Sunday, May 10, 2020 “The Two Witnesses” Revelation 11:1-13 Idea: God is never without His witnesses. Intro: Thomas Aquinas, who knew a great deal about education and a bit about motivation, once said that when you want to convert a person to your view, you go over to where he is standing, take him by the hand, and guide him. You don’t stand across the room and shout at him. You don’t order him to come over where you are. You start where he is and work from that position. He said that’s the only way to get people to budge. This past Thursday morning, I had an opportunity to be on a video conference call with the president of the IMB, some of his staff, and pastors from across our state convention. I heard stories of how our missionaries are serving the peoples of the world and sharing the gospel in the midst of this pandemic. I heard about believers in Nepal who are under a strict stay-at-home order. In that culture families daily go out and gather the food needed for the day. The stay-at-home order has made it extremely difficult and dangerous for families. Do they obey the order and starve? Or do they go out for food and risk getting sick, being fined, jailed, or beaten? Many Nepalese believers have taken their church offerings and used the money to purchase food for their communities. The believers’ homes have become stations where their neighbors can purchase basic foods. In addition to being able to easily get supplies, families are hearing the gospel proclaimed and seeing the gospel lived out as believers risk their own health and safety to serve their neighbors. They are beautiful witnesses of the kindness and sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals that God has always had His witnesses, testifying and proclaiming the gospel to the peoples of the world. It may look different in various places and times, but God graciously gives people opportunities to hear and receive the knowledge of His grace and justice. Jesus said this will continue until everyone has heard. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. – Matt 24:14 In our study through Revelation, we are seeing that God continues to have His witnesses preaching and sharing the good news during the eschaton. The judgments of the seals and trumpets have all been coupled with a call for repentance and faith. The Church is present and protected from these outpourings of God’s wrath. They are a beautiful picture of God’s provision, protection, and affection. In addition to the witness of the Church, the angels and creatures of heaven have warned of God’s judgment and called for repentance (8:13). God is never without His witnesses. This is both a grace given as an offering of warning as well as a judicial decree informing of legal action to come. This continues in chapter 11. Read Revelation 11:1-13. Inquiry: The scene of the mighty angel and the little scroll in chapter 10 assures the church of God’s provision through suffering and persecution. It also calls non-believers to faith and repentance. This warning and appeal for repentance is seen again with the two witnesses of chapter 11. Before the two witnesses are introduced, John again becomes a participant in the vision. He is given a measuring rod and told to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there (vs. 1). As Ladd points out, the metaphor of measuring the temple area has nothing to do with determining its dimensions. “It is a symbol of preservation and protection.” God, as the sovereign owner and ruler of His people, will preserve them in the midst of the great tribulation that is intensifying. The temple, altar, and the worshipers picture a heavenly temple. Often in the New Testament “temple” (naovV) signifies the church (1 Cor 3:16-17; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:19-22). Therefore, as Grant Osborne points out, the measuring of the worshipers identifies them as belonging to God and under His protection. This protection is from spiritual harm not physical harm. The Church is sealed and protected from God’s wrath, but they are not completely protected from physical harm unleashed on them by the beast and his followers. In Revelation 6:9-11, we saw that many Christ-followers will be martyred. In chapter 13:7 God will grant power to the beast to make war and conquer the saints. This suffering of the church is symbolized in 11:2 with the court outside the temple and the holy city being trampled by the nations. The church will be handing over to the Gentiles and nations for a time. According to John this trampling will last for forty-two months or three and a half years. During this time, God again shows His sovereign control over every event. Verse 3 says, “I will grant authority to my two witnesses.” Their authority and power to do great wonders come from the hand of God. They come in the spirit of Christ who was a faithful witness. There are two witnesses because of the Deuteronomic demand for two witnesses as legal proof of guilt before God (Deut 17:6; 19:15; Num 35:30). The two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days or three and a half years, wearing sackcloth as a sign for repentance in the face of judgment. These witnesses will be historical figures…real people preaching and performing miracles. They also symbolize the witnessing church in its suffering and triumph. The details of their ministry show that they will come in the spirit and power of Elijah and Moses. Their message will be one of judgment as well as redemption. It will be rejected and hated by the world. The ones who reject and seek to harm them for the message will be killed by fire coming out from their mouths (11:5). They will be able to cause droughts and turn water into blood. In fact, they will be able to recreate all of the Egyptian plagues whenever they desire (11:6). Nothing and no one will be able to harm them until they have finished their time of preaching. When it is over, the beast will make war against the witnesses and kill them (11:8). John says that their bodies will lie in the street of the great city for three and a half days. This great city most likely carries the idea of a combination of Rome and Jerusalem. Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem by the hands of Rome. The city is personified by its Sodom-like depravity and rebellion against God and its Egyptian-like oppression of God’s people. The world will gaze upon the dead bodies of the two witnesses. They will celebrate their deaths by throwing big parties and exchanging gifts. They will celebrate because their tormentors have died and can no longer torment their souls (11:9-10). This celebration ought to remind us why and how far people will go in their rejection of God. The gospel exposes darkness to the light. This exposure is painful. It is uncomfortable. It is regarded as binding when in fact it brings freedom from bondage. Sinners then will rage against the gospel. They will seek to hurt and even kill the messenger in an attempt to get out from under the message. After three and a half days, the two witnesses will be resurrected (11:11). God will breathe life back into their lifeless bodies. The world will watch this resurrection, and the joy and celebration they have been enjoying will quickly turn into fovboV mevgaV (great fear). Abject terror at the power of God will overwhelm them. Their fear is compounded as God calls His witnesses into heaven. They will watch as the two are swept up in a cloud and carried away (11:12). Then a great earthquake erupts and kills a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people will die in their rebellion against God (11:13). This judgment, like all the other judgments so far, is a partial judgment. One-fourth were killed in the seals, and one-third were killed in the trumpets. In all of those judgments a call for repentance accompanied the wrath. The same takes place in this judgment. Only a fraction of the population will be killed. As W.J. Harrington says, “Both the visible triumph of the two witnesses and this mitigated punishment were meant to bring people to their senses.” It seems that most if not the rest of those in the city will turn in true repentance and faith to the God of heaven. These witnesses testified to both the judgment and grace of God. Through suffering they both experienced victory and brought it to those who needed it. There are three certainties that I want us to take away from this passage. 1. God’s protection of believers promises security through suffering and death rather than from it. John’s measuring of the temple in verses 1-2, symbolized God’s preservation and protection of the church as it experienced suffering. It was not a symbol of removal from suffering. The concept of suffering is completely foreign to the vast majority of American Christians. We have never had to experience it. We are healthy and wealthy by the world’s standard.