Revelation 11

God uses His lampstand, the church, to be a witness of things that they have not yet seen. They speak of Christ, but they have not seen Him. They preach about the fact and the significance of the event of the cross that took place so many centuries earlier, but they have only heard about it from others who came before them. The talk about the resurrection of Jesus, about the present heaven, and about the general resurrection that is coming at the return of Christ, and they bear witness about things that they have never seen with their own eyes. How can this be? The church speaks based on the Word of God, and that Word is a better source of truth than anything that any of the preachers of the church could testify to from their own experience.

Who are the two witnesses that John speaks of in Revelation 11? Before we get to that important question, we see John doing something that reminds us of the chapters at the end of Ezekiel, where the prophet is brought to measure a visionary temple that in Ezekiel 47 is shown to be beyond this creation. The same heavenly temple in Revelation is within the world in a way, as the New Testament church exists within the world. It has its duration of half a time, whatever that may signify. God is not going to tell us here how many years the New Testament age of the gospel will continue until our Lord returns. It is presented to us as three and a half somethings, half of seven. Here it is 1,260 days, which is three and a half years. Later it is said to be three and a half days. The point is the same. There is a defined period of time for the preaching of the Word after the great events of Christ have taken place. God knows this time, and we do not.

The two witnesses clothed in sackcloth are also called two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. See Zecheriah 4. They are representatives from heaven, full of the Holy Spirit and the prophetic Word, who speak among men. They seem weak to men, but the Lord is able to give them a powerful Word. Like Elijah and Moses in the Old Covenant era, they can show forth the power of God in life and death.

The world and the devil hate what these men represent, because they will not submit to the Word that comes from heaven. Therefore these trees face suffering and even death. Yet the gates of hell will never prevail against the prophetic Word that is preached by the Lord's church.

Men thought that they were finished with the Christian movement when they killed our King on the cross, yet He was the one who had the victory, and His resurrection was a display of His vindication. If His ambassadors are killed, does anyone think that He cannot bring forward a renewed witness from His church?

The great city of man, that Rome, that Sodom, that Egypt, that Jerusalem that is below, the world, thinks they are always winning. Yet powerful rulers still die and face the Lord against whom they railed and whose servants they have persecuted. They kill those who bring the testimony of the Word, treating them like the Philistines treated the bodies of Saul and Jonathan. But they cannot win against the God that these two witnesses serve. After their brief trial is over, they will enjoy a breath of life from God in the present heavens. While the earth continues to face the Lord's judgment, His faithful church will be safe with Christ. Eventually, when our King returns, all the children of God from all ages will be revealed. Those who have proclaimed the Word and faced the hatred of men will be greatly blessed in resurrection glory. Yet even before that final moment, the church triumphant will be up in heaven. Christ knows just when to call us home.

Meanwhile the judgment of God upon the earth continues for as many centuries as He has determined. Finally the seventh trumpet will blow, and the rebellion on earth will be put to an end. Then Jesus will reign forever and ever, for the kingdom of this world will have become the kingdom of Yahweh and the Messiah.

This is one of several points in this visionary account when the final culmination of God''s eternal purpose is anticipated. The great assembly of all those who call upon the Name of the Lord in heaven love this report of God's complete victory and His plan to restore glory and holiness to the earth by His reigning over all of creation in the fullest way. We hear of this news on the other side of the divide, We have loved the words of the Law and the prophets. We have rejoiced in the message of Jesus, His death, and His resurrection which is being sacrificially proclaimed everywhere. Therefore we join with the heavenly chorus giving thanks to the Lord. We celebrate His eternal existence as the great I-AM. We look forward to the fullness of His everlasting reign.

By the preaching and hearing of the Word of God, we see things that our eyes haven not yet seen. The nations that rage against God, His church, and those who bring His Word, will be judged. Those who have believed and have been faithful in service to God will be rewarded. Those who have destroyed the earth will themselves be destroyed.

All of this that we have not yet seen is secure in the heavens, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. The events of our age unfold first from that place of glory. We will soon see this from the better side of the divide, but we look for the day when the divide between heaven and earth will be removed, and we will all be together with the Lord.