Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
The Two Witnesses
(From Forerunner Commentary)
|
Revelation 11:2
God tells John particularly to "leave out" the court outside the Temple. Leave out, emphasized in Greek, means "to cast out" - not just "leave out" or "ignore." It implies, "Throw it out!" "Expel it!" It almost conveys a violent rejection of the outer court. The context suggests that this space, where anyone could go and gather, has nothing to do with the Temple except its proximity. It has nothing to do with God or the church. In the symbolism, God tells John - and thus the Two Witnesses - that they should reject the world or perhaps less harshly, disregard it. The literal Greek rendering of casting, throwing, or ejecting that court is a bolder, sterner way of phrasing it. This can have two senses. The first, probably the correct one, is that they should not concern themselves with the world at all. It is not their job to save it. They must leave it where God has put it - outside the Temple or the church. In fact, if the Two Witnesses were to spend their time worrying about all the people in the world, they could not accomplish their work of measuring the Temple. So, God says, "Throw out any idea that the world's people fall into your area of responsibility. The world is not your concern." We could also understand His command to mean, "The world is My concern, and I already have a plan to deal with it - at another time." It forces the Two Witnesses into a narrow work—solely to the church at this point because that is where it needs to start. The second sense is that this verse suggests removing worldliness from the church. That, of course, would be covered in God's command to measure the Temple. So, the first sense - that they should ignore the world at this point - is more probable. God has that work reserved for another period, for other servants. He will take care of most of the world's people in His own time. It has never been the church's job to try to save the world. Its job has been to preach the gospel as a witness, but it cannot actually save the world's people. God does the saving. He is the One who calls - invites or summons - an individual He wants to save. The church has been commanded to go out and preach the message, the gospel. If anyone responds to it, then the church must teach, baptize, and usher the individual into the church's fellowship for spiritual growth toward the image of Christ. The idea that we in the church must save the world is entirely erroneous. Christians of this world believe that if we fail to reach everyone now, they will never be saved. It is simply not the case! God has already reserved a future time and a method to save them. He says that most of the people who have lived on this earth will be saved. He says that specifically about Israel, and it applies to most of the Gentiles as well because He wants everyone to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). He will save them by bringing them into contact with the truth and giving them the Holy Spirit so they can understand - but in due time, not now. He emphasizes this fact to the Two Witnesses. They are not to go out into the world - the outer court - to conduct crusades to bring in millions of new members. It is not their job. They are not to do for the world as they do for the church because it would waste their time and resources. Because it is blinded, the world cannot understand God's way right now, so the Two Witnesses' preaching would go right over their heads. The emphasis in Greek suggests they should not even try to go there! As their name suggests, their work will be one of making a witness, not of bringing the nations into the church. "The court which is outside" has no part with the church. God will work with those who live through the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord in the Millennium. He will work with those who die during that time in the second resurrection, the time of the Great White Throne Judgment. By the way, the word "Gentiles" here is the word ethnos, from which we get our word "ethnic." It simply means "the nations," "heathen or pagan people," or simply "peoples." In many places, the best translation is "the nations." He is referring to the different kinds of people in this world. They are the ones who inhabit the court outside the temple. Clearly, He is speaking about nations or people who do not know God and who are currently cut off from Him. Perhaps the most general way we could define this is to call them "the unconverted" or "the uncalled."
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Three)
|
|
Revelation 11:2
Revelation mentions three different periods that are all the same—1,260 days, 3½ years, or forty-two months. If we do the math, they all come out within a day or so of one another. If we use 30-day months (as many prophecies do), they come out exactly 3½ years to the day. The forty-two months figure is found here and in one other place, Revelation 13:1-5, where the Beast rising out of the sea is the subject: He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5) These time periods appear in various places in Revelation—but particularly in chapters 11-13. In Revelation 11:2, the Two Witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days. In Revelation 12:6, the woman goes into her place in the wilderness, and she is fed there 1,260 days. Then, at the end of the chapter, the woman is given two wings of a great eagle, and she flies into the wilderness where she is nourished for "a time and times and half a time" (Revelation 12:14), which is 3½ years. A "time" is a year, and "times" is thus two years. "Half a time," then, is half a year. So, added together, they are 3½ years. The woman is protected from the presence of the serpent for 3½ years. The book of Daniel also mentions various time periods of similar lengths. It can be quite difficult to sort out, which is how many who study prophecy become confused about the timing of events. The prophecy of Revelation 13:5 seems to be dual. As we understand it, the Beast power down through history was given forty-two months—or, using the day-for-a-year principle, 1,260 years—of sway over primarily the lands of Europe. This sway was seen in the power of the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire during that time. But the time period will likely be dual, that is, it will apply to a time in the past, the type, and to a time in the future, the antitype. We see in Revelation 11:2-3 that this same period of time is when the Gentiles—the nations—will have rule over the city of Jerusalem. So, at the end, there will be a period of a literal 1,260 days (3½ years, not 1,260 years) in which the Beast will have sway. This is also mirrored in Revelation 12, which shows a period of 1,260 days, which can be interpreted as the 1,260 years in which the church fled into the wilderness, that is, God hid its existence from the visible church by keeping it alive in remote areas. Then, at the end of the chapter, there is a period of "a time and times and half a time" (or, literally 3½ years) in which the end-time church is protected from the depradations of Satan. So we have mirrored occurrences of a literal time of 3½ years (1,260 days or forty-two months) and a typical time of 1,260 years. Here in Revelation 11:2, the context calls for a literal 3½ years. It is an inset chapter, that is, one that interrupts the flow of the rest of Revelation to concentrate on an important matter that needs to be explained. That flow of story has now reached the point of the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, culminating with the return of Jesus Christ to bring about the end of this present, satanic world. There is no need to become confused about these forty-two months or 1,260 days in verses 2 and 3 because they are indicating the same period. As far as we know from the church's long study of prophecy, they are essentially the same as the 3½ years of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, ending with Christ's return.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Three)
|
|
Revelation 11:10
"Those who dwell on the earth" is a formulaic expression in the book of Revelation, and it simply means those who want nothing to do with God, the worldly. Maybe the easiest way to define it would be simply "the carnal," "the fleshly." Colossians 3:1-2 shows the opposite of this: If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. There is a definite distinction between those who are godly, who seek heavenly or godly things, and "those who dwell on the earth," who seek earthly things. The latter are those who have no higher spiritual desire in life. They are perfectly happy here with their lives on the earth. Anyone who wants to tell them about the truth of God just gets the cold shoulder. They have their minds set on things of the earth. Revelation 11:10 contains a set of three verbs—"rejoice," "make merry," and "send" gifts. The sense is that these carnal people will be joyful and celebrate and make a holiday out of the news of the witnesses' deaths by sending gifts to each other. All of this action that they take grows out of a sense of relief that their problems have been solved now that the witnesses lay dead. "Happy days are here again," in other words. They will be so happy that these witnesses, who have been thorns in their sides, have been defeated—been killed—that they will put on a wild celebration, maybe for the whole three days. They will be ecstatic that these men who tormented them (as they think of it) are finally removed from the scene and out of their hair. Now, their supposed "heaven on earth" can continue. But it is a false "heaven on earth"—it is actually the abyss on earth, but they do not realize it because they have been thoroughly deceived. The word "tormented" is the same one found in Revelation 20:10: The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Satan and his demons will indeed be tormented. What the Two Witnesses do to the people of the earth at that time will not be torment, but that is how it will feel to these carnal people. The strongest meaning of this word in Greek means "torture." On the other end of the word's spectrum of definitions, it can mean "vex," a kind of irritation. It can also mean "harass," "distress," or "question," as in the sense of "interrogate under duress." Perhaps the most interesting of the definitions of this word is "test." The two prophets will test these carnal people, and they will fail miserably. They will think the tests are torture and stubbornly refuse to change. We can easily see this in their actions: They will rejoice at the witnesses' deaths. Notice that the Two Witnesses are called "two prophets." They are not called apostles or ministers. They are called prophets specifically because that is the essence of their work. They do a prophetic type of work rather than an apostolic type of work. The two overlap at points, but God emphasizes the prophetic one here.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Seven)
|
|
 |
The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment
Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 155,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.
Email Address:
|
We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time. |
|
|
