In Revelation 11, God sets John to the task of measuring His temple. God has John measure everything, except the outer court. Basically he is defining the limits: Inside are God’s people, outside are “the nations” – those who oppose God and the message of Christ. God protects those within his Church – the people he has called out, sealed, and made his own. But outside it says that those people will trample the holy city for forty-two months. Those outside of the Church – those who do not have faith in Jesus – will trample upon, desecrate, and defile that which is holy for a symbolic period of 3½ years.
What is this 3½ year period? We’re not completely clear on how long this time period actually is. It is referred to as forty-two month, 1,260 days, “a time, and times, and half a time” and even 3½ days. It may refer to the length of time a man named Antiochus Epiphanes terrorized Jerusalem and desecrated the temple from roughly 167-164 B.C. Whatever the length of this time, one thing is clear. This is a time of persecution – and that time of persecution will not last forever.
In this time of persecution, God sends his two witnesses. These two have been often identified as Moses and Elijah, but the text does not support that assumption. What is important is that God commanded in the Old Testament that every matter be established by a minimum of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6). These two will testify concerning God’s will for this world, in light of that, and in light of my belief that the events described here take place the whole time between Jesus’ ascension and return, I believe that these two witnesses are God’s Law and Gospel, the whole counsel of His Word. They are olive trees blessing the world with fruit and oil. They are lampstands giving light to the world.
The world hates God’s Word, yet God protects it. The Fire that comes out of their mouths is the Holy Spirit, and it consumes God’s enemies. The Law consumes God’s enemies through judgment, and the Gospel consumes them by making them (us) totally new creations. Miracles accompany the proclamation of God’s Word. It was by God’s Word that the skies were shut in Elijah’s day and it did not rain for 3½ years. Likewise it was by God’s Word that the plagues came upon the Egyptians in Moses day.
The world wars against God’s Word, and the devil joins in this warfare as they seek destroy it. This is why so often we hear stories that seem to cast doubt on the truth of the Bible. As Peter said, “These are the words of eternal life!” and if the devil and the world can pull it away, cast doubt, or even destroy it, they will steal eternal life from God’s people. Sometimes people will point to how science has “disproved” creation, or they will argue about “inconsistencies” in the Gospels. Have you ever seen a car with a “Darwin fish” swallowing a “Jesus fish”?
The world revels in the aspersions it casts upon God and his Word, and it even celebrates that it believes it has killed God’s Word. This past Christmas I saw signs that indicated that you did not need religion to celebrate Christmas – they rejoiced in being nice and giving gifts. They love being able to skirt God’s will, set aside his Word and see it as irrelevant – dead. But it’s not dead, and they will find to their loss that God’s Word is living and active.
Finally, the seventh trumpet is blown and once again the end comes, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever!” God will save his people from the persecution and take us home to live with him in Glory.
Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word which shows me both your Law and Gospel. Help me to love and cherish your Word and share it with others even when they hate it or think it irrelevant. Work through your Spirit to consume them (and me!) with your Word so that we might know your salvation fully in our lives, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
What is this 3½ year period? We’re not completely clear on how long this time period actually is. It is referred to as forty-two month, 1,260 days, “a time, and times, and half a time” and even 3½ days. It may refer to the length of time a man named Antiochus Epiphanes terrorized Jerusalem and desecrated the temple from roughly 167-164 B.C. Whatever the length of this time, one thing is clear. This is a time of persecution – and that time of persecution will not last forever.
In this time of persecution, God sends his two witnesses. These two have been often identified as Moses and Elijah, but the text does not support that assumption. What is important is that God commanded in the Old Testament that every matter be established by a minimum of two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6). These two will testify concerning God’s will for this world, in light of that, and in light of my belief that the events described here take place the whole time between Jesus’ ascension and return, I believe that these two witnesses are God’s Law and Gospel, the whole counsel of His Word. They are olive trees blessing the world with fruit and oil. They are lampstands giving light to the world.
The world hates God’s Word, yet God protects it. The Fire that comes out of their mouths is the Holy Spirit, and it consumes God’s enemies. The Law consumes God’s enemies through judgment, and the Gospel consumes them by making them (us) totally new creations. Miracles accompany the proclamation of God’s Word. It was by God’s Word that the skies were shut in Elijah’s day and it did not rain for 3½ years. Likewise it was by God’s Word that the plagues came upon the Egyptians in Moses day.
The world wars against God’s Word, and the devil joins in this warfare as they seek destroy it. This is why so often we hear stories that seem to cast doubt on the truth of the Bible. As Peter said, “These are the words of eternal life!” and if the devil and the world can pull it away, cast doubt, or even destroy it, they will steal eternal life from God’s people. Sometimes people will point to how science has “disproved” creation, or they will argue about “inconsistencies” in the Gospels. Have you ever seen a car with a “Darwin fish” swallowing a “Jesus fish”?
The world revels in the aspersions it casts upon God and his Word, and it even celebrates that it believes it has killed God’s Word. This past Christmas I saw signs that indicated that you did not need religion to celebrate Christmas – they rejoiced in being nice and giving gifts. They love being able to skirt God’s will, set aside his Word and see it as irrelevant – dead. But it’s not dead, and they will find to their loss that God’s Word is living and active.
Finally, the seventh trumpet is blown and once again the end comes, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever!” God will save his people from the persecution and take us home to live with him in Glory.
Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word which shows me both your Law and Gospel. Help me to love and cherish your Word and share it with others even when they hate it or think it irrelevant. Work through your Spirit to consume them (and me!) with your Word so that we might know your salvation fully in our lives, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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