This document provides commentary on Revelation 11:1-14 regarding the temple, two witnesses, and the second prophetic pause in Revelation. It summarizes that: 1) The temple is a symbol of God's people, though some see a future rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. 2) The two witnesses have power to perform plagues and are later killed but resurrected, with interpretations varying on their identity. 3) God will never leave himself without a witness, so if believers fail God will work through others, though they miss out on life's calling by not pointing others to Christ.

2. D. L. Moody
(1837-1899)

3. Isaiah 8:3-4
Then the Lord said to me, “Call
his name Maher-shalal-hash-
baz; 4 for before the boy knows
how to cry ‘My father’ or ‘My
mother,’ the wealth of Damascus
and the spoil of Samaria will be
carried away before the king of
Assyria.”

4. Chp. 1 Chp. 2-3 Chps. 4-22
“Things
which “Things
“Things which will take place”
you have which
seen” are”
Vision of Christ Vision of Consummation
Theophany Talks Tribulations Triumph Together!

5. God’s Judgments Unleashed
in Three Movements . . .
 The 7 Seal Judgments – the 7th
containing . . .
 The 7 Trumpet Judgments – the 7th
containing . . .
 The 7 Bowl Judgments

6. Two “Prophetic Pauses” . . .
The first between the 6th and 7th seal
judgment (chapter 7)
The second between the 6th and 7th
trumpet judgment (10:1-11:14).

7. The second “prophetic
pause” (10:1-11:14)
Revelation 11:1-14
The Temple and a Yardstick (vv. 1-2)
Two Unusual Witnesses (vv. 3-14)

8. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
Revelation 11:1-2
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, but do not
measure the court outside the temple;
leave that out, for it is given over to the
nations, and they will trample the holy
city for forty-two months.”

9. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. The Temple is simply a symbol of the
people of God.

10. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
Ephesians 2:19-21
So then you are. . .built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus
himself being the cornerstone, in whom
the whole structure, being joined
together, grows into a holy temple in the
Lord.

11. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. The Temple is simply a symbol of the
people of God.
2. The Temple is a reference to a rebuilt
temple in Jerusalem.

13. “We shall continue our struggle
until the Israeli flag is flying from
the Dome of the Rock!”

14. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. The Temple is simply a symbol of the
people of God.
2. The Temple is a reference to a rebuilt
temple in Jerusalem.

15. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. A distinction is made between “those
who worship” in the temple and the
temple itself.
Revelation 11:1b
“Rise and measure the temple of God and
the altar and those who worship there...”

16. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. A distinction is made between “those
who worship” in the temple and the
temple itself.
2. From my understanding of other
passages, there appears to be a
temple in Jerusalem when the
Antichrist is present.

17. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
Daniel 9:27
He will confirm a covenant with many for
one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the
‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and
offering. And on a wing of the temple he
will set up an abomination that causes
desolation, until the end that is decreed is
poured out on him.

18. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
Matthew 24:15, 21
“So when you see standing in the holy
place ‘the abomination that causes
desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet
Daniel—let the reader understand—then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains
. . . For then there will be great distress,
unequaled from the beginning of the world
until now—and never to be equaled again.

19. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way,
for that day will not come until . . . the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the man
doomed to destruction. He will oppose
and will exalt himself over everything that
is called God or is worshiped, so that he
sets himself up in God’s temple,
proclaiming himself to be God.

20. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
1. A distinction is made between “those
who worship” in the temple and the
temple itself.
2. From my understanding of other
passages, there appears to be a
temple in Jerusalem when the
Antichrist is present.

21. “John’s measuring is
best understood as
signifying ownership,
defining the
parameters of God’s
possession.”
(John MacArthur)

22. Rev. 11: The Temple & the Yardstick
Revelation 11:1-2
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, but do not
measure the court outside the temple;
leave that out, for it is given over to the
nations, and they will trample the holy
city for forty-two months.”

23. “This measuring signified
something good. . .it is best to see
it as God’s measuring off Israel for
salvation and His special
protection, preservation, and
favor. The prophecies yet to be
given to John will distinguish
between God’s favor toward Israel
and His wrath on the world.”
(John MacArthur)

24. The second “prophetic
pause” (10:1-11:14)
Revelation 11:1-14
The Temple and a Yardstick (vv. 1-2)
Two Unusual Witnesses (vv. 3-14)

25. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:3-4
”And I will give power to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for
1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These
are the two olive trees and the two
lampstands that stand before the Lord of
the earth.

26. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:5-6
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. 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.

27. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:7-8
Now when they have finished their
testimony, the beast that comes up from
the Abyss will attack them, and overpower
and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the
street of the great city, which is figuratively
called Sodom and Egypt, where also their
Lord was crucified.

28. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:9-10
For three and a half days men from every
people, tribe, language and nation will
gaze on their bodies and refuse them
burial. 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.

29. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:11-12
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. 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.

30. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:13
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.

31. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:13
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.

32. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
WHO are they??
3 Major Categories of the Differing Views
1. Symbolic
2. Corporate (10 different groups
suggested)
3. Literal (10 different combinations of
men suggested)

33. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:6
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.

34. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the Lord our
God, but the things revealed belong to us
and to our children forever, that we may
follow all the words of this law.

35. Rev. 11: Two Unusual Witnesses
Revelation 11:14
The second woe has passed; the third woe
is coming soon.

36. 1. God knows his own and will
always be with us! Therefore his eye
never leaves us, his hand is always
upon us, his heart is ever for us!

37. Are you one of HIS? Do
you belong to Christ?
John 1:12-13
But to all who did receive him, who
believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God, who were
born, not of blood nor of the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

38. 1. God knows his own and will
always be with us! Therefore his eye
never leaves us, his hand is always
upon us, his heart is ever for us!

39. 2. God will never leave himself
without a witness!
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

40. 2. God will never leave himself
without a witness!
So if you fail to be the witness God is
calling you to be … God will work
through another. But WHY miss the
joy of pointing others to Christ? Why
miss out on life’s greatest calling?

41. Determine here
and now --- that
you will
intentionally, with
God’s help, point
someone to Christ
this week!