelation 4:4), acknowledge thy goodness in tires delivering the church from all its troubles, and having conducted it through the times of fiery persecution, thus establishing it upon the earth. The language here used is an expression of their deep interest in the church, and of the fact that they felt themselves identified with it. They, as representatives of the church, would of course rejoice in its prosperity and final triumph.O Lord God Almighty - Referring to God all-powerful, because it was by his omnipotent arm alone that this great work had been I accomplished. Nothing else could have I defended the church in its many trials; nothing else could have established it upon the earth.

Which art, and wast, and art to come - The Eternal One, always the same. See the notes onRevelation 1:8. The reference here is to the fact that God, who had thus established his church on the earth, is unchanging. In all the revolutions which occur on the earth, he always remains the same. What he was in past times he is now; what he is now he always will be. The particular idea suggested here seems to be, that he had now shown this by having caused his church to triumph; that is, he had shown that he was the same God who had early promised that it should ultimately triumph; he had carried forward his glorious purposes without modifying or abandoning them amidst all the changes that had occurred in the world; and he had thus given the assurance that he would now remain the same, and that all his purposes in regard to his church would be accomplished. The fact that God remains always unchangeably the same is the sole reason why his church is safe, or why any individual member of it is kept and saved. Compare Malachi 3:6.

Because thou hast taken to thee thy great power - To wit, by setting up thy kingdom over all the earth. Before that it seemed as if he had relaxed that power, or had given the power to others. Satan had reigned on the earth. Disorder, anarchy, sin, rebellion, had prevailed. It seemed as if God had let the reins of government fall from his hand. Now he came forth as if to resume the dominion over the world, and to take the scepter into his own hand, and to exert his great power in keeping the nations in subjection. The setting up of his kingdom all over the world, and causing his laws

everywhere to be obeyed, will be among the highest demonstrations of divine power. Nothing can accomplish this but the power of God; when that power is exerted nothing can prevent its accomplishment.

And hast reigned - Prof. Stuart, “and shown thyself as king” - that is, “hast become king, or acted as a king.” The idea is, that he had now vindicated his regal power (Robinson, Lexicon) - that is, he had now set up his kingdom on the earth, and had truly begun to reign. One of the characteristics of the millennium - and indeed the main characteristic will be that God will be everywhere obeyed; for when that occurs all will be consummated that properly enters into the idea of the millennial kingdom.

CLARKE, “O Lord God Almighty, which art - This gives a proper view of God in his eternity; all times are here comprehended, the present, the past, and the future. This is the infinitude of God.Hast taken to thee - Thou hast exercised that power which thou ever hast; and thou hast broken the power of thy enemies, and exalted thy Church.

GILL, “Saying, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,.... The person addressed is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose the kingdoms are become, and who now reigns in great power and authority; he is Lord of all, and truly and properly God, and the Almighty, as his works of creation, preservation, redemption, raising himself from the dead, &c. declare; and each of these titles exceedingly well suit him, when his visible kingdom on earth will be so greatly enlarged:which art, and wast, and art to come: the everlasting, "I am", the unchangeable Jehovah: the phrase is expressive of the eternity and immutability; see Gill on Revelation 1:8; and it may be observed, whereas in this description of him it is said, "and art to come", this therefore does not belong to his personal, but to his spiritual reign; he will not be as yet come in person, to raise the dead, and judge the world, when these voices shall be in heaven, and these congratulations of the elders be made: the reason of their praise and thanksgiving follows,

because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned; power always belonged to him, as God; he always was the mighty God, and, as such, help for his people was laid upon him, he being mighty to save, and able to bear the government of them, laid on his shoulders; and, as Mediator, all power in heaven, and in earth, was given to him at his resurrection; and he had a name given him above every name, when exalted at the right hand of God, and was made, or declared, Lord and Christ; and from that time he has, in some measure, exerted his power and reigned: he endued his apostles with power from on high; and he went forth in the ministry of the Gospel conquering, and to conquer; and has ever since reigned in the hearts of his people; but now he will manifest and display his "great" power; he will show it more openly, and use it more extensively; his kingdom shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth; he shall be King over all the earth; his power has been seen in ages past, but now the "greatness" of his power will be made manifest; he has always had a kingdom on earth, but now the, "greatness" of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, will be his.

JAMISO, “17. thanks--for the answer to our prayers (Revelation 6:10,11)

in destroying them which destroy the earth (Revelation 11:18), thereby preparing the way for setting up the kingdom of Thyself and Thy saints.

and art to come--omitted in A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, CYPRIAN, and ANDREAS. The consummation having actually come, they do not address Him as they did when it was still future, "Thou that art to come." Compare Revelation 11:18, "is come." From the sounding of the seventh trumpet He is to His people JAH, the

ever present Lord, WHO IS, more peculiarly than JEHOVAH "who is, was, and is

to come."

taken to thee thy great power--"to Thee" is not in the Greek. Christ takes to Him the kingdom as His own of right.

COFFMA, “saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who

wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign.Who are and who wast ... Many have commented on the omission here of "and who is to come," as inRevelation 1:8. Why? "He has come!"[91]

And didst reign ... Note the past tense. The reign began long ago and continued throughout all the time between the two Advents of the Son of God. Indeed, the reign of God has never, for an instant, ceased since the beginning of time. Satan and evil men were used of God in the working out of his wise designs; but the sovereignty of the Father in heaven has never been even temporarily compromised by anything that ever occurred in the whole universe.

ENDNOTE:

[91] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 160.

ELLICOTT, “THE CHORUS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD.(17) Saying, We give thee thanks . . .—Better,

“We thank Thee, O Lord,

The God, the Almighty,

He that is, and He that was,

Because Thou hast taken Thy great power and didst reign.

And the nations were angry,

And then came Thine anger And the season of the dead to be judged,

And to give their rewards to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints,

And to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great,

And to destroy them that destroy the earth.”

On the expression “He that is and He that was,” comp, Revelation 1:8 and the Note there. We can catch the echo of the Second Psalm throughout this chorus of grateful praise. The prayers of the groaning Church (Revelation 5:10, and Luke 18:7-8) and the cries of travailing creation (Romans 8:19) have been heard; though the heathen raged and the people imagined a vain thing, their counsel against the Lord and His anointed, His Christ (compare Revelation 11:16), came to nought; the joy of their triumph was short-lived; the kingdom of evil was but for a moment; the kings were assembled, they passed by, they saw, they were troubled, they hasted away (Psalms 48:4-5); never did the real sovereignty of the Lord cease (Psalms 2:6); but the nations would not believe in His rule; they were not wise; they turned from the kiss of reconciliation, which was life (Psalms 2:10-12); then came His anger, and the season of judgment and the season of reward. The prophets, the saints, and those that fear God’s name, the small and the great— every class and rank of the true servants of the King are included here; none are forgotten; not a cup of cold water, given in His name, shall miss its reward; for not alone the pre-eminent in Christian power and in Christian holiness, but the weak, the struggling, the obscure, the small as well as the great, are remembered: “Unto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Zion” (Psalms 84:7; Prayer Book version). Nor is the gladness only for this blessing; there is a joy at the overthrow of those who destroy the earth. The reign of evil is the destruction of the earth. The judgments of God are in mercy to stay the

spread of destructive powers and principles. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel; the very judgments of God are merciful. (See Note on Revelation 8:2.)

But where, we may be disposed to ask, is the “woe” in all this? We are led to expect that the seventh trumpet as a woe trumpet will bring in some period of pain and trouble, as the others have done; but all we hear is the chorus of glad voices uttering praise: we see no token of woe. The answer is that we must not overlook all that this song of rejoicing implies. The chorus we hear is the thanksgiving to God that the hour has come for the overthrow of the kingdom of evil, the manifestation of the sons of God, and the acknowledgment throughout the world of the sovereignty of the Lord and of His Christ. The overthrow of that evil kingdom, which is now to take place, brings with it woo to those who have supported it; for the time of the judgment of the dead, and of those whose lives have marred God’s world, has come. It is, then, woe on all those who have misused God’s gifts and those beautiful things which He gave us liberally to enjoy. It is a woe on those who have defiled those bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Ghost, profaned the earth, which is God’s footstool, or darkened by their evil deeds the heaven, which is His throne. Those who thus defile (or, destroy: the word is so in the margin, and is the same as that which follows) God’s temple anywhere, God will destroy (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 3:17).

PULPIT, “Saying, We give thee thanks. The only instance in the Apocalypse of the use of this verb. It is found in Joh_6:11, Joh_6:23, and Joh_11:41, but in none of the ether Gospels, though frequently in the Epistles. "The elders" are peculiarly indebted to God, since the establishment of his kingdom is the victory of the Church. O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to

come;the Almighty. Omit "and art to come" (Revised Version), with à , A, B, C, P, Andreas, Arethas, Primasius, Syriac, Armenian, etc. (cf. Rev_1:4; Rev_4:8). Perhaps the future is purposely omitted, since God's "coming" is now an accomplished fact (cf. also Rev_16:5). Because thou hast

taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign (Revised Version). God never ceased to reign, though for a time he abrogated his power. This power he has now reassumed, and the elders thank him for it, for it is the assurance

of the end of the suffering of the Church of God. So in Rev_4:11 the elders declare that he is worthy to receive the power which he now visibly exercises. It has, indeed, been exercised before. The preservation of the Church set forth in the visions of the seals, and the punishment of the ungodly shown under the trumpet visions, are effected by means of this power; but now that power is visibly exercised.

18

The nations were angry; and your wrath has

come. The time has come for judging the dead,

and for rewarding your servants the prophets

and your saints and those who reverence your

name, both small and great-- and for

destroying those who destroy the earth."

BARES, “And the nations were angry - Were enraged against thee. This they had shown by their opposition to his laws; by persecuting his people; by slaying his witnesses; by all the attempts which they had made to destroy his authority on the earth. The reference here seems to be to the whole series of events preceding the final establishment of his kingdom on the earth; to all the efforts which had been made to throw off his government and to crush his church. At this period of glorious triumph it was natural to look back to those dark times when the “nations raged” (compare Psalm 2:1-3), and when the very existence of the church was in jeopardy.And thy wrath is come - That is, the time when thou wilt punish them for all that they have done in opposition to thee, and when the wicked shall be cut off. There will be, in the setting up of the kingdom of God, some manifestation of his wrath against the powers that opposed it; or something that will show his purpose to destroy his enemies, and to judge the wicked. The representations in this book lead us to suppose that the final establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth will be introduced or accompanied by commotions and wars which will end in the overthrow of the great powers that have opposed his reign, and by such awful calamities in those portions of the world as shall show that God has arisen in his strength to cut off his enemies, and to appear as the vindicator of his people. Compare the notes onRevelation 16:12-16; Revelation 20:1-15, and the meaning of the sacred writer will, therefore, come up for a more distinct and full examination when we consider that chapter. See the notes on Revelation 20:4-6,Revelation 20:12-15. The purpose of the writer does not require that a detailed statement of the order of the events referred to should be made here, for it would be better made when, after another line of illustration and of symbol Revelation 11:19; Matthew 25:34-40; Revelation 21:22. That is, in the final winding-up of human affairs, God will bestow the long-promised reward on those who have been his true friends. The wicked that annoyed and persecuted them will annoy and persecute them no more; and the righteous will be publicly acknowledged as the friends of God. For the manner in which this will be done, see the details in Revelation 10:11.

And to the saints - To all who are holy - under whatever dispensation, and in whatever land, and at whatever time, they may have lived. Then will be the time when, in a public manner, they will be recognized as belonging to the kingdom of God, and as being his true friends.

And them that fear thy name - Another way of designating his people, since religion consists in a profound veneration for God, Malachi 3:16; Job 1:1; Psalm 15:4; Psalm 22:23; Psalm 115:11; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 3:13; Proverbs 9:10; Isaiah 11:2; Acts 10:22, Acts 10:35.

Small and great - Young and old; low and high; poor and rich. The language is designed to comprehend all, of every class, who have a claim to be numbered among the friends of God, and it furnishes a plain intimation that people of all classes will be found at last among his true people. One of the glories of the true religion is, that, in bestowing its favors, it disregards all the artificial distinctions of society, and addresses man as man, welcoming all who are human beings to the blessings of life and salvation. This will be illustriously shown in the last period of the world‘s history, when the distinctions of wealth, and rank, and blood shall lose the importance which has been attributed to them, and when the honor of being a child of God shall have its true place. Compare Galatians 3:28.

And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth - That is, all who have, in their conquests, spread desolation over the earth and who have persecuted the righteous, and all who have done injustice and wrong to any class of people. Compare the notes on Revelation 20:13-15.

Here ends, as I suppose, the first series of visions referred to in the volume sealed with the seven seals,Revelation 5:1. At this point, where the division of the chapter should have been made, and which is properly marked in our common Bibles by the sign of the paragraph (),there commences a new series of visions, intended also, but in a different line, to extend down to the consummation of all things. The former series traces the history down mainly through the series of civil changes in the world, or the outward affairs which affect the destiny of the church; the latter - the portion still before us - embraces the same period with a more direct reference to the rise of antichrist, and the influence of that power in affecting the destiny of the Church. When that is completed Revelation

11:19; Revelation 1219, the way is preparedRevelation 2022 for the more full statement of the final triumph of the gospel, and the universal prevalence of religion, with which the book so appropriately closes. That portion of the book, therefore, refers to the same period as the one which has just been

considered under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the description of the final state of things would have immediately succeeded if it had not been necessary, by another series of visions, to trace more particularly the history of antichrist on the destiny of the church, and the way in which that great and fearful power would be finally overcome. See the Analysis of the Book, part 5. The way is then prepared for the description of the state of things which will exist when all the enemies of the church shall be subdued; when Christianity shall triumph; and when the predicted reign of God shall be set up on the earth, Revelation 2022.

CLARKE, “The nations were angry - Were enraged against thy Gospel, and determined to destroy it.Thy wrath is come - The time to avenge thy servants and to destroy all thy enemies.

The time of the dead, that they should be judged - The word κρινειν, to judge, is often used in the sense of to avenge. The dead, here, may mean those who were slain for the testimony of Jesus, and the judging is the avenging of their blood.

Give reward unto thy servants - Who have been faithful unto death.

The prophets - The faithful teachers in the Church, the saints - the Christians.

And them that fear thy name - All thy sincere followers.

Destroy them which destroy the earth - All the authors, fomenters, and encouragers of bloody wars.

GILL, “And the nations were angry,.... See Psalm 99:1, which the Septuagint render, the "Lord reigns, let the nations be angry". This refers not to the times of the dragon, or the Pagan Roman emperors, who were wroth with the woman, the church, and made war with her seed; but Rome Papal, and its Gentiles, are intended; these are the nations that antichrist reigns over: and it does not so much design their anger against Christ, and his people, expressed by their anathemas, excommunications, murders; and massacres, and bloody persecutions, which could not be cause of thanksgiving to the elders; but their anger and resentment at his power and reign, at having the outward court taken from them, said to be given them, Revelation 11:2; and at their loss of power, profit, pleasure, and plenty, through the fall of Babylon, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom; and though these things will make the Gentiles, the followers of antichrist, gnash their teeth, it will occasion joy and thanksgiving among the saints:and thy wrath is come: the time is come to make Babylon, or the Romish antichrist, to drink of the wine of the fierceness of divine wrath; as the time of the Lamb's wrath and vengeance upon Rome Pagan was come at the opening of the sixth seal, so the time of his wrath and vengeance on Rome Papal will be come at the sounding of the seventh trumpet:

and the time of the dead, that they should be judged; not the time of the wicked, who are dead in sins, while they live, and who die in their sins, not their time to be raised from the dead, in order to be judged, for they will not rise till after the thousand years are ended; nor the time of the dead in Christ, who will rise upon Christ's personal coming, at the beginning of the thousand years; but this trumpet respects not the personal coming of Christ to raise the dead, and judge the world, but his spiritual coming to reign in his churches, and judge their enemies: the time of those that were dead for Christ, whose blood had been shed in his cause, the time for the vindication of them, and avenging their blood, is now come; the souls of those under the altar had been a long time crying to God to avenge their blood on them that dwell on the earth; and now the time will be come, when God will judge his people, vindicate their cause; and when he, to whom vengeance belongs, will repay it, by pouring out the vials of his wrath on the antichristian party, by giving them blood to drink, because they are worthy; this judgment will issue in the fall and ruin both of the western and eastern antichrist.

And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants; not a reward of debt, but of grace; not the recompence of reward, or the reward of the inheritance in heaven; but some marks of honour

and respect; some measure of happiness, peace, and joy, which Christ of his rich grace will give to his ministers and churches, and all that love him in this glorious period of time; and who are distinguished in the following manner,

the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great: by the "prophets" are meant, not the prophets of the Old Testament, but the prophets of the New; and not those extraordinary persons, who are distinguished on the one hand from apostles and evangelists, and on the other from pastors and teachers, who had an extraordinary gift of interpreting the Scriptures, and of foretelling things to come; but the ministers of the word, the two prophets or witnesses, who had prophesied in sackcloth, but shall now be clothed with salvation: and by "the saints" are designed such as were set apart by God the Father from eternity, and whose sins are expiated by the blood of Christ, and who are internally sanctified by the, Spirit of God, and externally separated from the rest of mankind, and incorporated into a Gospel church state, and are in holy fellowship one with another: and they that "fear the name" of God are such as truly love and reverence him, and worship him in Spirit and in truth, but are not members of any particular church; who yet will be taken notice of by the Lord, and a book of remembrance be written for them; so the proselytes from among the Gentiles are distinguished from the Israelites by the same character; See Gill on Acts 13:16; or rather this is a general character of both ministers and churches, since to fear the name of the Lord is a phrase that includes all religious worship, internal and external. And now all these, "small and great", whether greater or lesser believers, whether men of larger or meaner gifts and abilities, will all have the same reward, enjoy the same church privileges, partake of the same ordinances, in the purity of them, have the same communion with God, and fellowship with Christ, and one another, and share in, the same common peace, and liberty, and security from enemies: the last thing taken notice of by these elders, as matter of thanksgiving, is the destruction of antichrist.

And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth; or "corrupt it"; meaning antichrist and his followers; who destroy the bodies, souls, and estates of men, and not only the inhabitants of the earth, but even the earth itself; for through that laziness and idleness which they spread wherever they come, a fruitful country is turned into barrenness; who corrupt the minds of men with false doctrine, idolatry, and superstition, and the bodies of women and men with all uncleanness and filthiness, with fornication, sodomy, &c. Revelation 19:2; and are the cause of their own destruction, and the destruction of others; which, upon the blowing of the seventh trumpet, will come swiftly and irrecoverably. Now will Babylon sink as a millstone into the sea, never to be seen more; both the western and eastern antichrists are intended; the former is called the son of perdition, because of his destroying others, and going into perdition himself; and the latter is called "Abaddon" and "Apollyon", which both signify a destroyer, 2 Thessalonians 1:4.

JAMISO, “18. the nations were angry--alluding to Psalms

99:1, Septuagint, "The Lord is become King: let the peoples become angry."

Their anger is combined with alarm (Exodus 15:14, 2 Kings 19:28, "thy rage

against Me is come up into Mine ears, I will put My hook in thy nose," &c.).

Translate, as the Greek is the same. "The nations were angered, and

Thy anger is come." How petty man's impotent anger,standing here side by side with that of the omnipotent God!dead . . . be judged--proving that this seventh trumpet is at the end of all things, when the judgment on Christ's foes and the reward of His saints, long prayed for by His saints, shall take place.

the prophets--as, for instance, the two prophesying witnesses (Revelation 11:3), and those who have showed them kindness for Christ's sake. Jesus shall come to effect by His presence that which we have looked for long, but vainly, in His absence, and by other means.

destroy them which destroy the earth--Retribution in kind (compare Revelation 16:6, Luke 19:27).

COFFMA, “And the nations were wroth, 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, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.These terse references are to what has already taken place, as clearly indicated by the consistent use of the past tense, the great fact of the execution of those events being here the theme of perpetual thanksgiving and praise in the presence of God. Angry nations, sin, Satan, and death no longer exist.

And the nations were wroth ... The universal anger of the unrepentant and rebellious world as their vaunted civilization, rotten to its foundations with the corruption of sin, disintegrates and falls to pieces, is here extolled in the song of the redeemed. The answer to man's wrath was the coming of God's wrath upon the world.

And thy wrath came ... Is this a fitting subject for the rejoicing of the saved in glory? Indeed it is. The great error of unregenerated people is that they cannot be angry with evil. Why? Because the natural, unregenerated man, is himself evil. We may therefore set aside the opinions of those who reject this song as not being in any sense a Christian conception.

Let there be no false pity for the unrepentant. The fond hope that God might give them one more chance after death is contrary both to Scripture and to reason .... How much do we really care that right should triumph and evil be defeated? Much of the sanctimonious reaction of our age to just retribution is only blindness, a lack of hatred for Satan and his works, and a lack of concern for the glory of God.[92]

"There is an appropriateness in God's tailoring the punishment to fit the crime."[93] Judgment and recompense are not contradictory to love, but a necessary aspect of it."[94] The current misunderstanding and misrepresentation of God's love make it to be an attitude that is not even worthy of a good citizen, much less, of the God of all creation.

And the time of the dead to be judged ... This is a reference to the judgment which concluded the sixth trumpet; and this statement particularly makes it mandatory to view the end of the sixth trumpet as the final Advent of Christ and the eternal judgment of the last day.

And the time to give their reward ... All of these clauses are in the past tense, due to "thy wrath came" at the head of the verse. Some have tried to establish this as the prophetic tense, in order to construe these events as future; but there is no evidence at all that such is the case. The necessity of seeing this as a reference to the final judgment is derived from passages like 2 Timothy 4:8ff.

To thy servants the prophets ... the saints ... them that fear thy name ... small ... great ... Notice that all of God's people are included in this. The supposition of Vitringa and others "who understand this as a reference to the dead martyrs who at this time are vindicated,"[95] is refuted by this comprehensive enumeration of all classes of people, the small, the great, etc., who all receive their reward simultaneously at the "last day."

And to destroy them that destroy the earth ... The wicked also shall receive their reward simultaneously with the reward of the righteous, but apparently, somewhat afterwards. Their reward, however, is destruction. "On the same day, all those who fear the Lord receive their reward, while the destroyers are destroyed."[96] This corresponds exactly with our Saviour's own descriptive revelation of the final judgment in Matthew 25:31ff.

[92] Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), pp. 107,108.

[93] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 231.

[94] Vernard Eller, op. cit.. p. 122.

[95] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 294.

[96] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 160.

PULPIT, “And the nations were angry (cf. Psa_2:1, which appears to be in the mind of the

seer, for Psa_2:9 of the same psalm is referred to in Rev_12:5). "The nations" raged in the period of their persecution of the Church, as set forth under the visions of the seals. They were angry, says Hengstenberg, at the progress of the kingdom of God, after the Word was made flesh. And thy

wrath is come; thy wrath came. This verse points conclusively to the judgment day, the events of which, however, as before remarked (see on Rev_11:15), are merely indicated, not fully described. This is the last final infliction upon the wicked, the seventh of the trumpet plagues. And the time of

the dead, that they should be judged; to be judged. Vitringa and others understand this judgment to refer to the dead martyrs who are now vindicated; but the meaning probably extends to all the dead, both classes of whom are referred to in the following part of the verse. And that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear

thy Name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth; and to give

their reward … and to destroy, etc. Though µικροὺς καὶ τοὺς µεγάλος , "the small and the great," is in the accusative ease, it is in apposition with the preceding datives,προφήταις

ἁγίοις , φοβουµένοις , "prophets, saints, those that fear." The wicked are those who "destroy the earth," since it is on their account that the world is destroyed; they "destroy the earth" also

by corrupting it, which is the force of διαφθεῖραι . In what way this destruction of the wicked is

accomplished we are not told.“

Romano Guardini writes, "The fear of God, means not only being disturbed by an

immediate sense of His tremendous power; it means an awareness of being

penetrated by His gaze, of standing under His holy, incorruptible judgement, of

being unable ever to withstand His scrutiny."

19

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and

within his temple was seen the ark of his

covenant. And there came flashes of lightning,

rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake

and a great hailstorm.

BARES, “Analysis of the Chapter 11:1912

This portion of the book commences, according to the view presented in the closing remarks on the last chapter, a new series of visions, designed more particularly to represent the internal condition of the church; the rise of antichrist, and the effect of the rise of that formidable power on the internal history of the church to the time of the overthrow of that power, and the triumphant establishment of

the kingdom of God. See the Analysis of the Book, part 5. The portion before us embraces the following particulars:

(1) A new vision of the temple of God as opened in heaven, disclosing the ark of the testimony, and attended with lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, Revelation 11:19. The view of the “temple,” and the “ark,” would naturally suggest a reference to the church, and would be an appropriate representation on the supposition that this vision related to the church. The attending circumstances of the lightnings, etc., were well suited to impress the mind with awe, and to leave the conviction that great and momentous events were about to be disclosed. I regard this verse, therefore, which should have been separated from the eleventh chapter and attached to the twelfth, as the introduction to a new series of visions, similar to what we have in the introduction of the previous series,Revelation 4:1. The vision was of the temple the symbol of the church - and it was “opened” so that John could see into its inmost part - even within the veil where the ark was - and could have a view of what most intimately pertained to it.

(2) arepresentation of the church, under the image of a woman about to give birth to a child, Revelation 12:1-2. A woman is seen, clothed, as it were, with the sun - emblem of majesty, truth, intelligence, and glory; she has the moon under her feet, as if she walked the heavens; she has on her head a glittering diadem of stars; she is about to become a mother. This seems to have been designed to represent the church as about to be increased, and as in that condition watched by a dragon - a mighty foe - ready to destroy its offspring, and thus compelled to flee into the wilderness for safety. Thus understood, the point of time referred to would be when the church was in a prosperous condition, and when it would be encountered by antichrist, represented here by the dragon, and compelled to flee into the wilderness; that is, the church for a time would be driven into obscurity, and be almost unknown. It is no uncommon thing, in the Scriptures, to compare the church with a beautiful woman. See the notes on Isaiah 1:8. The following remarks of Prof. Stuart (vol. 2:252), though he applies the subject in a manner very different from what I shall, seem to me accurately to express the general design of the symbol: “The daughter of Zion is a common personification of the church in the Old Testament; and in the writings of Paul, the same image is exhibited by the phrase, Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all; that is, of all Christians, Galatians 4:26. The main point before us is the illustration of that church, ancient or later, under the image of a woman. If the Canticles are to have a spiritual sense given to them, it is plain enough, of course, how familiar such an idea was to the Jews. Whether the woman thus exhibited as a symbol be represented as bride or mother depends, of course, on the nature of the case, and the relations and exigencies of any particular passage.”

(3) the dragon that stood ready to devour the child, Revelation 12:3-4. This represents some formidable enemy of the church, that was ready to persecute and destroy it. The real enemy here referred to is, undoubtedly, Satan, the great enemy of God and the church, but here it is Satan in the form of some fearful opponent of the church that would arise at a period when the church was prosperous, and when it was about to be enlarged. We are to look, therefore, for some fearful manifestation of this formidable power, having the characteristics here referred to, or some opposition to the church such as we may suppose Satan would originate, and by which the existence of the church might seem to be endangered.

(4) the fact that the child which the woman brought forth was caught up to heaven - symbolical of its real safety, and of its having the favor of God - a pledge that the ultimate prosperity of the church was certain, and that it was safe from real danger, Revelation 12:5.

(5) the fleeing of the woman into the wilderness, for the space of a thousand two hundred and threescore days, or 1260 years, Revelation 12:6. This act denotes the persecuted and obscure condition of the church during that time, and the period which would elapse before it would be delivered from this persecution, and restored to the place in the earth which it was designed to have.

(6) the war in heaven; a struggle between the mighty powers of heaven and the dragon, Revelation 12:7-9. Michael and his angels contend against the dragon, in behalf of the church, and finally prevail. The dragon is overcome, and is cast out, and all his angels with him; in other words, the great enemy of God and his church is overcome and subdued. This is evidently designed to be symbolical, and the meaning is, that a state of things would exist in regard to the church, which

would be well represented by supposing that such a scene should occur in heaven; that is, as if a war should exist there between the great enemy of God and the angels of light, and as if, being there vanquished, Satan should be cast down to the earth, and should there exert his malignant power in a warfare against the church. The general idea is, that his warfare would be primarily against heaven, as if he fought with the angels in the very presence of God, but that the form in which he would seem to prevail would be against the church, as if, being unsuccessful in his direct warfare against the angels of God, he was permitted, for a time, to enjoy the appearance of triumph in contending with the church.

(7) the shout of victory in view of the conquest, over the dragon, Revelation 12:10-12. A loud voice is heard in heaven, saying, that now the kingdom of God is come, and that the reign of God would be set up, for the dragon is cast down and overcome. The grand instrumentality in overcoming this foe was “the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony”; that is, the great doctrines of truth pertaining to the work of the Redeemer would be employed for this purpose, and it is proclaimed that the heavens and all that dwell therein had occasion to rejoice at the certainty that a victory would be ultimately obtained over this great enemy of God. Still, however, his influence was not wholly at an end, for he would yet rage for a brief period on the earth.

(8) the persecution of the woman, Revelation 12:13-15. She is constrained to fly, as on wings given her for that purpose, into the wilderness, where she is nourished for the time that the dragon is to exert his power - a “time, times, and half a time” - or for 1260 years. The dragon in rage pours out a flood of water, that he may cause her to be swept away by the flood: referring to the persecutions that would exist while the church was in the wilderness, and the efforts that would be made to destroy it entirely.

(9) the earth helps the woman, Revelation 12:16. That is, a state of things would exist as if, in such a case, the earth should open and swallow up the flood. The meaning is, that the church would not be swept away, but that there would be an interposition in its behalf, as if the earth should, in the case supposed, open its bosom, and swallow up the swelling waters.

(10) the dragon, still enraged, makes war with all that pertains to the woman, Revelation 12:17. Here we are told literally who are referred to by the “seed” of the woman. They are those who “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” Revelation 12:17; that is, the true church.

The chapter, therefore, may be regarded as a general vision of the persecutions that would rage against the church. It seemed to be about to increase and to spread over the world. Satan, always opposed to it, strives to prevent its extension. The conflict is represented as if in heaven, where war is waged between the celestial beings and Satan, and where, being overcome, Satan is cast down to the earth, and permitted to wage the war there. The church is persecuted; becomes obscure and almost unknown, but still is mysteriously sustained; and when most in danger of being wholly swallowed up, is kept as if a miracle were performed in its defense. The detail - the particular form in which the war would be waged - is drawn out in the following chapters.

And the temple of God was opened in heaven - The temple of God at Jerusalem was a pattern of the heavenly one, or of heaven, Hebrews 8:1-5. In that temple God was supposed to reside by the visible symbol of his presence - the Shekinah - in the holy of holies. See the notes on Hebrews 9:7. Thus God dwells in heaven, as in a holy temple, of which that on earth was the emblem. When it is said that that was “opened in heaven,” the meaning is, that John was permitted, as it were, to look into heaven, the abode of God, and to see him in his glory.

And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament - See the notes on Hebrews 9:4. That is, the very interior of heaven was laid open, and John was permitted to witness what was transacted in its obscurest recesses, and what were its most hidden mysteries. It will be remembered, as an illustration of the correctness of this view of the meaning of the verse, and of its proper place in the divisions of the book - assigning it as the opening verse of a new series of visions that in the first series of visions we have a statement remarkably similar to this, Revelation 4:1; “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven”; that is, there was, as it were, an opening made into heaven, so that John was permitted to look in and see what was occurring there. The same idea is expressed substantially here, by saying that the very interior of the sacred temple where God resides was “opened in heaven,” so that John was permitted to look in and see

what was transacted in his very presence. This, too, may go to confirm the idea suggested in the Analysis of the Book, part 5, that this portion of the Apocalypse refers rather to the internal affairs of the church, or the church itself - for of this the temple was the proper emblem. Then appropriately follows the series of visions describing, as in the former case, what was to occur in future times: this series referring to the internal affairs of the church, as the former did mainly to what would outwardly affect its form and condition.

And there were lightnings, H - Symbolic of the awful presence of God, and of his majesty and glory, as in the commencement of the first series of visions. See the notes on Revelation 4:5. The similarity of the symbols of the divine majesty in the two cases may also serve to confirm the supposition that this is the beginning of a new series of visions.

And an earthquake - Also a symbol of the divine majesty, and perhaps of the great convulsions that were to occur under this series of visions. Compare the notes on Revelation 6:12. Thus, in the sublime description of God in Psalm 18:7, “Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.” So in Exodus 19:18, “And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke - and the whole mount quaked greatly.” Compare Amos 8:8-9; Joel 2:10.

And great hail - Also an emblem of the presence and majesty of God, perhaps with the accompanying idea that he would overwhelm and punish his enemies. So in Psalm 18:13, “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.” So also Job 38:22-23;

“Hast thou entered into the treasures of snow?

Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail?

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble.

Against the day of battle and war?”

So in Psalm 105:32;

“He gave them hail for rain,

And flaming fire in their land.”

Compare Psalm 78:48; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 38:22.

CLARKE, “The temple of God was opened in heaven - The true worship of God was established and performed in the Christian Church; this is the true temple, that at Jerusalem being destroyed.And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail -These great commotions were intended to introduce the following vision; for the 12th chapter is properly a continuation of the 11th, and should be read in strict connection with it.

I Now come to a part of this book that is deemed of the greatest importance by the Protestant Church, but is peculiarly difficult and obscure. I have often acknowledged my own incapacity to illustrate these prophecies. I might have availed myself of the labors of others, but I know not who is right; or whether any of the writers on this book have hit the sense is more than I can assert, and more than I think. The illustration of the 12th, 13th, and 17th chapters, which I have referred to in the preface, drawn up and displayed with great industry and learning, I shall insert in its place, as by far the most probable I have yet seen; but I leave the learned author responsible for his own particular views of the subject.

GILL, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven,.... The temple at Jerusalem, to which the allusion is, was the place of public worship; this, in times of idolatry, was shut up, and fell to decay; and when there was a reformation its doors were opened, and that repaired; and to this the

reference seems to be; and the sense is, that at this time the pure worship of God will be restored, and there will be a free and uninterrupted exercise of it; the temple will be open to all; here everyone may come, and sit, and worship without fear; churches will now be formed according to the original plan, and primitive order and institution of them; and the laws of Christ concerning the admission, regulation, and exclusion of members, will be carefully and punctually observed; the ordinances of Christ will be kept, as they were first delivered, and be purged from all the corruptions introduced by Papists or retained by Protestants; the ordinance of the Lord's supper will be freed from the senseless notions of transubstantiation and consubstantiation, and from all vain and impertinent rites and ceremonies that attend it; and the ordinance of baptism will be administered, both as to mode and subject, according to the word of God, as well as be cleared from the superstitious rites of the sign of the cross, chrism, spittle, &c. in short, all external worship will be pure, plain, and evangelical: hence it appears, that by this temple is not meant the church triumphant, and the happiness of the saints in heaven, as becoming visible, not even the new Jerusalem church state, or the personal reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years; for in that state there will be no temple at all, nor will the saints then need the sun, or moon of Gospel ordinances, Revelation 21:22;and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: the ark was a chest, in which the covenant or tables of the law were put; upon it was the mercy seat, and over that the cherubim of glory, shadowing it; between which were the seat of the divine Majesty; this ark stood in the holy of holies, and was seen only by the high priest once a year, and was covered with a covering

vail, Numbers 4:5; it was wanting in the second templeF23

"And they took all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels of the ark of God, and the king's treasures, and carried them away into Babylon.' (1 Esdras 1:54)

"4 And open your hearts in his law and commandments, and send you peace, 5 And hear your prayers, and be at one with you, and never forsake you in time of trouble.' (2 Maccabees 1). ; to this the allusion is here; See Gill on Hebrews 9:4. Now in this spiritual Gospel church state, through the pure ministry of the word, and the faithful administration of ordinances, the mysteries of the Gospel, into which angels desire to look, signified by the cherubim over the mercy seat, will be clearly revealed to all Christians, Jews and Gentiles; particularly to the former, from whom they have been hid; the vail that is over their hearts will then be done away, when they shall be turned to the Lord; and indeed the vail which is overall people will then be removed; and those truths which have been so much obscured by antichrist will be clearly seen; and especially the Lord Jesus Christ, the antitype of the ark, in whom are hid the treasures of wisdom; by whom the law, and the two tables of it, are fulfilled; and in whom they are pure and perfect; and by whom the covenant of grace is ratified and confirmed; and in whom it is sure; and through whom God is propitious to his people, and grants them communion with him; he will be visibly held forth in the ministry of the word; and be seen in the glory of his person, and offices, and grace; who has been so long and greatly hid, and kept out of sight by Popish and Mahometan darkness;

and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail; which may be understood of the vials of God's wrath, that will be poured out upon the pope and Turk; which though mentioned last, will be first, and make way for this spiritual state; particularly the things here spoken of may be compared with what will be at the pouring out of the seventh vial, Revelation 16:18; or this may design the powerful "voices", and clear ministrations of the Gospel, and the efficacy of them at this time; which, like "thunders", will awaken the consciences of men, and, like "earthquakes", will make them shake and tremble, and cry out, what shall we do to be saved? and as "lightnings" illuminate their understandings, and give them a clear discerning of divine things; and as "hail" beat down all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and all errors, heresies, superstition, and will worship. Though I suspect, that these several things are expressive of the change and revolution that will be made after a time, in this happy and comfortable state; and that the cold, which generally attends an hail storm, represents that coldness and lukewarmness, into which the churches of Christ will again sink, expressed in the Laodicean church state, in which condition Christ will find them when he personally appears; so that the seven seals, with the seven trumpets, bring us exactly to the same period of time as the seven

JAMISO, “19. A similar solemn conclusion to that of the seventh seal, Revelation 8:5, and to that of the seventh vial, Revelation 16:18. Thus, it appears, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials, are not consecutive, but parallel, and ending in the same consummation. They present

the unfolding of God's plans for bringing about the grand end under three different aspects, mutually complementing each other.

the temple--the sanctuary or Holy place (Greek, "naos"), not the

whole temple (Greek, "hieron").opened in heaven--A and C read the article, "the temple of God "which is" in heaven, was opened."

the ark of his testament--or ". . . His covenant." As in the first verse the

earthly sanctuary wasmeasured, so here its heavenly antitype is laid open, and

the antitype above to the ark of the covenant in the Holiest Place below is seen, the pledge of God's faithfulness to His covenant in saving His people and punishing their and His enemies. Thus this forms a fit close to the series of trumpet judgments and an introduction to the episode (the twelfth and thirteen

chapters) as to His faithfulness to His Church. Here first His secret place, the heavenly sanctuary, is opened for the assurance of His people; and thence proceed His judgments in their behalf (Revelation 14:15,17, 15:5, 16:17), which the great company in heaven laud as "true and righteous." This then is parallel

to the scene at the heavenly altar, at the close of the seals and opening of the trumpets (Revelation 8:3), and at the close of the episode (the twelfth through fifteenth chapters) and opening of the vials (Revelation 15:7,8). opening of the chapter.

COFFMA, “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.And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven ... "Temple" here is a figure of speech; there is going to be no actual temple in heaven. It is used here as a symbol of the presence of God. SeeRevelation 21:22. "Only a glimpse of heaven is afforded here; the chief description is reserved for the final two chapters."[97]

And there was seen in his temple the ark of the covenant ... The symbolism teaches that what was once concealed will be opened in heaven. The ark of the covenant in the ancient tabernacle was located in the Holy of Holies; and only the high priest could ever see it, and even he could view it only one day in the year; but all will be made plain and open in heaven. Roberson thought that, "It is a fitting close (of this trumpet series) that the innermost sanctuary of God should be opened."[98]

Thunders ... earthquake ... and great hail ... These fittingly mark the close of the seventh trumpet vision, serving also to set off what follows as a separate vision. Certainly they do not denote any kind of judgment upon people. The time for that expired with Revelation 11:13.

In these verses (Revelation 11:15-19), we have the entire seventh trumpet. Here is revealed the glory and the blessedness that shall prevail after time has ceased, and after the final judgment.[99]

We are now (in Revelation 12) carried back to the beginning of the story of salvation. A new series of visions, or tableaux, portrays significant figures and episodes from the course of events outlined in Revelation 5-11.[100]SIZE>

We shall conclude this study of Revelation 11 with Hendriksen's summary of its finalRevelation 11:19:

Nothing remains hidden or concealed. The ark of the covenant so long hidden from view is now seen. That ark is the symbol of the superlatively real, intimate, and perfect fellowship with God and his people, a fellowship based on the atonement through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.[101]

[97] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 294.

[98] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 79.

[99] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 360.

[100] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 650.

[101] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 161.

ELLICOTT, “(19) And the temple of God . . .—Translate, And the temple of God was opened in the heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and a great hail. At the beginning of the chapter we noticed the distinction between the two words (naos and hieron) applied to the Temple; the Temple building proper (the naos) was measured off. Now this (naos) Temple is opened, yes, to its very inmost recesses; for not the holy place alone is disclosed, but the holiest, of all, the shrine of shrines, into which the high priest alone—and he only once a year—entered, is opened, as though anew the veil of the Temple had been rent in twain, and there the ark of the covenant of God is seen. The meaning of this, when read by the light of the measuring of the Temple, seems to be that now the secret abode of the safe-guarded children of God was revealed. In the hour of apostasies and worldliness the faithful had found their strength and protection in the shadow of the Almighty; they were regarded by God as His true living Temple, and in them He dwelt, as they, too, found their defence in Him. But now that the end has come there is no need that these should be hidden any more. The children of God, who are the Temple of God, are made manifest; and at the same time the secret spot of their shelter in troublous days is made plain, and in it is seen the token of that everlasting covenant which was the sheet-anchor of their hopes in the day of their trouble (Hebrews 6:19). The ark of God’s covenant is seen; the ark which contained the tables of the law, the rod of Aaron, and the manna is unveiled; and now is known whence they derived that hidden manna, that bread of heaven which strengthened their hearts in the days of temptation; now is known how it was that the rod of Christ’s power flourished and blossomed in spite of oft-repeated rejection; now, too, are known those high and holy principles by which the lives of the saints of God were ruled, even that law which the divine Spirit had written in their hearts (Hebrews 10:16, and 2 Corinthians 3:2). Then, too, with the ark of God’s covenant, is brought into view the mercy-seat, that throne of grace to which the weary and heavy-laden children of God had so often gone, and where they had never failed to receive grace to help in every time of need (Hebrews 4:16). The Temple of God was opened, and the secret springs of power which sustained the patience and faith of the saints are found to be in God. And out of the opened Temple, or round about it, as round the sacred peak of Sinai, the lightnings are seen and voices and thunders are heard: the tokens of that holy law which the power of the world had defied are made manifest; for God’s righteousness has not lost its strength, and that which is a power of help to those who seek their shelter in God becomes a power of destruction to those who turn from Him. The habitation of God is an open sanctuary to faith; it is a clouded and lightning-crowned Sinai to faithlessness. (Comp. Hebrews 12:18-24.) The spirit of evil, of selfishness, of luxuriousness, of profanity, which rejects its birthright, of better thoughts and holy things, leads to “the mount that burned with fire, and unto blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words;” the Spirit of God leads to “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in heaven.”

PULPIT, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven; and there was opened the temple of

God that is in heaven (Revised Version). "The temple" ( ναός ), the dwelling place of God (cf. Rev_11:1;Rev_3:12; Rev_7:15). Again, but a glimpse is afforded; and yet more is revealed than at the conclusion of the former series of visions; while the chief description is reserved to a later

part of the Revelation. And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; or, ark of his covenant. This seems to be introduced in order to render more emphatic the steadfastness and unchangeableness of God. As in the case of the witnesses, the figure is taken from the Old Testament, and the symbol would be pregnant with meaning to Jewish Christians and ethers who had learnt to think of the ark as the sacrament of God's abiding presence and continual help. He who now promises aid to his people, and threatens judgment upon the wicked, is the same God who formerly had displayed his power on behalf of his people Israel. And there were lightnings,

and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail; there followed (Revised Version). The usual token of any special manifestation of God's presence, or direct dealing with men (see on Rev_6:1).

This, then, forms the conclusion to the series of trumpet visions. These visions, evoked by the cry for vengeance in Rev_6:10, have demonstrated the need for patience and endurance on the part of Christians, by indicating the punishments meted out to the wicked on this earth and at the final judgment, together with the final triumph of the faithful. The seer next proceeds to elaborate a fact alluded to in the measuring of the temple in Rev_10:2, and to point the moral that it is possible for Christians within the Church to lose their final reward by their apostasy.