Revelation 11

1. And there was given me a reed, etc. This scene should be compared with Ezek. xl. 3-5, 17-19; and Zech. ii. 1-3.

temple. The word “temple” (see on vii. 15) denotes the principal building or sanctuary, exclusive of the open court without and around it. To “measure” the worshippers must mean to count them. Under the Christian dispensation the Temple of God is the community of all true Christians (Eph. ii. 20-22).

2 the holy city. Jerusalem was “the holy city.” Here the phrase probably symbolises the great body of professed Christians at this period, as distinguished from the spiritual worshippers in the inner court of the Temple.

shall they tread under foot. Treat it with the greatest indignity: cp. Luke xxi. 24.

forty and two months. Forty-two months, of thirty days each, would be equal to 1,260 days, which would also be three and a half years (360 days in the year): see xii. 6, 14; Dan. vii. 25; xii. 7. The symbolical interpretation in the case of this number, as of others, is probably correct. Half of seven denotes the period of incompleteness, sorrow, and conflict.

3. I will give [power] unto my two witnesses. Rather, simply, “I will give unto my two witnesses”; i.e., I will appoint and qualify them for their mission. “Sackeloth” was the usual clothing of the ancient prophets: see 2 Kings i. 8; Zech. xiii. 4; Matt. iii. 4. The two witnesses seem to be identified (4) with the two olive trees of Zechariah: see Zech. iv. 1-14, and notes. They are sacred to God, secured by His care, and protected by the very forces of nature (5, 6). Having finished their work, they are slain as Christ was (7); but, like Christ, they arise and ascend to heaven (11, 12). Some of their persecutors repent, and others are destroyed (13). The symbols of this vision are fulfilled whenever God’s faithful witnesses come into conflict with a corrupt Church and an unbelieving world. The two may be the Old and New Testaments or “the Church in her function of witness-bearing” (Swete).

5 in this answer. That is, by fire; an evident allusion to 2 Kings i. 10. “Will” = “want to.”

6 power. Or, “authority.” Such as that of Elijah and Moses: cp. 1 Kings xvii. 1; Exod. vii. 17-19.

7 when they shall have finished, etc. That is, at the end of 1260 days (2).

the beast See xvii. 8.

8 the great city, etc. This “great city,” the antagonist of “the holy city,” is called “Sodom” for vice; and “Egypt” for tyranny and oppression of God’s people; and it is further compared to the Jewish capital for its rejection of Christ, and hatred to His people.

our Lord. The best reading seems to be, “their Lord”; to whom in death, as in life, the witnesses are conformed.

10 and shall send gifts, etc. As on a festival: see Neh. viii. 10-12; Esther ix. 19, 22.

tormented. By their rebukes.

12 they ascended up to heaven in a cloud. Cp. Acts i. 9.

13 a great earthquake. Cp. Matt. xxvii. 50-54; xxviii. 2.

gave glory to the God of heaven. They acknowledged God’s hand and power (see xiv. 7; xvi. 9).

14 the third woe. The third woe, introduced by the sounding of the seventh trumpet, is the immediate precursor of final victory. According to the declaration in x. 6, there is no further delay; the judgements of God are completed; and this awful series of visions, which commenced with the presentation of the prayers of the Church (viii. 3, 4), concludes with songs of thanksgiving and praise. The scene, like that which follows the opening of the seventh seal (viii. 1), is laid in heaven; but here, instead of silence, there is triumph and exultation.

18 the time of the dead, etc. This probably refers to the martyrs who would then be avenged, whilst all agents of evil will be punished.

19 testament. The ark in the earthly Temple was in the Most Holy Place: where the Shechinah shone forth as the symbol of Jehovah’s presence. As the rending of the veil in twain indicated that the ancient dispensation had come to an end (see Matt. xxvii. 51, and note); so the throwing open of the Holy of Holies here may perhaps signify the passing away of the final earthly dispensation. “The ideal import of the holiness of the law and the truth of the redemption becomes a matter of Christian knowledge manifest to all the world” (Lange).