Revelation 11

11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if any one would harm them, fire pours out from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 6They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall 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 desire. 7And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

Those who date the book of Revelation as preceding the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 tend to do so primarily based on verse 1 of this chapter, saying that if the temple had been destroyed, John would not have been able to measure it. However, these people seem to me to fail to take into account the fact that, according to John himself, he was exiled on the Island of Patmos, and would not have been able to measure the Temple, anyway.

Again, though, John uses the Sack of Jerusalem as a type of the end judgement of the world. The two witnesses mentioned have sparked much debate, as to their identities. John suggests their identities by the powers that are attributed to them--turning water into blood and calling down plagues: Moses. Shutting up the sky and calling down fire from heaven: Elijah. These together testify to the sins of the world and the just judgement of God. Verse 4 calls them the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth, an allusion to Zechariah 4:1-14.

Moses and Elijah (who appear talking to Jesus during His transfiguration, Matthew 17), typify the Law and the Prophets. Thus, their appearance and witness are not specifically literal, especially in the case of the original sack of Jerusalem. However, the Scriptural warnings about keeping the Law contianed in their Scriptures, which they forsook when they rejected and killed the Messiah, proclaimed to them the just judgement they received. Will Moses and Elijah literally return in the end times? That remains to be seen. However, it seems likely that they will, somehow (they did, after all, appear with Jesus). It says that the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will war with them and kill them. We will meet this beast in chapter 13. The deaths of the two witnesses are met with celebration and rejoicing that almost resembles Christmas! The world believes that the destruction of the Word of God brings freedom, and Satan counterfeits true joy. John calls the city where they are killed by the symbolic names of Sodom and Egypt--two great historic cities that were in opposition to God's plan, and so were judged. Then John lets us know the literal identity of the city, as being where Jesus was crucified. The indictment is that Jerusalem itself had opposed God's plan in killing the Messiah, and the Roman destruction of her was God's judgement. Again, Jerusalem stands as a type for the world that is in opposition to God.

11But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up hither!" And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud. 13And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

God's Word cannot be silenced. Moses and Elijah are resurrected, and then taken back up to Heaven--so that everyone could see! After this, there is an earthquake that kills 7000 people. Again, it is a symbolic number--7, symbolising perfection, and magnified by 1000. Hence, a lot of people, but the perfect amount at this time. God again is in control of every detail. Now, witnessing the witnesses come back to life and ascend to Heaven, and surviving the earthquake, the remaining people, struck with fear, give glory to God. However, this giving of glory is only temporary, as we shall see in chapter 13.

15Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." 16And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying, "We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign. 18The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

The seventh trumpet is blown, and Heaven exults that the Kingdom of the World is ruled by God and Christ! Looking at Revelation through the eyes of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Word has ended, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist is about to begin.

I do realise that I have omitted Revelation 11:19. This was intentional, because it fits better as a part of verse 12, and will be commented on in that chapter.

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