(samy;44932)
Rise and measure the temple of GodIn the New Testament, the temple and its various features are often used to illustrate truth about the church. Peter writes: "you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:5). Paul reminds the church at Corinth, "for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are" (1 Cor. 3:17). Members of the Philadelphian church are promised that they will be made "pillar(s) in the temple" (Rev. 3:12). In Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he illustrates redemption by describing the wall of the temple that divided the inner Jewish court and outer gentile court. Christ’s redemptive work tore down "the dividing wall" and created one body of believers (Eph. 2:14). Paul then presents Christ, the apostles and prophets, and all the saints as the foundation and building materials fitted together "into a holy temple in the Lord...a dwelling of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:20-22).In Revelation 11, the temple, the outer court, and the holy city are similarly employed to portray saints. Some of these saints, later designated as "two witnesses," are first introduced as "the temple, altar and those who worship in it." They are measured and specifically distinguished from a larger community, those who do not worship in the altar and the "court which is outside." The entire church, the whole body of Christ, is presented by the figure of the temple, the outer court, and the holy city, but this chapter focuses on those who "worship in the altar." The subsequent discussion and description of two witnesses revolve around those "measured" members of the church whose worship is altar-worship.The saints brought to our attention as the two witnesses are ethnic believing Jews. In the temple, the inner and outer courts separated ethnic Jews and gentiles who worshipped the one true God. Likewise, the believing Jews in chapter 11 are distinguished from believing gentiles. Worship in the altarOur understanding of the central purpose of the two witnesses' ministry is established when they are described as "those who worship in [the altar]" (11:1). The entire book of Revelation is a call to worship in the altar, to recognize and value above all else the nature of God demonstrated in the Lamb. It is the Lamb who is central to God's rule, "in the center of the throne" (5:6, 7:17). It is the Lamb's wisdom ("eyes") and Lamb's power ("horns") that are the spirits sent "into all the earth" (5:5). It is from the altar that prayers ascend and judgment descends (8:3-5). It is in the blood of the Lamb that robes are made white (7:14). It is the sacrifice of the Lamb, the ultimate Priest and King, that makes both priests and kings (5:10). The power of the altar, "four horns of the golden altar," appropriately calls for the inevitable destruction inherent and residing in the Euphrates, the life-source of Babylon (9:13-15). It is from the altar that the angel comes to reap the harvest of the earth hostile to God (14:18). It is the altar that speaks during the judgment of the earth's rivers and springs saying, "Thus, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments" (16:7). The two witnesses, as those who worship in the altar, are witnesses to life defined by the altar.Thus, in chapter 11, our attention is drawn to the two witnesses. They are first characterized and distinguished by the scene where John is instructed to measure between the Jewish and gentile courts of the Temple. They are described specifically as those who worship in the altar. And then their identity is further developed as "the two olive trees and the two lampstands." Two olive treesIn verse 4, the two witnesses are identified as "the two olive trees...that stand before the Lord of the earth." Although the two olive trees are not found elsewhere in the book of Revelation, they are identified in Zechariah 4. In that context, an angel shows Zechariah two olive trees that supply oil to a single lampstand. As Zechariah presses the angel for an explanation, especially of the two olive branches, he learns that "these are the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth" (Zech. 4:14). Dr. Feinberg says of this scene,Practically all expositors interpret the last three verses thus: the two olive trees are the priestly and kingly offices of Israel; the two olive branches or twigs are their then incumbents, Joshua and Zerubbabel. Theirs is a position of responsibility in service before the Lord of all the earth. Ultimately these two servants of God in their official capacities adumbrate the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah who is both King and Priest. Thus the reference to the two olive trees tells us that the two witnesses of Revelation typify respectively the offices of priest and king. Two lampstandsIn their respective typical roles, the two witnesses are also "the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth." Lampstands are a familiar symbol from the context of Revelation 1-3. In chapter 1, the seven churches are identified as seven lampstands (1:20). In chapters 2 and 3, the two lampstands, the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia, are distinguished by the fact that they stand without criticism while the five others are warned by the Lord to repent from their fallen condition. But for Philadelphia and Smyrna to be "the two lampstands that stand" we would expect them also to be composed of Jews, with one church demonstrating the priestly office and the other church the kingly. Such appears to be the case. Of all the remarks made to the seven churches, only Smyrna and Philadelphia are addressed as Jews who had become followers of Christ. In both cases, the Lord speaks to the concern of believing Jews who had been put out of synagogues by unbelieving Jews, "those who say they are Jews" (2:9, 3:9). When we consider that the Lord addresses only these two churches regarding their experience with the "synagogue of Satan" (ethnic Jewish non-believers who falsely claimed to be God's true synagogue), it seems reasonable to conclude that the Lord regarded Philadelphia and Smyrna as the rightful claimants to the title "Jew," and saw their assemblies as the true synagogues. Gentile churches would not be inclined to a negative reaction toward ethnic non-believing Jews calling themselves Jews, or consequently in need of the Lord's assurance that He regarded such false claimants as a synagogue of Satan. Converted gentiles were called Christians, not Jews, and they gathered together as churches, not synagogues. Likewise, of all the seven churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia are addressed as those destined to demonstrate the offices of priest and king. Whereas Smyrna (2:8) is presented with a picture of Jesus "who was dead and has come to life" (first advent, the great High Priest who gave His own life), Philadelphia (3:7) is presented with a picture of Jesus "who has the key of David" (second advent, the King of Kings). Whereas Smyrna will suffer tribulation and death just as her High Priest Jesus, Philadelphia will be treated as a king by her enemies who "will come and bow down" at their feet. Philadelphia and Smyrna are therefore two lampstands (ethnic Jewish churches) that stand and exhibit characteristics of the priestly and kingly offices (the two olive trees). Measured for ministryThe act of "measuring" both of these churches apart from the five gentile churches ("court which is outside") relates to enabling these two churches to accomplish their special prophetic task, whether they find themselves in the heat of persecution (as in Smyrna) or in a position of relative safety (as in Philadelphia). In the same way, whether Old Testament prophets were persecuted, as Elijah, or roamed free, as Elisha, they were equally set apart and supernaturally endowed for the service of God.John is supplied "a measuring reed like a ruler's scepter" (11:1). This scepter is not a normal measuring device. The fact that a scepter is to be used for measuring is notice that the results are the function of a king's authority. And the kind of measuring that John is acting out is apparently similar to what King David did when he defeated Moab (2 Sam. 8:2). The measuring in that context meant the difference between life and death for a conquered people.This picture of ethnic Jewish believers being distinguished from and treated differently than gentile believers with whom they share a common identity in the body of Christ, is consistent also with the pictures in Revelation 7, 12, 14, and 15. In chapter 7, the 144,000 of the twelve tribes of Israel share a common identity as servants of God with the great multitude of all the nations, but are distinguished by nationality and the act of sealing. In chapter 12, "the woman" (12:1) and "the rest of her offspring" (12:17) share identity as those who "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" but are distinguished in the exclusively Jewish-Christian description of the woman and the special treatment ("place prepared by God," "nourished," "two wings of the great eagle") given her by God during the career of the dragon. In chapter 14, the 144,000 are with the Lord on Mount Zion as "firstfruits" of the Lord's harvest, singing a song no others could learn, while an undesignated group "who had come off victorious from the beast" (15:2) sing the Lord's praises with the phrase, "all the nations will come and worship before You." This last group only comes into our view after the 144,000 are with the Lord, and the subsequent scene of harvest is described (14:14-16). This singling out of a believing Jewish remnant for a powerful prophetic ministry during the time of the great tribulation was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28 ff.) and was repeated by the assembled saints on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17). Joel said that the Spirit was to be poured out upon the sons of Israel without distinction between sex, age, or class ("all flesh"), resulting in a ministry of prophecy and the display of God's power. Two witnesses not two peopleSome commentators have suggested Old Testament prophets such as Moses and Elijah as historically typical of the two witnesses or are coming again to be the two witnesses. Indeed, some such Old Testament individuals or scenarios may be typical of the Revelation scene. A likely pair whose case strongly resembles the present scene are Moses and Aaron. They filled the offices of priest and king in Israel in opposition to the wicked Pharaoh and his magician priests. In that case, we also see God's supernatural power granted in opposition to the diabolical power of Pharaoh's priests.However likely it is that Moses and Aaron or others are typical of the two witnesses' ministry, the language of chapter 11 does not support the suggestion that the two witnesses are two individual persons. The text states that they are "the two lampstands that stand," a direct reference to the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna. The singular nouns "mouth" (11:5) and "body" (11:8-9) properly express functions of a large body of people but would be linguistic errors in reference to two persons. The beast is said to "make war with them and kill them" at the conclusion of their testimony. Such a description does not fit the simple execution of two persons. Next, we are notified that their dead "body" (singular, not plural) lies (verb supplied by translators) “in the street of the great city.” Because the phrase "the great city" is discovered to be a reference to the "woman" (great harlot) of chapters 17 and 18, who personifies the multiplied Babylon-like cities of the world, a great number of dead are envisioned lying in the streets of the world's cities. It was here in the Babylon-like world-city that Jesus was crucified. In addition, the wide number of those from "the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations" who look at their dead bodies speaks of a large number of dead bodies distributed widely. Nothing in the text of chapter 11 leads us to hypothesize two individual persons; but everything about the text and the further context of Revelation leads us to the two churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Two witnesses and the trumpetsAs the witnesses fulfill their prophetic calling in the context of the beast's opposition, calamity results on a world-wide scale. A comparison between the description of the two witnesses' miraculous power and the scene from chapter 8 at the beginning of the trumpets brings this picture into sharp focus. In chapter 8, the ascent of the saints' prayers is seen to precede the hail and fire (trumpet one), a great star burning with fire (trumpet two), and a great star burning like a torch (trumpet three), all of which fall consecutively on earth with various consequences, followed by a darkness (trumpet four) and a plague (trumpet five). By comparison, in chapter 11 it is said of the two witnesses that,...if any one desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies...these have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. (11:5-6)If "fire proceeds out of their mouth" means that they speak and fire results as Moses spoke and a fiery hail resulted, or Elijah spoke and fire came down from heaven, then the scenes under the trumpets and the ministry of the two witnesses appears to be one and the same. The two witnesses turn water to blood and smite the earth with plagues and call fire down from heaven just as we see under the trumpets. And if to this we add the scene that Joel foresaw, then we conclude that the supernatural calamity under the trumpets is directed from heaven in response to the words of the two witnesses against the ungodly. This is not unlike the case of Israel being delivered from Egypt.Thus we conclude that the two witnesses are the two churches, Philadelphia and Smyrna, demonstrating the priestly and kingly function, composed exclusively of the tribes of Israel. They are set apart from the five gentile churches who will by this time have become compromised by the world to the point where they no longer present themselves as an effective force for the Lord. They will be supported spiritually by faithful gentiles who, as minority members of the five churches, continue to obey and glorify the Lord (cf: Rev. 2-3). The identity of the two witnesses, and the condition of the five gentile churches, provides a chilling reminder of Paul's words to the Romans,You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, and you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you (Rom. 11:19-21).
Hi Samy, with the greatest of respect to your views here, can I disagree with a symbolic view. I feel that the language used here refering to the 'two witnesses' is literal when compared with text and imagery that is clearly sybolic.To show what I mean I just want to put something by everyone. I’m only putting this up because while I was reading, it came to me and felt right. So I’m not putting this up as some radical teaching that I’m saying is correct. Only that it seems to fit, others seem to have had the same observation and if nothing else is interesting and worth pondering.I know that many already believe (not all) that the identity of the two witnesses could be Elijah & Moses. So, not being one to accept stuff without there being good biblical reason, I decided to see if that might be right.I know that the main reason for this belief is because the two witnesses bring about miracles similar to Elijah & Moses in the Old Testament. I.e. bringing fire down from heaven and similar plagues etc.But there could be more reason than this!Why does the bible call these two men, ‘the two witnesses’?I think we should look into this, as it is obviously an important detail of their description.I was pondering this and thought, where else have Elijah and Moses been mentioned together? Also, where else has there been two men sent from God been together?The first place I thought of was on the mount of transfiguration. Moses and Elijah appear on the mount to talk with Jesus:Luke 9: 28-31 28Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.The thing that I questioned here was, why did Moses and Elijah appear here to talk with Jesus about the crucifixion in Jerusalem? I don’t personally feel it was simply for a chat about it! But rather something more was going on.The conversation was concerning Jesus’ mission, His death and resurrection that Jesus was about to accomplish, His purpose for being on earth this time round. The bible says that they appeared as glorified men!The next time we see two glorified men is at the actual tomb of Jesus after his death and at the point of resurrection:Luke 24:1-8 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'Once again the bible indicates that two men were present at Jesus’ point of ascension;Acts 1: 9-12 And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11who also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven."The next time we see two men together is in Revelation, the two witnesses:Rev 11: 3-6 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”4These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth. 5And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.There description here is ‘the two olive trees and two lamp stands’. Olive trees indicates that they are Jewish. Most Jews are expecting Elijah to return before the Messiah comes, so already many accept that Elijah could well be one of these witnesses, and to back that up this witness does very similar things that Elijah did on his first visit. Also many are aware that Elijah never died, but that God took him up, so expect a literal bodily return. Many believe already that the 2nd witness could be Moses, Another study puts it this way; (Many of the miracles that will be done, during the Tribulation, by the two witnesses were also done by Moses previously. The following are some of them. It is written, regarding the Tribulation, AND THE FIRST (angel) WENT, AND POURED OUT HIS VIAL UPON THE EARTH; AND THERE FELL A NOISOME AND GRIEVOUS SORE UPON THE MEN WHICH HAD THE MARK OF THE BEAST-Rev 16:2. Moses did something similar in the Old Testament-ref Ex 9:10. It is written, regarding the two witnesses during the Tribulation, THESE HAVE POWER...OVER WATERS TO TURN THEM TO BLOOD-Rev 11:6. Moses did this in the Old Testament-ref Ex 7:20)However, many struggle because Elijah never died, but Moses did. Again, this is explained in another study observation
Some may say that Moses was never raptured as Elijah was. This is true; nevertheless, consider the following. When Moses died, the Bible tells us that his natural force was not abated. It is written, AND MOSES WAS AN HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED: HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM, NOR HIS NATURAL FORCE ABATED (or gone)-Deut 34:7. Since we would expect Moses to have his natural body when he returns during the Tribulation, we then should be able to understand why Satan wanted to find out where his body was. Apparently, he wanted to destroy it. Nevertheless, no man knows where it is. This should have prevented Moses from returning. As it is written, YET MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, WHEN CONTENDING WITH THE DEVIL…ABOUT THE BODY OF MOSES-Jude 9; SO MOSES...DIED...AND HE (the Lord) BURIED HIM...BUT NO MAN KNOWETH OF HIS SEPULCHER UNTO THIS DAY-Deut 34:5,6. It seems God is protecting the body of Moses so that, when the day comes, Moses will appear. God demonstrated how He can keep things from decaying or growing old; as it is written, THY RAIMENT WAXED NOT OLD UPON THEE, NEITHER DID THY FOOT SWELL, THESE FORTY YEARS-Deut 8:4. Moses wanted to enter the Promised Land, but God told him no. Yet it appears God will yet allow him to enter during the Tribulation. It is written, AND I BESOUGHT THE LORD AT THAT TIME, SAYING, O LORD GOD...I PRAY THEE, LET ME GO OVER, AND SEE THE GOOD LAND THAT IS BEYOND JORDAN...BUT THE LORD WAS WROTH WITH ME FOR YOUR SAKES, AND WOULD NOT HEAR ME: AND THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, LET IT SUFFICE THEE; SPEAK NO MORE UNTO ME OF THIS MATTER-Deut 3:23,25,26)Anyway, my point is this! Maybe Moses and Elijah are called the ‘two witnesses’ here because of one simple reason;They were the only two people on earth ‘Ever’ to ‘literally’ witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! The apostles and many others witnessed the risen Jesus, but never witnessed Jesus literally rise from the dead! Many believed the apostles witness of the risen Christ, but as a whole the Jewish nation rejected the apostles witness.Why appear to Jesus to discuss what was about to happen in Jerusalem? They were there for a reason and I’m sure not just for a chat about it.Why two glorified men in the tomb, who had obviously been there during the resurrection?Why two glorified men at the ascension, again, possibly as a witness to the event for the end time Jews.Now it seems too much of a coincidence to me that Moses & Elijah would appear to Jesus to discuss the events of the crucifixion & resurrection and it not be them ‘at the resurrection site’.The Jews tried to counter the claims that the apostles would say regarding Messiah’s resurrection when they said; The Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”But if this is right, no man will have excuse, as here are the only two who ever literally witnessed Jesus’ literal resurrection and also witnessed His ascension too!What an amazing thing this could be! It says in Revelation that everyone hated these two. Their message was clearly not well received. What if that message was a testimony to what they had literally seen? The resurrection from the dead and the ascension of Christ!Maybe this is what the Jewish nation needs to be able to come to faith as a nation. Maybe it’s God’s time to ‘make straight the paths’ again, before the day of the Lord. Well this excites me, and my heart and spirit says yes. However, please understand, I’m a simple man who looks for answers in truth. If this is right then wonderful, if not ok.
