CHAPTER 20
Revelation 11 and the Two Witnesses

We have just completed a review of the final book in the Bible. Introduced as the "Revelation of Jesus Christ," it was found to be the revealing of God's New Testament Gospel program enabled through Jesus. In this book, God graciously shows, in one grand vista, all that is purposed for the New Testament era.

With this background established, we are now ready to examine, in greater detail, specific passages from Revelation that shed light on the latter time of the Fourth Kingdom. A good place to begin is Revelation 11. Here, God outlines the progress of the Gospel during the New Testament age, with particular emphasis on end-time proceedings.

Rev 11:1. And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Revelation 11 is the second part of a long interlude between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpets. During this interlude (which starts at Rev 10:1 and ends at Rev 11:14), God fills in some necessary details before sounding the final, seventh trumpet (Rev 11:15-19).

The chapter begins with an important directive, as the mighty angel from Revelation 10 tells John to "Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein." Since the physical temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed by the time of John's writing, we suspect that the angel is talking here about a spiritual building. This is confirmed in Ephesians 2:19-22, which teaches that God's temple comprises believers:

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

As Paul taught, the building blocks of God's New Testament temple are believers. John was told to measure this temple, its altar and those who worshipped inside. We will discuss the meaning of "measuring" shortly, but first let us examine the items to be measured. James Ramsey, the 19th Century theologian, addressed the matter well:

The objects to be measured: These are three, "the temple of God, the altar, and them that worship therein." In the spiritual kingdom there are three things answering precisely to these: God reconciled and dwelling among men, the blood of atonement by which this is secured, and a consecrated people offering spiritual sacrifices. The very same are distinctly mentioned by Jehovah in summing up the whole typical ordinances which He had appointed for Israel of old to set forth the nature of His spiritual kingdom. "I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar; I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to Me in the priest's office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God" [Ex. 29:44, 45]. The symbolical antitype thus corresponds exactly to the ancient type, whose tabernacle, altar, and Aaronic priesthood, pointed to precisely the same great spiritual objects here symbolized by the temple, the altar, and the true worshippers, who together constitute God's spiritual priesthood. The great spiritual truth designed to be taught in those ancient types is precisely the same as that which the gospel proclaims and the spiritual church secures, the restoration of holy fellowship between God and man. (James Beverlin Ramsey, Revelation, An Exposition of the First 11 Chapters [Banner of Truth, 1977, 1995, ISBN 0-85151-256-9], p.443.)

As Ramsey explained, the three physical objects – the temple, the altar and the worshippers therein – typify the spiritual pillars by which God's New Testament kingdom is defined. John was told to measure these objects with a "reed like unto a rod." A reed is a straight bamboo-like cane, which was used in olden times as a measuring tool (Eze 40:3). A reed like a rod would therefore be a very strong measuring tool, because the rod is associated in Scripture with strength (Ps 110:2).

But the rod also has a deeper meaning inasmuch as it typifies God's Word. For instance, discussing the Lord's actions on the last day, Isaiah 11:4 states: "he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth." God's Word is what proceeds from His mouth, and it will smite (or judge) the nations on the last day. Again, in Micah 6:9, we are told to listen to the rod that is God's voice: "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod."

Putting these thoughts together, we find that "a reed like unto a rod" is really talking about the measuring stick of God's Word. John was told to measure the temple and the important objects within it. When a building is under construction, it is regularly measured to ensure that all the parts are fitting together. John, who typifies believers, was given God's Word to do this. In other words, like John, we have been given the blueprint of the Gospel as the only way to bring people into the temple of Christ's body. As God instructed Moses in reference to the tabernacle, He now instructs all Christians: "See that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount" (Heb 8:5).

Rev 11:2. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

In the Old Testament temple, the outer court was an open space surrounding the temple proper. The court was accessible to all, including Gentiles.

John was told to measure only the temple and its crucial inner parts. The outside court was not to be measured, despite being part of the temple precinct. Why was the court left out? I believe 2 Chronicles 23 provides a commentary on this. As the priest Jehoiada was preparing the temple for service, he said (in verses 4-6):

This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors; and a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy.

In preparing the temple for service, Jehoiada said that only priests and Levites could enter, for they alone were holy. The other Israelites were to stay in the courts outside. I believe this anticipates the New Testament era, when believers (who constitute a holy priesthood – 1 Pet 2:5) will be the only ones allowed to enter the temple of Christ's body. By contrast, the Israelites outside represent the unsaved in the church. Although they "surround" the temple by calling themselves Christians, they cannot enter because they have not been truly born again.

The court will be "given unto the Gentiles." This statement shows that worldliness, or Gentile thinking, rules over the unsaved in the church. This will be particularly so near the end of the age, when "the holy city shall they [the Gentiles] tread under foot forty and two months." As we found in Chapter 15, this period derives from the final half of Daniel's seventieth week (½ week = 3½ days = 3½ times = 3½ years = 42 months). It is symbolic for the era of Satan's rule as the Antichrist and is the same period mentioned in Revelation 13, which foretells of the beast's victory over the saints:

And there was given unto him [the beast] a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. (vv. 5-7)

For 42 symbolic months, Satan will be permitted to wage war against the saints and to overcome the Gospel (such that few people will be saved). During this time, as Revelation 11:2 reveals, the Gentiles will tread under foot the holy city. This statement recalls Jesus' prophecy in Luke 21:24:

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Here, Jesus prophesied that Israel would fall at the hand of the Gentiles and be taken captive. In other words, the corporate church will be overcome by, and held hostage to, worldly forces and Greek influences (cf. Joel 3:6). This captivity will continue "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," or until the last day.

Being trodden down of the Gentiles also points to another truth. As Jesus warned in Matthew 5:13, this is the fate of Christians who lose the savour (or power) of their witness:

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Rev 11:3-4. And I will give [power] to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed [in] sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. [MKJV]

The first two verses of Revelation 11 provided a brief overview of New Testament church history. In short, the temple will be built as the Gospel is witnessed, but then Jerusalem – the church – will be trodden underfoot in the final years of the New Testament era.

The angel of Revelation 10:1 now expands on this outline, beginning with the era of Gospel testimony: "And I will give [power] to My two witnesses . . . These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth [MKJV]."

Who, exactly, are these two witnesses, and why are they called olive trees and lampstands? When we search the Bible for other passages that feature the imagery of two olive trees, we are led to the vision of the golden lampstand in Zechariah 4:

And the angel that talked with me came again and awakened me, as a man that is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see, and behold, a lampstand, all of it gold, and a bowl on its top, and its seven lamps on it, and seven pipes to the seven lamps on its top; and two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl, and the other on the left of it. (Zec 4:1-3 MKJV)

In this vision, Zechariah saw a golden lampstand with a bowl (to supply oil) on its top. The lampstand had seven lamps attached, each connected to the supply bowl by a pipe (making seven pipes in all). On either side of the lampstand stood an olive tree. From verse 12, we find that the branches of these two olive trees poured a constant supply of oil into two pipes (one per tree) that fed the supply bowl:

And I answered again and said to him, What are the two olive clusters beside the two golden pipes, emptying the golden oil from themselves? And he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. And he said, These are the two sons of fresh oil who stand by the LORD of the whole earth. (vv. 12-14 MKJV)

Zechariah's vision depicts, concisely, the corporate church of both Testaments. The single golden lampstand represents national Israel (the church or "candlestick" of the Old Testament). It supported seven lamps. Like the seven golden candlesticks of Revelation 1:20, these lamps represent the New Testament congregations. Their attachment to a single lampstand shows that the New Testament congregations were born out of the Old Testament church.

What provides fuel for the lamps? It is the olive trees. They feed the seven lamps through the golden bowl. Therefore, one can readily see that the olive trees here represent believers, who power the church through the Holy Spirit (the oil) that courses through them. This is why God says of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power unto my two witnesses." God will give power, through the oil of the Holy Spirit, to His witnesses. Significantly, we read in Acts 1:8 about power, the Holy Spirit and witnessing:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Regarding the olive trees, Zechariah 4:14 adds:

These are the two sons of fresh oil who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Only believers have been anointed with the fresh, New Testament oil of the Holy Spirit to qualify them as servants of the Lord, such that they spiritually "stand before Him." Equally, God says of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:4:

These are the two olive trees . . . standing before the God of the earth.

Having established that the olive trees represent believers, we now wonder why there are two of them. I believe this shows that believers come from both Jewish and Gentile roots. This conclusion is drawn from Romans 11. Let us begin at the start of the chapter, where Paul teaches that God will not totally abandon the Jewish nation:

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Rom 11:1-5)

Just as a remnant in Israel was saved in Elijah's day, so there will always be a Jewish remnant saved by grace throughout the New Testament era. To reinforce this point, Paul then spoke about the salvation of Jews and Gentiles in terms of two olive trees. The saved Jews were like good branches of an olive tree whose bad branches had been discarded. The saved Gentiles were like branches of a wild olive tree that were engrafted in place of the bad:

For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles . . . if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. (Rom 11:13, 17-21)

That some of the branches of the cultivated tree were broken off shows that God rejected national Israel at the cross. Engrafting wild olive branches in their place depicts the inclusion of Gentiles into His household (cf. Eph 3:5-6). The overall point, of course, is that God did not reject all Jews; there would always be a remnant chosen by grace.

Significantly, Paul used two olive trees in his analogy: the cultivated tree for Israel and the wild tree for Gentiles. Similarly, I believe that the two olive trees (or two witnesses) in Revelation 11 also emphasise the Jewish and Gentile roots of New Testament believers.

As well as being called olive trees, the witnesses are called "the two lampstands." As we know, lampstands (or candlesticks) typify churches (Rev 1:20). That the two olive trees are also lampstands therefore shows that, throughout their time of testimony, believers will be operating chiefly through the corporate church. There being two lampstands signifies, again, their Jewish and Gentile roots.

And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days. The two will witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days. As discussed in Chapter 15, this number derives from the first half of Daniel's seventieth week (½ week = 3½ days = 3½ times = 3½ years = 1,260 days). It is the era of church outreach, when the voice of believers will go out boldly through congregations worldover (cf. Rev 12:6).

This era began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out ("and I will give power unto my two witnesses" – cf. Acts 1:8). It will end, during the closing years of the Fourth Kingdom, with Satan's rise as the Antichrist (who is the abomination of desolation that will stand in the holy place – Mt 24:15-16). The table below summarises the relationship between the 1,260 days, 42 months, 1,000 years, and seal and trumpet sequences.

Observe that the two witnesses prophesy. This accords with the era that began at Pentecost, as Acts 2:16-17 confirms: "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." To prophesy means to declare God's Word. Enabled by the Spirit, believers have been doing this ever since Pentecost, AD 33.

During their 1,260 days, the witnesses will prophesy "clothed in sackcloth." The wearing of sackcloth in the Bible is often associated with mourning (Gen 37:34; Est 4:3). Believers mourn for the world in the full recognition that there is a Day of Judgment coming. This knowledge underpins and impels their witness.

Table 1 – Summary of Key Time Periods in Revelation

Rev 11:5-6. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

The activities of the two witnesses here remind us of Moses and Elijah. Elijah was a prophet who called fire from heaven to destroy his enemies (2 Ki 1:10-12). Also, through prayer, he caused the rains to cease for three and a half years in the days of wicked King Ahab (1 Ki 17:1; cf. Lu 4:25; Jas 5:17). Almost six hundred years earlier, Moses turned the waters of Egypt into blood (Ex 7:19-21), and presided over the many plagues that God sent on Egypt to free Israel (Ex chs. 7-12).

Given these parallels, many expositors conclude that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah themselves, returned to earth near the end of time as special evangelists for the Lord. We have found, however, that the two witnesses are not literal people; they are symbolic for Jewish and Gentile believers. Furthermore, both Moses and Elijah have already received their glorified bodies (Heb 11:5; 2 Ki 2:9-11; Jude 1:9; Mt 17:3). It is improbable that God would send them back in human form, to testify on earth and suffer and be killed, and then rise and go to heaven again.

Why, then, are the two witnesses linked to Moses and Elijah? In evoking these men, I believe that God is emphasising the power of the Gospel that the church commands. As Moses and Elijah had power, so the two witnesses (the New Testament believers) have the full power of God in their testimony through the corporate church.

Observe the aspects of power that believers command: power to shut up the sky, to turn water into blood, and to bring plagues on the earth. Every activity here involves judgment. This shows that believers are empowered not only to save men, but also to judge them. Concerning this power, Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 2:

For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. (vv. 15-16)

The Gospel is a savour (or aroma) of life for those who accept it. However, it is a savour of death for those who reject it. This is why the Bible compares God's Word to a two-edged sword (Heb 4:12). As it is witnessed, it can give spiritual life by cutting people free from bondage to sin. On the other hand, it can slay in judgment, should anyone reject God's great and precious gift.

Consequence of hurting the witnesses. If any man should hurt the two witnesses, "he must in this manner be killed" (the manner here is by fire). The two witnesses are hurt by the world's hatred, as people reject and persecute them (cf. Jn 15:19; 17:14). This hatred, however, will not go unpunished, because the fire from their mouths will devour their enemies. The Gospel is what proceeds from believers' mouths, and fire signifies God's wrath. Accordingly, should someone hurt a believer, he will incur the judgment that believers warn about, which is death by the fires of hell (cf. Mt 10:28).

Incidentally, to speak fire to destroy people is another power drawn from the Old Testament. God said to Jeremiah: "I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them" (Jer 5:14). As Revelation 11 confirms, this power (along with those assigned to Moses and Elijah) resides spiritually with all believers.

Rev 11:7. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

After 1,260 days of testimony, the beast who emerges from the pit will overcome and kill the saints. To be specific, it will be the little horn (or the Antichrist, Satan) who accomplishes this evil. As Daniel 7 indicates, he will arise sometime after the beast comes to power. In other words, Satan's overcoming of the saints will occur at some point after the rise of Daniel's Fourth Kingdom:

Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. (vv. 23-25)

I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (v. 21)

Through the agency of the little horn, the beast will war with the saints and "kill them" (cf. Rev 13:7, 15). This is spiritual language. With wickedness rampant, few people will respond to the believers' outreach. This lack of response by the world means that, effectively, the two witnesses will be as slain soldiers of Christ.

The silencing of the Gospel during the reign of the little horn seems an astounding, almost unbelievable, event. However, its beginnings were evident even in the first century church. In the congregations of Sardis and Laodicea, the witness of believers was almost quelled (Rev 3:1-6; 14-22). Throughout New Testament history, the same problem has occurred in congregations that yielded to worldliness. During the days of the Fourth Kingdom, more and more congregations will be seeking acceptance in men's eyes, and altering their doctrines accordingly. Eventually, the apostasy will reach a point where Satan will have gained a foothold in most congregations. In judgment, God will allow Satan to rule in those assemblies as the Antichrist, quelling any further hope of salvation from there.

Rev 11:8. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

The great city where the Lord was crucified, of course, was Jerusalem. When Satan rules as the Antichrist, Jerusalem – the corporate church – will be like the wicked cities of Sodom and Egypt. Sodom was known for its immorality (Jude 7). Like Sodom, most end-time congregations will be adulterous, through their embracing of man-centred doctrines (cf. Isa 3:8-9). Egypt was the great corrupter, also the land of bondage (Eze 23:8; Ex 20:2). By the time the little horn takes his seat in the temple, the church will have been thoroughly corrupted by and therefore enslaved to the world (cf. Deut 28:68).

It is in the streets of this spiritually defiled city that the witnesses will lie slain, unable to declare the Gospel. Psalm 79 anticipates this terrible invasion, when the Lord's servants will be killed, and their bodies left as food for scavengers:

O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place. (Ps 79:1-7)

As anticipated in Psalm 79, Jerusalem will be conquered by the heathen, meaning that the church will be dominated by the worldly influences of the Gentiles. The believers, now without faithful congregations from which to witness, will be as dead bodies in Jerusalem's streets. As they lie there unburied, the spiritual scavengers of Satan's kingdom will feast on their defeat.

Rev 11:9. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

The heathen that overwhelm Jerusalem will view the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. As previously noted, this period – which is the same as the forty-two month interval mentioned earlier in the chapter – is the final half of Daniel's seventieth week (½ week = 3½ days). When the Gentiles view the dead witnesses for this time, it shows that the world will be happy when believers no longer have a powerful voice in the world. (The use of two symbolically equal periods in Revelation 11 – that is, 3½ days [v. 9] and 42 months [v. 2] – reinforces, I believe, the linkage to Daniel's final half-week.)

Interestingly, the nations will not allow the bodies of the witnesses to be buried. This behaviour reveals at least two truths:

1. Satan will flaunt his victory. Along with the nations, he will look upon the dead bodies – a metaphor for the neutralised Gospel – with satisfaction; and

2. In the Bible, to not bury someone is to show contempt for them, whether it is a deserved fate (2 Ki 9:10; Jer 14:16) or an underserved one (Ps 79:3-4). Therefore, not burying the witnesses emphasises the nations' spiritual hatred of believers.

Despite the witnesses being slain, I believe that salvation will still be occurring in the world but in a minimal way. Essentially, the death of the witnesses shows that their outreach through the corporate church is over. The great commission will therefore be entrusted to the isolated congregations, ministries and individuals who, like the few in Sardis (Rev 3:4), will have kept themselves unspotted from the world.

But even given this small core of faithfulness, people worldover will reject whatever overtures believers make, owing to the decades of wickedness that will transform the earth's final generation into its most rebellious ever (cf. Lu 18:7-8).

Rev 11:10. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth.

The nations are happy that the two witnesses are dead because they were tormented by them. Does the preaching of the Gospel torment the unsaved? Not literally, of course. But spiritually, people do not want to hear that there is hell to pay for their sins. This is a message of torment that they would prefer to live without (hence the world's persecution of Christians). So, when the Gospel is neutralised, the unsaved will rejoice in their souls.

In their revelry, people will send "gifts" to one another. Spiritually, gifts relate to that which God freely gives. For example, Ephesians 4:7-8 declares:

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Salvation through Christ is God's great gift to man. In turn, when we become saved, we use our talents as gifts of service to the Lord. The Bible teaches in 1 Peter 4:10: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

However, the inhabitants of the earth will give gifts to each other (that is, from human to human). When Satan rules as the Antichrist, there will no longer be an abundance of gifts from God to man because the hope of salvation will be almost gone. Those who dwell on the earth will therefore give gifts to each other, meaning that they will be sharing other gospels (false religions, carnal philosophies, etc.) among themselves. People will delight in receiving these gifts (or gospels) because they will not require repentance to obtain. Also, there will be no spiritual torment in them, for only the true Gospel can convict us of our sins.

Rev 11:11. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

When Christ returns on the last day, which will occur after the three and a half days of Daniel's final half-week, the Spirit of life will enter the two witnesses. This is the event that we call the Rapture. Regarding it, Jesus taught in Matthew 24:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light . . . and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven . . . And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (vv. 29-31)

When the Lord returns, He will gather all believers. There will be two groups: the believing dead plus those who are alive at His coming. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, we read about the gathering of these two groups:

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

When the believers meet the Lord in the air, they will receive glorious new bodies, enabling them to live with the Lord forever. For the two witnesses (the believers on earth) this resurrection is referred to as "the Spirit of life" entering them. As the unsaved watch this extraordinary event, fear will grip them as they anticipate their own destiny.

Rev 11:12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

The great voice from heaven, of course, belongs to Jesus. As 1 Thessalonians 4:16 reveals, He will descend from heaven with a shout. Just as Lazarus was raised when Jesus cried out to him (Jn 11:43), so believers will be raised to eternal life when the Lord calls (this corresponds to the command in Rev 18:4 to "Come out of her, my people"). They will then ascend to heaven in a cloud, meaning they will ascend with the Lord in glory (cf. Ex 13:21; 1 Ki 8:10-11; Mt 17:5). Fittingly, the prophet Elijah – one of the antitypes of the two witnesses – also ascended to heaven in spectacular fashion (2 Ki 2:11-12).

The unsaved, however, will remain behind to be punished. This punishment will unfold by degree, through a series of terrifying plagues in the hour after the Rapture (see Rev 16). Near the close of that final hour, the worst earthquake in man's history will occur, causing global ruin.

The remainder of Revelation 11 (verses 13 to 19) talks about this earthquake as well as the closing events of the final hour. These verses will be reviewed in Chapters 24 and 25, which examine the second and third woes, respectively.

Go to Chapter 21 — The Two Beasts of Revelation 13
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