Here we will be looking at the two witnesses, found in the 11th chapter of Revelation, and we hope that as we look at these you will be able to put it all together, because we're still into what the scripture describes as the trumpets.
The two witnesses witness in sackcloth – this is strange, that they're in sackcloth, but we'll look at that and see what it has to say.
The 11th chapter brings a section to a close. One of the principles in understanding Bible prophecy is that God repeats and enlarges, so for instance, one section was through the seven churches, another section was the seven seals and we conclude with the seven trumpets. In chapter twelve we set the foundation for another section that talks about what will be happening right down at the close of time.
But here we are still dealing with the trumpets, and in the last study we looked at God's people and the commission that God has for them, and what you and I are to do as we prepare for the coming of the Lord.
The 11th chapter picks up on the conflict that's going on between God and Satan, between God's people and Satan's people, and the conflict that develops there, that's what we are going to be looking at in the 11th chapter. And the 11th chapter, like the 10th, is a kind of interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpets, that's where it fits.
Revelation 11:1 "And there was given to me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying. Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein."
John was given a measuring rod (measuring in prophecy refers to judgment) and he is told to go and measure the temple, the altar and the people that worship there. Notice that it's talking about God's people, what does this mean? Everybody that has ever claimed to belong to God has his name written in the Book of Life. But not all these people will go to heaven. Why not? Well, take Cain and Abel, they both claimed to belong to God. Abel was faithful and obedient; but Cain was disobedient, became a murderer and never repented. When Cain's name was looked at in the Book of Life, unconfessed sin was there and Cain's name was blotted out and his sins remained in the book of sin. He won't be in heaven. So on and on the process goes, judging the dead by the records of their life and whether or not they had unconfessed and unforsaken sins in their record. This grand judgment is taking place, and has been going on for some time. The Lord says, Measure the temple and the worshipers thereof.
Remember when you are walking the streets about your business, God is measuring you; when you are doing your household duties, when you are talking to others, God is measuring you. Remember that your words and actions are being recorded in the books of heaven.
On the basis of Zechariah's symbol of the man with a measuring line who measured Jerusalem as an assurance that the city would be rebuilt.
It may be suggested that the measuring of the temple and worshipers here is also a promise of restoration and preservation. Between the sixth and seventh seals is a parenthetical assurance that in spite of the terrors that attend the second coming of Christ, God has a people who will stand (see Revelation 7; Revelation 6:17). Similarly, the present parenthesis between the sixth and seventh trumpets may also be intended as a reassurance that in the midst of the horrors attendant on the blowing of the trumpets, God's temple, that is, the plan of redemption portrayed there and His true worshippers are secure.
Revelation 11:2 "But the court that is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot for forty and two months."
So here he says; measure the altar, measure the people, measure the temple, but leave out the court because it has been given to the Gentiles, when it refers to the Gentiles it's basically talking about people who are against God, who are contrary to the Lord, so this is why he says; Don't worry about the court, leave it out, he's making a statement here about what is to take place. This means that in this special judgment that happens before Jesus can come back for His people, the world, which is meant by the court, the Gentiles are not looked at. These are people who never even claimed to belong to God at all — they were just not interested. They are lost and will be judged later.
A little background on the court: In the temple of Herod, which John had known well, there was an inner court divided into the Court of the Women, the Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests. Beyond these was a great outer court, the Court of the Gentiles, a barrier, a "middle wall of partition":
In other words there was a division, the outer and inner courts, no Gentile was allowed to pass the barrier on pain of death. In view of the fact that the court mentioned here is "given unto the Gentiles," it would appear that John has this great outer court particularly in mind. The court has been regarded as representing this earth in contrast with "the temple of God" in heaven.
So he's telling us clearly that He has given a time to the Gentiles, and as you study God's word you find that there was also a time that was given to the Jewish people, which we read of in Daniel.
That was the time He gave to the Jewish people. But at the same time He has given a time to the Gentiles. And at the same time He has come to the place where you and I are living today, and we are living in what the Bible calls "the time of the end", that's where we are today.
The court of the temple in Jerusalem was where the Gentiles could come and go as they pleased, but they couldn't go further than that, you had to be part of Israel to go in beyond that point. You see, there comes a day when there will be a dividing line drawn clearly, and probation will close. And in these trumpets John can see to the end of time down at the end and he's trying to tell them; This is what is taking place, and here are God's people, they are being sealed, and here are those that are against God. That's what he's dealing with when it says:
And then what happens? Probation has closed and Christ comes.
So that's what happens, when that line is finally drawn. And God in His mercy and in His love, in His longsuffering, is slow to draw that line. But when it finally is drawn, that will be the end and He is going to come.
He said don't hurt my people, hold back until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. He's talking here to those four angels that are holding back the winds of strife, and he's saying; Don't let go, hang on until we have God's people sealed.
Revelation 11:3 "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, closed in sackcloth."
In Bible prophecy a day represents one year:
Here we have two witnesses, and this verse relates to the time of the Papal persecution upon God's church, the holy city shall they tread under foot, during their 1260 year reign. Now the Bible continues on to discuss the suffering of God's Word during the same time period that they would be prophesying in sackcloth.
So we see the ‘Two Witnesses' are ‘prophesying for 1260 day/years dressed in sackcloth'. These Two Witnesses represent the Holy Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments. They are in ‘sackcloth'. Why? Sackcloth is something people would wear when they were very sad or in mourning, and we see again the 1260-year period mentioned. The message of God's Holy Word is said to be sad and hidden at this time as millions of true believers died for their faith. Even to be caught with a Bible meant death. But the Bible still ‘prophesied', it still had ‘power'. Whenever people would got hold of the Bible and read it, or, even if they were given just a few verses written out by hand, they found the saving power of Jesus in it. It was the Bible that gave these people courage to live and die for Jesus' truth and it will do the same thing for us today.
This 1,260 years was going to be a terrible time – this was the time in history referred to as the "Dark Ages". People were denied the word of God. By 500 AD the Bible had been translated into 500 other languages. And then it just seemed that all of a sudden the curtain closed, and in a matter of 100 years there was only one translation remaining, and that was in Latin, and if you couldn't read Latin – sorry! And the people that could didn't have access to the word of God. So the Bible was basically taken away from people, and this became a time of darkness.
People that loved the Lord, loved the word of God, and desired to know the word of God, had taken it and produced hand-written copies of it so that they could keep it – those people found themselves having to flee from persecution. They were hunted, and so they had to flee to different places, and they went up into the mountains where they could worship as they pleased. You can walk through those very mountains and see where they lived. They lived there and tried to worship God, but even in those far out places they were still sought, and very many of them were killed – killed for their faith.
In fact, during that period of time, for about a thousand years, it's hard to describe how bad it was. The people were told that they were too ignorant to read the word of God. The Bible was taken from them, chained to library walls. Even if you had a Bible on you, you were subject to being put to death. In fact the Waldensian people, in order to spread the Word of God took little pages of the Bible and sewed them into their clothing, and if they found someone who was interested in the Bible they would undo their clothing, take out the Bible pages and read the word of God to them. It was horrible during that period of time.
John Wycliffe (1380 AD) was known as the Morning Star of the Reformation. He decided that he would translate the Bible into English for the people. He had to spend most of his life on the run, because they were seeking him to kill him. In fact when they finally arrested him, he died before they could burn him at the stake.
So when it says the two witnesses would be in sackcloth, this was a very hard period of time if you believed in God's word.
John Huss and Jerome – these men tried to serve the Lord, because they followed the writings of Wycliffe. John Huss was burned at the stake. His partner Jerome was taken and locked away in prison, and was kept in chains until the flesh on his body literally rotted, and he was finally burned at the stake.
Out of this period of time, in which these great men suffered so much, came Martin Luther, who nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg. And you find that things begin to change, and along came other men like John Calvin and Zwingli, and these men stood up and preached the word of God. And then finally the princes of Europe stood up and said; We are not going to do this any longer, we are going to follow the Bible and the dictates of our conscience; and the persecution began to drop off.
And then you reach 1798.
And the time of persecution came to an end. It stopped. But then something happened, because the scripture says: The Word of God became suppressed and God's people were martyred as the Papal persecution fell upon God's church. The holy city shall they tread under foot, during their 1260 year reign. So during this time of persecution they will be prophesying in sackcloth.
Revelation 11:4 "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth."
So it tells us that these two witnesses are two olive trees and two lampstands, standing before the God of the earth. Let's take a closer look at this.
So here are the two witnesses, it's talking about the olive trees and the lamp stands, so you have these two here.
Now notice carefully the answer, because the angel tells him something very definite here.
In other words, what he's telling them is that the authority is the word of God, and that what takes place is not by might or by power, but by the word of God, by God's Spirit, this is how it happens.
What is the Purpose of the Olive Trees and Lampstands?
It's vital that we understand this, because if we understand the purpose we'll see what is taking place here.
This is the picture – you have the two olive trees, the pipes run from them to the lampstands and the oil flows to the lampstands.
Now notice very carefully.
Now he's talking about the two witnesses, he said these are the two anointed ones. Now the original Hebrew of this verse sheds some very important light on this.
The Hebrew word "hayitshaar" means to produce light. So these are the two that produce light, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.
Now we should be able to put this together. We have oil, and oil is used throughout the scriptures, it's used for anointing, for instance when Samuel anointed David – so the oil is a type/symbol of the Holy Spirit. Also remember that on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples as tongues of fire. So it has both here.
So if you have oil and you have fire, what will you get? You're going to get light! That's what you had in the sanctuary, with the seven golden candlesticks, which the oil was placed in, and it produced light.
So he is saying that these two anointed ones, that produce light, they are my witnesses.
It's always amazing that when the word of God is being explained, particularly the question of salvation, that something can be seen happening in the eyes of some people – the light comes on – they see and understand – this is what it's talking about – the light that shines and illuminates darkness. That's why it says that God's word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path – it gives light and understanding, the word of God opens up and people can see things they've never understood before.
In other words, the light shone through the power of the Holy Spirit. It tells us that when it comes to God's word:
So the Holy Spirit is the one who gave to them the words of scripture. So when you and I read it, we see, we understand, it begins to open up, and it opens up more and more every day, we will never come to the place where we know it all, we will always be seeing new things that we never saw or understood before. That's because God's word is revealed by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to understand it, the deeper we want to go the deeper He will take us.
So the two witnesses that it's talking about here are the Old and New Testaments – God's word is the one that brings light. So the two witnesses that produce light are the word of God.
The very same energy that God used in creating the world is in the Bible. And so when you and I read it, it's not like any other book. When we read it, there's a power there that you don't find in any other place, a power that is capable of changing our hearts and mind – it is the two witnesses that God is talking about here.
Jesus said, concerning His word:
You see this is the witness, the Old and New Testaments, and he says this is what will judge us.
Now people may ask; what about someone who doesn't know? Well, you and I are judged by what we know. For us to know what God's word says, and not to follow it – that's wrong, but to the person who hasn't come that far yet, God understands that, and the person will be judged on that basis. But you and I must also be willing to be taught, and to learn, and to spend time in God's word.
Revelation 11:5 "And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must be in this manner killed."
So it makes it very clear that you don't want to hurt/harm these two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments.
Fire proceeds out of their mouth - Even though there are two witnesses they only have one mouth. The Old and New Testaments speak with only one mouth; they speak as one entire book. This is reminiscent of Elijah's judgment on the messengers of Ahaziah:
To those that wish to oppose, corrupt or pervert its testimony or even hinder its way will find their end in total destruction by the lake of fire. This the Bible bears witness/testimony of:
Revelation 11:6 "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."
Now there are many people that want to take this prophecy and say that those two witnesses represented Moses and Elijah. And the reason they say this is because Moses is the one who in Egypt turned the water into blood, and it was Elijah who prayed that it would not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three and a half years. And they take this and try to make this application to it.
For anything to be confirmed, for anything to be ratified, for anything to be established, it has to be done in the presence of two witnesses. Scripture will not accept, and God will not accept, the witness of one person. You must have two to substantiate it. So when it comes to this, he's asking for two witnesses, in other words the same power that Moses and Elijah used to establish what they did, that same power is to attend these two witnesses. It is not saying that Moses and Elijah are going to come back in person, that's not what it's talking about. It's saying that these two witnesses will have the same authority and power that the prophets of old had, like Moses and Elijah.
Did Moses and Elijah have any power of their own? No, they were human beings just like you and I, they had no more power than you and I have. But they did have the word of God. And they spoke whatever God instructed them to say, all they spoke was based on the word of God – that was the authority they used – the word of God.
Notice here in this verse that it says that it rain not in the days of their prophecy now often the Bible speaks of the early and latter rain in regards to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and during those years of persecution there was no rain (Holy Spirit) falling:
Revelation 11:7 "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."
Now we come to an amazing story in prophecy; we see the 2 witnesses ‘finishing' their testimony in sackcloth, for that is what the words in Greek really tell us. So we know that something happened to the Bible near the end of those 1260 years that ended in 1798. Did something happen then? Yes, it says a ‘Beast' comes out of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit refers to the wickedness and spiritual darkness of this world, so out of this wicked world comes a new ‘Beast'; a new ruling power. In 1793, the power of Atheism, calling itself ‘Communism' arose mainly in France and they passed a law outlawing the Bible. The Roman power had kept the Bible from the common people, but now this new power declared that the Bible was to be destroyed forever. ‘It was ‘killed'; in other words, it was to have no political influence at all. Let's look at this in a little more detail.
Finishing their testimony in sackcloth - This cannot be the end of the scriptures' testimony per se, as the Word of God liveth and abideth forever (1 Peter 1:23), so it must be a reference to the end of the period of their prophesying in sackcloth, which occurred around 1798 AD.
The beast - Greek "thērion", "the wild beast". Thus far John has mentioned no "beast" (thērion); (the "four beasts" of Revelation 4:6 are in heaven so not earthly). Yet the expression "the beast" seems to imply that the reader will understand which beast this is. Two interpretations of this symbol have been set forth.
As the Two Testaments or Witnesses are finishing their prophesying in sackcloth, a beast makes war against them, overcomes them and finally kills them.
The identifying marks for this beast are as follows:
1) This was to be a nation/kingdom as a beast is representative of such (Daniel 7:17,23).
2) This nation would be a new manifestation of something which had existed before - from the bottomless pit or "abussos" in the Greek, verse 7.
Bottomless pit is used 7 times in the book of Revelation, and as this book is a book of symbols it must be a symbolic term.
* It is used 3 times in chapter 9 to describe the source and inspiration of the symbolic locusts that are inspired by Satan to bring woe to the inhabitants of the earth under the fifth trumpet.
* Used once in Revelation 17:8 to describe the location or condition from which a beast emerges, after it, "is not", i.e. nonexistent, or dead. It is a place of death - the grave.
* Used 2 times in chapter 20 to describe the prison house of Satan during the millennium, when the earth is turned into a world-wide graveyard, or a place of death.
In Romans 10:7 the word "deep" (Greek "abussos") is used to describe the grave or place of death. And as we have studied before, Satan's movements are described as emerging from beneath whereas the things of God from above, see also James 3:15-17.
Thus, the nation to rise from the pit would be a new manifestation of something which had existed before. The resurrection of that which was:
3) It would rise around 1798 AD at the end of the 1,260-year period during which the witnesses prophesied in sackcloth, verses 3 and 7.
4) It would attack the Bible - Revelation's two witnesses, verse 7.
5) It would manifest a disbelief in the true God - like Egypt, verse 8.
6) It would manifest great immorality - like Sodom, verse 8.
7) It would be located where Christ, in the person of His saints, suffered terribly, verse 8.
8) It was part of spiritual Babylon - that great city, verse 8.
9) It would be involved in a great political upheaval - great earthquake, verse 13.
We will now see how this prophecy has received a most exact and striking fulfillment in the history of France:
1) France is a nation.
2) France manifested the same God defying spirit that was seen in the kingdom of Egypt (Exodus 5:2), the king of the south. This then is a resurrection of the God-defying spirit of atheism direct from a satanic origin.
3) The French Revolution occurred around in the late 1700s as the 1,260-year period of Papal supremacy was coming to an end.
4) France attacked the Bible. The French Convention dressed an ass...loaded it with the symbols of Christianity and tied the Old and New Testaments to its tail. It was then led in mock procession...The crowd piled books of devotion into heaps and burned them to ashes, amid blasphemous shouts...A prostitute was enthroned as "Goddess of Reason".
5)
This is an echo of Pharaoh's disbelief in God:
Notice though, that this atheistic condition was produced by Papalism; In the sixteenth century the Reformation, presenting an open Bible to the people, had sought admission to all the countries of Europe. Some nations welcomed it with gladness, as a messenger of Heaven. In other lands the papacy succeeded to a great extent in preventing its entrance; and the light of Bible knowledge, with its elevating influences, was almost wholly excluded. In one country, though the light found entrance, it was not comprehended by the darkness. For centuries, truth and error struggled for the mastery. At last the evil triumphed, and the truth of Heaven was thrust out.
The nation was left to reap the results of the course which she had chosen. The restraint of God's Spirit was removed from a people that had despised the gift of His grace. Evil was permitted to come to maturity. And the entire world saw the fruit of willful rejection of the light.
The war against the Bible, carried forward for so many centuries in France, culminated in the scenes of the Revolution. That terrible out breaking was but the legitimate result of Rome's suppression of the Scriptures. It presented the most striking illustration which the world has ever witnessed of the working out of the papal policy; an illustration of the results to which for more than a thousand years the teaching of the Roman Church had been tending.
6) In the Revolution the institution of marriage was made a mockery and great immorality took place. Just like the licentious Sodom (Genesis 13:13; 19:4-11, Jude 7).
7) In France Christ had been crucified in the person of His witness in events such as the papal inspired St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Notice how the Scriptures show how Christ can be crucified again:
Saul, the Jewish Pharisee, terribly persecuted the early church. When Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus He introduced Himself by saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 26:14). So we can see that whatever is done to Christ's followers He accepts as being done to Himself. Christ was "crucified" in the person of His witnesses in the nation of France. This specification of the prophecy was also fulfilled by France in the scenes of the Revolution. Jesus Christ was declared to be an impostor, and the rallying cry of the French infidels was, "Crush the Wretch," meaning Christ. Heaven-daring blasphemy and abominable wickedness went hand in hand, and the basest of men, the most abandoned monsters of cruelty and vice, were most highly exalted. In all this, supreme homage was paid to Satan; while Christ, in His characteristics of truth, purity, and unselfish love, was crucified. France was part of spiritual Babylon. France had been the first of the ten nations, into which the Roman Empire divided, to support the papacy. France was known as the eldest daughter of the church. Revelation is a book of two cities:
1. Jerusalem - representing the church of God There are only three cities that are called "great" in Scripture:
1. Gibeon - once, Joshua 10:2. The great city of this text is said to have the spirit of Sodom & Egypt. It cannot therefore refer to Jerusalem. It undoubtedly refers to Babylon the Great, the apostate system of religion centered in the Papacy. The witnesses were not to lay dead in the city in general but "in the street of the great city." "The street" must refer to some part but not the whole of spiritual Babylon, thus showing that France has been an effective part for the Papacy. The French Revolution was a political upheaval that changed the world and the effects remain with us even today. The bottomless pit - The term for "bottomless pit" comes from the Greek word "abussos", which means deep, bottomless and profound. As we have seen the bottomless pit refers to the wickedness and spiritual darkness of this world, so this is the same bottomless pit that we learned about in our study on Revelation 9, where it talks about the star falling from heaven and being given the key to a bottomless pit. In the Greek it is also applied to the original state of the earth in Genesis 1:2, where the earth was "without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." A good description of this is found in Jeremiah 4:
These verses clearly refer to the end of time after the second coming of Christ, but we are looking only at the description of the earth not the time frame. The description given is one of a desolate wasteland, thus these apostate leaders have the key to open the desolate wasteland, as in Revelation 9. Shall overcome them and kill them - That is, attempt to destroy the Word of God. A reference to the manner in which France made war on religion. Revelation 11:8 "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." What city is here shown to us? The Bible says 3 things; Sodom, Egypt, and where Jesus was crucified. But these are symbols here; Sodom meant the wicked and dirty way they lived when they also ruled to have no proper marriage anymore, Egypt was where Pharaoh declared he ‘knew not God', and France now declared the same thing; and Jesus was crucified symbolically, when His people were slain in France in the St. Bartholomew's Massacre years before. The city? It was Paris, France. There happened the most terrible events; they are known as the ‘Reign of Terror'. People were killed by having their heads chopped off by a machine called a Guillotine. So many people were killed that blood flowed down the streets and colored the waters of the river red. When people refuse the Bible and the authority of God's holy Law, it doesn't take long until terrible things happen. Why? Because when we refuse to obey God, Satan forces us to do his will, there is no other choice.
January 21, 1793. They turned against religion. You see the two witnesses were thrown out, thrown in the street, they were gathered up and burned, in France. They turned against the Bible, they burned it in piles, and they took a woman, put her on a cart, and paraded her through the streets of Paris, and worshipped her as the Goddess of Reason.
And so you find that this beast that rose out of the bottomless pit turned on the word of God and killed the two witnesses. It's very important that you understand that when it says "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt", it's not talking about the literal cities of Sodom and Egypt, rather it's making an application spiritually, and likewise to the place where Christ was crucified – it's being used in a symbolic form. So what does it mean? You remember that the children of Israel were in Egypt, and Moses went in and told Pharaoh; let my people go. So you find that Egypt basically represented atheism, they went against God. Pharaoh said; I don't know the LORD, who is he? And he wouldn't let Israel go. Sodom, you remember, was destroyed because of its terrible morals, because it had lost its morality, and it was destroyed for that reason. You see when France passed the decree to get rid of the Bible, and they threw the Bible out, they lost anything by which they could have a standard, and the morals in France dropped clear to the bottom. It's impossible to describe how horrible it was during that period of time, when the whole country lost its morals. That's the reason the Bible refers to it as Sodom.
2. Babylon - representing false religion
2. Nineveh - 4 times, Jonah 1:2; 3:2, 3, 11.
3. Babylon - 10 times, Daniel 4:30, Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 16, 18-19, 21.
The Reign of Terror
When France gave up the Bible, and threw it out, if you believed in God, they would take you and Guillotine you – you could not believe in God and live. And they did that to all the religions, it didn't matter whether you were Protestant or Catholic, you were guillotined for believing in the Bible and God. People died by the untold thousands – so many that blood ran down the gutters of the streets of Paris, from the number of people that they Guillotined.
That's why it says "and where also our Lord was crucified", because Jesus says when you did it to these people, you did it to me.
258 years after France had played its part in persecuting the Reformers, the king of France was beheaded.
This was the time of the reign of terror that took place.
Revelation 11:9 "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."
The Bible was ruled out of France and it was to lay there for three and a half days/years.
The other nations saw the terrible events that happened when France by a decree of her government passed a law doing away with the Bible and all religion and belief in God. For exactly 3½ years, as the prophecy says, this went on. Wicked people celebrated, but soon terror took the place of merry-making. No one knew when his head would be the next to come off. Exactly 3½ years later, that same government passed a law putting the Bible and belief in God back in their rightful place. All thinking people who saw the events that had happened were made fearful of ever doing such a wicked thing again. After this time the Bible was held in greater reverence (at least by the Protestant nations), than ever before.
People and kindreds - other nations. These would observe the war on the Bible that was taking place in France.
Their dead bodies three days and a half - In harmony with the principle of prophetic interpretation, one day in Bible prophecy equals one year, thus we have a time period of three and a half years in which the Bible was to be put to death. The Papacy suppressed and obscured the Bible but France killed it.
Thus making 3½ years just as the Bible predicted.
Not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves:
Revelation 11:10 "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."
When France took the stand and established the "age of reason", other nations wrote to them, congratulating them, and said how wonderful and brilliant they were, while their whole morals were falling to the floor and they were losing their whole nation at the same time. So other nations were ready to jump on the bandwagon instead of standing up for what is right and what is truth. But it goes on to say that...
Revelation 11:11 "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them."
After three and a half days/years the two witnesses stood on their feet. In other words, the two witnesses, the Old and New Testaments that France had thrown out were going to come back. That is, at the end of the period during which the witnesses' bodies lie unburied and exposed to public view.
As we have seen already, the decree that went forth to completely suppress the Scriptures was overturned just three and a half years later. The guilty conscience which had tormented the wicked returned "and great fear fell upon them".
Spirit of life - That is, the Spirit that is life. The Greek phrase here employed is used in the LXX to translate the Hebrew "ruach chayyim", "breath of life" (Genesis 6:17; 7:15). The Hebrews virtually equated breath with life. Consequently, to say that the breath of life entered into a man was to say that he received life (Genesis 2:7).
From God - God, the Giver of all life, raises His faithful witnesses.
Stood upon their feet - Compare 2 Kings 13:21; Ezekiel 37:10.
Great fear fell - A guilty conscience, which had tormented the wicked during the time of the prophecy of the two witnesses once more, asserts itself. Those who had rejoiced over the death of the witnesses now stand aghast as they behold the miracle of the resurrection of these witnesses.
Revelation 11:12 "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
Voice from heaven - The speaker is not identified, but presumably this is God.
Come up hither - Not only are the witnesses resurrected by God; they are bidden to enter heaven. Thus while "their enemies" behold "them" they are completely vindicated from the outrages they had suffered, and the truth of the prophecy they had faithfully proclaimed for 1,260 days is demonstrated to all. The voice of God Himself has welcomed them to heaven, before the very eyes of those who had sought to destroy them.
This exaltation of the witnesses has been understood as symbolizing the remarkable popularity that the Scriptures have enjoyed since the early 19th century. Soon after the French Revolution various national Bible societies were established. Particularly notable among these were the British and Foreign Bible Society, founded in 1804, and the American Bible Society, organized in 1816. These societies, with others, have circulated Scripture portions in more than 1,500 languages. Thus in the last century and a half, the Bible, rather than being relegated to oblivion as a spiritual guide, has come to enjoy its widest circulation.
Ascended up to heaven - As Jesus bade His disciples farewell, a cloud "received him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). So also the two witnesses are carried to heaven in a cloud. The figure fittingly describes the exaltation of the Scriptures in the period following their suppression in France.
Looking at Daniel 4:22 we gain an understanding of the expression: "Thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven". Here the expression signifies great exaltation. Have the Scriptures attained to such a state of exaltation as here indicated, since France made war upon them? Indeed they have.
Since that period, the Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages and scattered in the hundreds of millions world-wide.
The Bible has risen to be respected by almost every one, whether saint or sinner. No other book approaches it in cheapness or number of copies sold. The world has never seen any other book, which approaches the Bible in these respects. It is exalted as above all price and, besides the Son Himself, it is the most invaluable blessing of God to man.
Yes, the Scriptures may truly be said to be exalted "to heaven in a cloud," a cloud being an emblem of heavenly elevation.
After the French Revolution the Bible not only rose to its feet, but it arose to new heights of worldwide distribution. Revelation's two witnesses have indeed "ascended up to heaven".
The prophetic word is certain. Now notice what happens.
After 3½ years had passed they decided they could handle it no more, things were so bad they could not take it anymore, and therefore this is what happened.
On November 26th 1793 – they voted to do away with religion. It says the two witnesses, the Old and the New Testaments, would lie dead in the street for 3½ days / years (each day represents a year). Now see the amazing accuracy of this book. At the end of 3 years France was in shambles, things were so bad that the Assembly decided that they had better institute religion again, but for some reason, and there is no accountable reason for this, they tabled it. They tabled it and it lay there for 6 months. The scriptures said 3½ years, it didn't say 3 years, it said 3½ years, and it lay there on the table for 6 months and at the end of the 6 months they voted it in.
November 26th 1793 – they voted to do away with religion.
3½ years later, June 17th 1797, they voted religion back in.
It says that after that, after it had been brought back into France, all of a sudden these two witnesses received life. All of a sudden the word of God came to life. You have the British Bible Society being formed, followed by the American Bible Society.
• British Bible Society 1804
• 1804 American Bible Society 1816
All around the world the word of God starts to come back to life. Exactly as the Bible said it would, it came back to life. The word of God stood.
At this same time, many missionaries are carrying the word of God all over the earth:
• Judson goes to Burma
• Carey goes to India
• Morrison goes to China
• Moffat and Livingston go to Africa
At the same time, you have coming out of this "age of reason" the writings of Thomas Paine, you have teachings such as the Theory of Evolution, also new morality – all these things are springing up at the same time, and these are in opposition to one another, and will remain that way until Jesus comes. And many of the things that you and I face today are because of those teachings. Unfortunately our education systems are full of Evolution, and students are taught it and come out not believing in God. And yet this is a conflict that is happening because of that time – that's when you had Darwin and other men teaching things contrary to the word of God.
So you and I need to be clear where we are concerning the word of God, we need to study it, be settled and unmovable in it.
This is what is taking place, this is the time that we are living in. And that's why it talks about the two witnesses, it's to help you and I understand where we are in the stream of time, because it's right after this that the 7th trumpet is sounded, in which God sets up His kingdom.
That will then bring the whole part of the trumpets to a close. The Bible will then begin to pick up a new scenario, dealing in a very specific way right down here at the end of time. But now let's look at verse 13...
Revelation 11:13 "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."
What about the Earthquake? And the "tenth part of the city fell"? Well, France was a "tenth" part of Europe and the "earthquake", a symbolic one, referred to the terrible French Revolution. Like a real earthquake, it shook people up. "and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand". France made war, in her revolution of 1789-98 and onward, on all titles of nobility. It is said, by those who have examined the French records, that actually there were seven thousand hereditary titles of men, abolished in that revolution.
Same hour - That is, almost immediately after the ascension of the witnesses.
A great earthquake - The symbol of an earthquake is used repeatedly in Scripture to portray the turmoil and upheaval that characterize the world immediately preceding the second advent (Mark 13:8; Revelation 16:18) Applying the prophecy to France, commentators see in the earthquake a picture of the upheaval that shook the nation toward the close of the 18th century.
The cause of this great upheaval/Revolution in France was the following; Rome secured the flight of the Protestants out of France, but the Protestants carried with them the intelligence, the arts, the industry and the order. Flourishing manufacturing cities fell into decay; fertile districts returned to their native wildness; intellectual dullness and moral declension succeeded a period of unwonted progress. The wealthy oppressed the poor and the poor hated the rich. The courts of justice were corrupt and the middle to lower classes were heavily taxed to support a system of corruption on the part of the government and the clergy, which the both were flourishing in their wealth.
But what Rome had purposed, holding the masses in a blind submission to her dogmas, only served for creating a mass of infidels and revolutionists. Romanism was despised as priest craft and the clergy as a party to their oppression. As masses lived in hunger priests and rulers basked in wealth and opulence. The outworking of all the above was the revolution.
This was a most momentous upheaval that not only effected France but the whole world.
The French Revolution was one of the momentous events in the history, not only of France, but of Europe and even the whole world.
The tenth part of the city fell - A tenth part of Babylon the Great/the Papal Roman power fell. France is one of the ten horns that arose out of the divided Western Roman Empire and gave its allegiance to the papal power. Now she falls in a political and religious upheaval.
Tenth part - This is not the final earthquake, for only a fraction of the city falls at this time (Revelation 16:18). This earthquake signifies a temporary judgment that frightens into submission some of those who have gloried in the death of the witnesses. Some apply the expression "tenth part of the city" to the entire nation of France on the basis that France was one of the "ten kings" to arise from the fallen Roman Empire (Daniel 7:24). Others identify the city as papal Rome and France as one of its ten divisions.
Slain of men seven thousand - Greek "onomata anthrōpōn", literally, "names of men". Some take the word "onomata", "names", here in the sense of "persons" (see Acts 3:16). Others apply "onomata" to titles, offices or orders that were suppressed during the French Revolution. Because of this great upheaval it is said that there were seven thousand men slain, or names of men. Seven is a symbol of completeness thus there is a complete slaying of the names of men, undoubtedly the titles of men.
Notice this quote:
Remnant were affrighted:
One thing that should be noted here, at the end of our study, is that the French Revolution has been identified as the birthplace of the modern communist movement:
The God of heaven - This title occurs frequently in Daniel (see Daniel 2:18-19, 37, 44, cf. Ezra 5:11-12; 6:9; 7:12).
Revelation 11:14 "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."
The second woe was the judgments under the sixth trumpet. The third woe is the events portrayed under the seventh trumpet (verse 15-19), the second coming of Jesus. We will see that this final woe takes us from the commencement of the judgment in 1844 through to the second coming of Christ and the end of the 1000 years.
Revelation 11:15 "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 forever and ever."
When the seventh angel sounded; this marked the beginning of the third woe. We need to remember that under the seventh angel the mystery of God is to be finished, the gospel is to be concluded, salvation is to come to its end, probation will close and God's wrath will be poured out in the form of the seven last plagues.
These great voices were probably those of the heavenly hosts. (Revelation 5:11-12) Similarly, in the seventh plague a great voice is heard from the temple in heaven. (Revelation 16:17)
The Kingdoms of this world are become - Textual evidence attests the reading "kingdom". Christ receives the kingdom a short time prior to His return to this earth. (see Daniel 7:14) At the time of His coming all earthly opposition is crushed. The kingdoms of this world have been usurped by Satan, he claims them as his very own which is illustrated by the offering of them to Christ, "all these things will I give thee" (Matthew 4:8-9).
In some of the parables of Jesus we see more about this. In one He says He goes away to receive a kingdom (Luke 19:12), in another He goes into the Marriage (Matthew 25:1- 13), in another the King (Heavenly Father) makes a marriage for His Son (Matthew 22:1-14). Did you know that most of Jesus' parables are also prophecies? They give us clues to understand the prophets. As we read this Woe, it sounds like Jesus is reigning through the whole thing, but this is a process that is happening now. The books are opened; the lives of all the people who have ever claimed to belong to God in the past are examined.
They are not there in person, but their records are all there in detail and the angels are the eye-witnesses. For those who claimed belief in the Redeemer and remained faithful, Jesus represents them before the Father. Those who did not remain faithful or who claimed to be God's people while following their own ways have no one to represent them. They are blotted out of the Book of Life. We are living in the time of the 7th Trumpet, when Jesus is receiving His kingdom. Soon the process will be finished and He'll come to take His people home.
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 show to us that Christ receives His kingdom in the heavenly judgment which began in 1844 and comes to its completion at the close of probation (the finishing of the mystery of God, the work of the gospel and the offer of salvation), when He has completed the work of making up His subjects for that kingdom. For, remember that Christ said, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21), thus Christ's kingdom is not complete until His subjects are made up which will be when the mystery of God is finished.
His Christ - that is, His Anointed (see Psalms 2:2). The hosts of heaven who themselves have not received salvation through Christ refer to Him as "his [God's] Christ", Christ the One anointed for the work of redemption, God's only begotten Son.
Christ comes back the second time as King of kings and Lord of lords to reign forever and ever (Revelation 19:16), it is then that He begins to reign for ever and ever throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. But we must not forget the physical establishment of that kingdom is upon this earth at the end of the 1000 years (Revelation 20:7, 9; 21:1-2), and so Christ ultimately will reign for ever and ever at this time. A kingdom that will destroy all others, fill the whole earth and that which is without end (Daniel 2:34-35, 44; 7:14, 27; Luke 1:33).
Revelation 11:16-17 "16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 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."
The Elders are happy that this "Time" has finally come. Why are they so happy about this? Because this is the time that Jesus is in the process of receiving His Kingdom.
We looked at the four and twenty elders when we studied Revelation 4. Now we see them fall on their faces because this reign will bring an end to sin and its originator, Satan, but will also commence the full restoration of this earth. For 6000 years they have seen the destructive and heart wrenching effects of sin and, therefore, what rejoicing it will bring to the heavenly inhabitants to know and see the kingdoms of this world become Christ's forever.
God takes to Himself His great power and crushes out the rebellion of this earth and the reign of Satan. Christ is established upon the throne and reigns supreme throughout eternity.
Revelation 11:18 "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, 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."
The Nations were angry - The Greek word used here for nation is "ethnos", which also carries with it the meaning of Gentile and heathen as translated elsewhere in the New Testament. Compare Psalms 2:1. Such will be the condition of the nations prior to the coming of Christ. They will band together to oppose the work and people of Christ. So why are the nations of the unsaved/heathen angry?
We see that this "woe" contains something that makes the nations angry; what would do that? In the first two "woes" we see the forces of Islam striking suddenly without warning and in the 2nd woe they had explosives and were led by their "heads and their tails" (see chapter 9).
These verses show us; the dead are being judged—the saints and prophets are honored by their names being kept in the Book of Life as part of Jesus' Kingdom. Think of the hundreds of thousands of people tortured to death and massacred in the Dark Ages. They are placed in the list to receive their reward — eternal life with Jesus. But what about those who killed them? What about those haughty church leaders who pretended to be God's agents? This is when the hidden things of darkness are made plain. Evil men have done many horrible deeds and they thought because the people who knew about it were all killed, that nobody could find out what they had really done.
But this Woe is the time when ALL the records are opened on those who have pretended to be Christians and their wicked deeds are all written there, all those that have turned from God and implemented terrible persecution and cruelty on Gods people the ‘watcher and the Holy One' who wrote on Belshazzar's wall knows who they are. And it is all coming out in the Investigative Judgment. Indeed it is a Woe on all who have done evil, while professing to belong to God. Nothing is overlooked; not even one little child who loved Jesus and was killed by wicked people is forgotten. All the true and faithful will receive reward and all the false will be blotted from the Book of Life.
Revelation 11:19 "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."
And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven' and there was seen the "Ark of His Testament". What is this?
It's in regards to the true Sabbath and the three Angels messages (Revelation 14). As the Judgment goes to the living, these things will be preached with a "Loud Cry". At that time people will choose to obey God and be sealed for His kingdom or they will obey man's laws and honour Rome and accept the Mark of the Beast, and so be blotted out of the Book of Life.
The temple - There is opened before John a view of God's heavenly temple, with "the ark of his testament" the focal point of the vision. Now, in the typical sanctuary, which was a "copy of the true one" (Hebrews 9:24) in heaven, the ark was in the Most Holy place, which was the center of the service of the Day of Atonement as a typical day of judgment. It is in connection with the beginning of the seventh trumpet that John sees the temple in heaven and very particularly "the ark of his testament". This indicates that the second and last division of Christ's heavenly ministry answering to the typical Day of Atonement has opened. Other scriptures reveal that this final phase of Christ's work began in 1844 (see Daniel 8:14). Accordingly, this places the beginning of the seventh trumpet in that year.
Ark of his testament - The ark in the typical sanctuary was the depository of the Ten Commandments, God's immutable moral law for all men in all ages. No believer in God in Jewish times could think of the ark without becoming immediately conscious of the Ten Commandments. John's vision of the ark above argues eloquently that in earth's last hours God's great moral law is to be central in the thinking and in the lives of all who seek to serve God in spirit and in truth (see comments on Revelation 12:17; 14:12).
Lightnings, and voices, and thunderings - The loud preaching of a warning message from God. As under the seventh plague (Revelation 16:18).
Earthquake - A great time of war and persecution just before Jesus' return. As under the seventh plague (Revelation 16:18, 19, Revelation 11:13).
Great Hail - The final of the 7 last plagues (Revelation 16:21).
This is natures last upheaval, under the 7th and final plague, announcing the close of this earth's history.
So you see that this Woe leads to the end of the Roman power forever and the Second Coming of Jesus to gather His children home. Do you see why this is such an important time?
Soon — we don't know how soon - all the dead, the living and righteous, will be judged. Let us all choose to be faithful so that each of us may be found in Jesus' Kingdom.