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Revelation 11 Bible Study With Discussion Questions – The Two Witnesses
Podcast
Outline
I. The Two Witnesses (1-6)
II. The Two Witnesses Are Killed And Rise Again (7-14)
III. The Seventh Trumpet (15-19)
I. The Two Witnesses (1-6)
Discussion Questions
- Why was John told to measure the temple and those who worship?
- What does it mean to measure those who worship?
- What would happen to the holy city?
- What time markers can you see in this passage?
- What are your observations about the two witnesses?
- How could they survive such public preaching for three and a half years during the tyrannical rule of the antichrist?
- What do olive trees and lampstands symbolize?
- What can we learn from these two witnesses?
- How can you be a lampstand in your society?
Cross-References
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Daniel 9:3 – Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Jeremiah 11:6 – The Lord once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.
Zechariah 4:12-14 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. John is told to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers – John is given a “measuring rod like a staff” and is commanded to measure the temple, altar, and worshipers. He does not record any of his measurements.
Reflect: Is this to a be a literal measurement or is it figurative?
It appears that God is looking deeper than just physical measurements for several reasons:
- No measurements were recorded. John did not give any physical measurements for these things, probably because God is interested in the spiritual.
- The worshipers were also to be measured. It would be odd to measure the height of the worshipers who are going to the temple. That number is not very meaningful or significant. Thus some other quality of the worshipers was to be measured. Perhaps their holiness, sincerity, or faithfulness. God is looking at the spiritual, not the physical. And if some spiritual quality of the worshipers is being measured, then it is logical that the temple and altar were being measured in the same way. You wouldn’t measure the physical dimensions of the temple and then spiritual dimensions of the people. It was one type of measuring rod, not two.
- The context of this chapter focuses on Jerusalem, the holy city. The witnesses are prophesying and trying to reach people spiritually. Certain reactions from the populace (of this city and the world) to the witnesses are gauged. God is concerned with the spiritual condition of Jerusalem and its people. He is going deeper than the surface to look at the heart.
Reflect: No exact record is shown of what John found when he measured. Does the text give any clue as to what was revealed about the people of Jerusalem?
Later the two witnesses are called. Before that they call down many plagues because of people’s hard hearts. The city is called “Sodom” and “Egypt.” And God judges the city by causing one tenth to collapse in an earthquake and seven thousand people to die. Therefore it seems clear that the city did not pass the test. There will be Jews who seem to be worshiping God at this point in time at the temple. But they are still rejecting His Son. And as a group, they have not yet come to repentance.
Application: God is also going to measure us. Will we measure up? No one will be able to pass this test. Our hope is in Christ who fills up what is lacking in us replacing our sin with His righteousness. Yet we still have a responsibility. First, we must place our faith in Him. Second, we should live our lives in a worthy manner of the calling to which we have been called.
2. The holy city will be trampled for forty-two months – Forty-two months is a time marker we see several times in end times accounts in Scripture. It represents half of the seven year period of the tribulation. Thus it appears that these events occur at the halfway point of the tribulation.
Most likely the witnesses are active in Jerusalem for the first three and a half years of the tribulation. During that time they are untouchable because of God’s divine protection. But at the mid-point of the tribulation, the antichrist will rise up and break his peace treaty with Israel. He will enter the temple and set up the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15-16). The city will come under his direct control for the last half the tribulation (Revelation 11:2). And many Jews will flee the city (Revelation 12). At this point in time the two witnesses will be killed. That will give the antichrist his greatest victory, but it will be short-lived (just like when Jesus was killed and raised from the dead).
3. The two witnesses – There is some debate about whether these witnesses are literal or figurative. A good general rule of interpretation is to take the Word at face value unless it clearly is figurative. In this case, all the signs point to these two witnesses being literal men who are divinely appointed and anointed by God for this special mission.
He says that they are clothed in sackcloth. He also gives them divine authority to call down plagues upon the earth and destroy their enemies.
If for example, the witnesses represent the church, who in the church would have this power? Everyone? And the church itself is dressed in sackcloth?
The text is most easily understood taking it literally. Much speculation has been made about the identity of these two witnesses. One of them is very likely Elijah.
While John the Baptist fulfilled the role of Elijah prior to Jesus’ first coming, before His second coming prophesies indicate Elijah himself will return. The two witnesses ministry and miracles strongly resemble the historical Elijah’s. He also shut up the heavens so that it did not rain and called down fire from heaven (2 Kings 1:10, 1 Kings 18).
James 5:16-18 – The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
The identity of the second witness is less clear. It may be Enoch as he