Revelation · chapter 11 of 22
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Revelation 11 shows John measuring the temple while the outer court is given to the nations for forty-two months. Two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, the beast from the abyss kills them, and their bodies lie in the street of the great city, but after three and a half days God raises them and they ascend to heaven. At the seventh trumpet, heavenly voices proclaim that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ.
This chapter continues the second interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. It is one of the most debated passages in the book: the measuring of the temple, the two witnesses and the great city have been understood in very different ways. Even so, its central message is clear: God protects his people, his witness cannot be silenced for good, and the kingdom ends in the hands of Christ.
John is given a measuring rod and told to measure the temple of God, the altar and those who worship there, but to leave out the outer court, because it has been given to the nations, who will trample the holy city for forty-two months (vv. 1-2).
God grants his two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth. They have power to shut the sky, to turn waters into blood and to strike the earth with plagues (vv. 3-6).
When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit conquers and kills them. Their bodies lie in the street of the great city, symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days those who dwell on the earth rejoice and exchange gifts, because these prophets had tormented them. Then a breath of life from God enters them, they stand up and go up to heaven in a cloud. A great earthquake strikes, a tenth of the city falls, seven thousand people are killed, and the rest give glory to the God of heaven (vv. 7-14).
The seventh trumpet sounds and loud voices in heaven say that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders worship God for taking his great power, judging the dead and rewarding his servants. God's temple in heaven is opened and the ark of his covenant is seen (vv. 15-19).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God grants two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. The text stresses that God's witness continues in a hostile world, under his permission and protection for the appointed time.
When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the abyss conquers and kills them. The witnesses are not invincible: the faithful may suffer martyrdom, but only after they have fulfilled what God entrusted to them.
After three and a half days the breath of life from God enters the witnesses and they stand up. The image announces that the death of the faithful is not the last word and recalls the resurrection of Christ.
When the seventh trumpet sounds, heavenly voices declare that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever. It is the goal of the whole book presented in advance.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The temple of God, the altar and those who worship there. — Revelation 11:1
Answer: 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. — Revelation 11:3
Answer: The two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. — Revelation 11:4
Answer: The beast that rises from the bottomless pit. — Revelation 11:7
Answer: Three and a half days; then the breath of life from God enters them, they stand up and go up to heaven in a cloud. — Revelation 11:9-12
Answer: That the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. — Revelation 11:15
Revelation 11 encourages those who give witness in an environment that does not welcome them. The witnesses are faithful even when they seem to lose, and the chapter promises that their cause does not end in defeat. A group can talk about how to keep a simple, steady witness at work, at home or at school without depending on the approval of others.
It also reminds us that final triumph does not depend on our results but on the fact that the kingdom of the world already belongs to the Lord and his Christ. That conviction frees us from anxiety about success and lets us persevere with joy, even when the cost is high.
Revelation 11 ends with the announcement of Christ's kingdom and the vision of the ark in the heavenly temple. In chapter 12 a new section of signs begins: a woman, a dragon and a child, which show the underlying conflict of all history.
There are several readings. Some think of two specific individuals of the end time, sometimes linked to Moses and Elijah because of their powers; others understand them as the witnessing church, represented by two witnesses according to the biblical principle that a matter is confirmed by two. The text does not give their names.
They are equivalent, three and a half years. Some understand them literally as a period of future tribulation; others, as a limited symbolic time, half of a seven-year period, representing the length of the trial under God's control. The same measure appears in Daniel.
The text says it is the city where their Lord was crucified, and calls it symbolically Sodom and Egypt. Some identify it with Jerusalem; others, with the world's city in rebellion against God, an image of the society that rejects the witnesses. The names speak of corruption and oppression.