The Church Secure in the World
Revelation 11:1-13
February 4, 2007 

The church is on Jesus Christ’s schedule. We may convene, make plans, execute new programs, and follow our agendas, achieving lofty goals without furthering the gospel mission entrusted to us. Yet the Lord of the Church will not be deterred from His eternal purpose for the church. He has redeemed a people by His bloody death at the cross. Through the proclamation of the gospel He is calling out a people for Himself that constitutes the church—His bride, the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the temple of God—to use a few of Revelation’s images for the church. Christ’s atoning death and the Spirit’s regenerating and sanctifying life assures the church of its eternal triumph.

Yet throughout the ages the church has been, and shall be, opposed and oppressed. Its triumph is not “on flowery beds of ease,” as the hymn writer expressed it, but rather through much tribulation. The typical American perspective on the church as a worldly, happy-go-lucky, successful organization is not the picture given in Scripture. The church suffers from one generation to another and from one degree to another. Or else the church must wonder if it is making enough distinction for the world to even take notice.

In the past few weeks I’ve learned of four new converts to Christ hiding in Afghanistan after one of them was killed by his own father-in-law. Seven incidents occurred in different villages of India where pastors and churches have been violently attacked for the gospel both verbally and physically. Sixty-eight Christians were arrested in Eritrea, over half teenagers, and their Bibles burned. The Himachal Pradesh state of northern India has passed an anti-conversion bill aimed at Christians, making Christian evangelism the object of two-year imprisonment. An 18-year old new believer was pushed from a moving train to his death by Hindu extremists. Iranian officials arrested house church leaders for doing evangelism. A Muslim mob in Nigeria attacked workers trying to rebuild a church facility that the mob had earlier destroyed. A Pakistani Christian was released from charges that he defiled the Quran only to have to go into hiding for his safety [most from Compass Direct News for January 2007].

Meanwhile, the gospel is spreading and churches formed and strengthened in the same countries where opposition grows! Christ preserves His people while the world rages against them. That is the pattern through the ages until such a time that Christ declares, “Enough!” Then, in what will seem the most dismal period for the church, the triumph of Christ’s death and resurrection will be displayed as the church is gathered forever into the glory of His presence while His wrath consumes His enemies. Revelation 11 offers this picture to keep the church on a steady course as the church-on-mission-with-the-gospel in the world. How does John help the church with this particular apocalyptic portrait?

I. The church through the ages
In this interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, John explains what happens at the end before the breaking of the seventh seal and sounding of the seventh trumpet. Rather than a linear view of the church’s life in God’s redemptive calendar, John offers snapshots of varied scenes, layering one on top of another, so that from every angle we begin to see the triumph of Christ on behalf of His people through the ages.

Chapter 11 is not without much disagreement and controversy. Some suggest that it really doesn’t belong in Revelation, that it is a later interpolation by other writers. Others declare it to be pivotal in explaining the entire book. Each of the symbols in this purely symbolic language has been given a wide range of meanings through different interpreters. I want to offer what I believe to be the most plausible interpretation.

1. Secure in Christ v. 1
In keeping with the message of Revelation, the church is secure in Christ. That doesn’t mean that the church will not face great tribulation; it is clear that tribulation follows its path. Yet all the while, Christ assures His people that nothing can separate them from His love (Rom. 8:37-39). That remains a vital message for the church in this world.

In chapter 7 we saw the church numbered and sealed. Here the church is measured. “Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.” The measuring is equivalent to the numbering and sealing of the church. Several indications reinforce this. First, in the context, John has been shown the gospel’s terminus (10:1-7) and its impetus (10:8-11), ending with him being re-commissioned with the gospel message. Upon the heels of this commissioning, John is told, as part of his ministry, to measure three things: “the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it.” The measuring rod is similar to the image in Ezekiel 40-48 where the prophet in exile travels with an angel to measure the re-established and re-constituted temple. It will be the source of spiritual life flowing throughout the world, as a mighty river flows from the temple to give life to others. It is a picture of security and triumph in the Lord. John borrows from this prophecy and applies it to the church.

Second, Jerusalem’s temple had already been destroyed by the Roman General Titus in 70 A.D., so there was no temple or altar to measure. The message reinforced throughout the New Testament is that once Christ died and the veil into the Holy of Holies was split from top to bottom, indicating that the way to God was forever opened through Christ, the physical temple had no more usefulness in God’s economy (cf. Hebrews 7-10). Instead, the church had become the temple: “Do you [plural] not know that you [pl.] are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you [pl.]?” (1 Cor. 3:16) The church is “being fitted together…growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21-22). Peter uses similar language in 1 Peter 2:4-10. The overcomers in Philadelphia, Jesus said would be “a pillar in the temple of My God” (Rev. 3:12). So, “the temple of God” in this passage alludes to the church. Just as the temple in Jerusalem was God’s dwelling place, now, with the completed redemptive work of Christ, the church is His dwelling place.

Third, “the altar” is a repeated term in Revelation. It is associated with the believers in the presence of the Lord who had been killed for their testimony of the gospel, now crying out for God to avenge their blood (6:9). It’s the place where the prayers of the saints are as incense in God’s presence (8:3-5). It emphasizes being in the presence of God (9:13; 14:18; 16:7). “Measuring the altar’s dimensions,” writes Simon Kistemaker, “signifies that the saints have access to God and enjoy his protective care. At the altar they are safe” [NTC: Revelation, 325]. “Those who worship in it” further indicates, the redemptive people of God being marked out or measured by the Lord. How do you measure worshipers but by numbering them as people of God’s care?

Here’s the point that John makes. God knows His own, marks them out carefully, and secures them with His presence. The church is accounted by Him.

2. Persecuted by the world v. 2
The next verse makes a distinction between the temple (naos in Greek, actually the sanctuary) and the court (aulen in Greek). “Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.” If measuring implies securing in God’s presence, then leaving out the court from the measurement indicates that the church will also, even while it is secured eternally through Christ, face the opposition of the world. Dennis Johnson explains, “This prohibition shows that what is measured is placed under divine protection, and what is not measured is exposed to assault by the nations” [Triumph of the Lamb, 167]. The key is seeing that “the court” is equivalent to “the holy city” that will be trodden under foot. Though used of Jerusalem at the beginning and end of Jesus’ ministry (Matt. 4:5; 27:53), the latter phrase is used exclusively for the church throughout Revelation (21:2; 21:10; 22:19). God’s residence was no longer in Jerusalem but in the church purchased by the blood of His Son [Kistemaker, 326]. Kistemaker adds, “In short, the New Testament shows that the earthly Jerusalem lost its claim to be called the holy city when the Holy Spirit changed his dwelling place from Jerusalem to the hearts of God’s people, the saints…The Christian church is symbolically called the holy city, for in that place God dwells with his covenant people (21:3)” [327].

God limits the time, “for forty-two months,” that the church will face persecution. His sovereign limitations are expressed as the holy city being given to the nations: “for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.” That number is not to be taken literally, just as the 1,260 days and “time, times, and half a time,” that indicates the same number, is not literal. Revelation is filled with symbolism through numbers, just as we’ve already noted. Instead, it is apocalyptic indication of a limited timeframe—forty-two months or three-and-one-half years is half of the complete number seven—and dictated by the Sovereign Lord. It was the period of time that Daniel prophesied concerning the desecration of the temple by the wicked Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes (Antiochus IV) during the time of the Maccabees in 2nd century Israel. His trampling of Jerusalem lasted 42 months. It seemed that it would never end but by God’s kindness, the hand of the Maccabees restored worship, while Antiochus died insane [ISBE, I:146]. John uses the same language to express the limited power of the world in opposing the church throughout the earth. Though at times facing intense opposition, the church, therefore, is safe from God’s wrath “but vulnerable to attack through persecution by the world’s noncovenant peoples” [Johnson, 168].

3. Empowered for the gospel vv. 3-6
The same God that gives authority to the nations—the world in opposition against God and His people—to trample the church, is the same God that gives authority to His two witnesses to carry out gospel ministry. “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.” Who are the two witnesses with this prophetic authority? Some identify them as the reappearance of Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enoch or other figures. But the literal use of “two” doesn’t seem to fit the context. The symbolism in “two” has significance for several reasons. First, Deuteronomy 19:15 required that every word of testimony be established by the mouth of two or more witnesses. So, two witnesses proved the reliability of the word spoken. Second, Jesus sent out His disciples in their gospel ministry two by two. It reflects the pattern of the earliest Christian evangelistic work, giving some indication of the content of the prophetic work by the two witnesses. Third, “the two olive trees” phrase borrows similar images from Zechariah 4. He spoke of Zerubbabel and Joshua as two olive trees serving prophetically as king and priest in the renewed Jerusalem and rebuilt temple after the exile. Similarly, just as John has already told us, Christ has made His redeemed to be priests that reign upon the earth (Rev. 1:5-6; 5:9-10). Rather than seeing “two” as a literal number, it seems more in keeping with the passage to indicate this as another symbol for the church on mission in the world.

These messengers “prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth,” the same timeframe of their opposition by the world. As we saw in 10:1-7, the ministry of the gospel is not forever; there’s a terminus for that gracious work. “Sackcloth” was the garment of mourning and repentance. It indicates that the prophetic work conveys a message of repentance, as well as a sense of grief at the rebellion of the world against the gracious provision of God through Christ. “These are…the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” indicates the source of the church’s power and strength for ministry. The lampstand in Zechariah’s prophecy indicated the power of the Holy Spirit. “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (4:6). Standing before the Lord of the earth is similar language borrowed again from Zechariah 4:14 to indicate God’s messengers anointed by the Spirit, living in God’s presence. The significance is that the two witnesses—the church—would take a message of repentance to the world, and would do so by the strong presence of the Lord’s Spirit upon them.

But the church felt the weight of opposition upon them at this time. How would they continue to take the gospel to the world that opposed them? Verses 5-6 emphasize answered prayer and spiritual power in the face of worldly opposition. “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.” The identification with Moses and Elijah reinforces that God works on behalf of the church as He did with them. Fire fell from heaven and devoured the company of soldiers that came to arrest Elijah. He prayed and rain did not fall for three-and-one-half years. Moses and Aaron turned the water of the Nile into blood, and struck Egypt with plagues. Christians must recognize that the call to gospel ministry is not a call to walk in our power or ability. It is a life of dependence upon the Lord. Here is the assurance that the Sovereign Lord answers the prayers of His people in the furtherance of the gospel. Again, the language is not to be taken literally, but rather applied to strengthen our faith and resolve to trust the Lord who has commissioned us as ambassadors of His kingdom, preaching the gospel of repentance to a sinful world.

II. The church at the end of the ages vv. 7-10
If the church understands the divine plan for its time on earth, then it is encouraged to be faithful when things are difficult. That’s what John reinforces for us in these verses.

1. Mission focused
The church has a work to complete. It’s not buildings, budgets, programs, and numbers. The work centers on the gospel being declared until the Lord’s patience is spent, and His wrath falls. “When they have finished their work, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.” If you were part of a group of Christians living under great oppression in the Roman Empire, you might wonder if you could keep up with your mission to declare the gospel to the world. Here is encouragement. The church is not finished until the Lord God says it is finished; it matters not what kind of opposition it faces in the God-given mission. He protects and preserves His church while the mission of the gospel remains incomplete. God has set the timeframe or deadline for this work. Our responsibility is not to figure when the end will come but to be faithful as evangels of the good news of Christ until we “have finished [our] work.”

The global nature of this work is evident in the global opposition. Those dwelling on the earth consider themselves “tormented” by the gospel message (v. 10). It cuts through the darkness of the soul to expose man’s desperate need for Christ. The personification of the world as “Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified,” the identification of “peoples and tribes and tongues and nations,” and the repeated “those who dwell on the earth,” is John’s way of showing that the gospel will be opposed throughout the world because it is proclaimed throughout the world. For the believers of ancient Asia Minor that lacked a global perspective, this was big news! For those of us that realize how small the world is due to our ability to communicate with and travel to the ends of the earth, it is a reminder that we must never lose sight of our gospel mission to the world. Here is an important assurance. God might not bless our recreation programs or denominational emphases or academic programs, but He does bless gospel work that declares Christ to the world until the work is finished.

2. Concerted opposition
Once the gospel work is “finished,” then “the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.” Here is the incarnation of evil; wickedness, vileness, hatred, and animosity toward Christ and His followers, and particularly toward the saving message of the gospel. All holding to this gospel face the vent of the beast’s rage. The “abyss” pictures the depths of perverseness and evil. The “war” implies a conflict with a large group rather than a mere fight among three people. The implication is of a broad conflict encompassing all of the saints against the wicked opposition of the world.

John helps us to see that the time will come when it appears that evil has totally conquered the church—its voice and testimony silenced. He shows this by the dead bodies of the witnesses lying in the street of the “great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” The “dead bodies” is translated as plural when in fact the Greek has it as singular. That is because the church stands as one though made up of many members. John is showing the silencing of the entire church globally, reinforced by verse 9, “Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.” John uses the same four-fold terminology found in chapters 5 and 7 that showed global proportions of Christ’s redemptive work. Here it is global proportions of evil triumphing over the church. The scene shows a slaughtering of Christians whose gospel work is completed. The brief time of three and a half days envisions a short period that the world exults over the destruction of Christianity and elimination of the gospel. “And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” What the world has desired since the emergence of sin comes to fruition. The voice of the good news is silenced. Men are given over to their sin. The gospel that they considered to be tormenting is silenced. Only a few believers who desire to bury with dignity their fallen brethren are left. And even this dignity is denied to heap more shame and dishonor upon the church of Jesus Christ. Though now dead and silenced, the world continues to dredge up more hatred and animosity for the gospel that tormented them with conviction.

If we stopped at verse 10, we might have a very depressed view of the future. The forebodings of the world’s hatred that we see at present will be multiplied one day until the voice of the gospel is silenced in the world. But it is only silenced when the work is finished. That means, while God gives us opportunity, we must be about the mission of the gospel. The day will come when we can no longer speak the gospel; and the world can no longer hear the gospel to be saved. So, let us not grow weary in gospel work. Let us tell the good news broadly!

III. The church liberated from the evil world
John is layering a picture of the future to give us hope for the present. The church’s identity with Christ is magnified in this next paragraph.

1. Participants in the second resurrection and ascension
Here is something of the pattern of Christ in His death and resurrection and ascension now belonging to the church. “But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.” John’s use of the past tense envisions the certainty of this future work taking place. Here is the true “rapture” of the church, to use a much misused term. Here we find the church called into the presence of Christ forever. “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.” The church will be gathered to Christ but only after its mission is finished and the opposition of the world has run its full course. But Satan will not have the last word! Just as Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended to the Father, so also will all believers in the world at this time.

2. The world left to God’s wrath
When the church is gathered into His bosom, then God’s wrath falls upon the world. “And in that hour there was a great earthquake”—a term always portending God’s judgment falling—“and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” John emphasizes that the world watches as God delivers the church from the world. But it watches with dismay and terror. The reaction is great fear falling upon them, terror at the reality that the church is indeed the people of God, and its gospel message is indeed truth and life. The numbers used are not to be taken literally, but indicate the beginnings of God’s wrath falling in significant impact. Even those under God’s wrath without any more opportunity to respond to the gospel, will understand their plight so that they “gave glory to the God of heaven.” This is not a new surge of evangelism but a period when God makes even His enemies to acknowledge that He is Sovereign Lord (Phil. 2:9-11).

Conclusion
Here are a few things that we must contemplate:
1. The church is on God’s schedule. When the church has finished its gospel work, then the world faces God’s wrath.
2. The church must not grow discouraged in the work. The Lord sustains us until He is ready to take us to glory.
3. The world will grow increasingly hostile toward the gospel. Don’t let this surprise you. But know that a day of reckoning will take place.
4. The gospel will not always be proclaimed in the world. For those among us who are unbelieving, God has shown mercy to you by allowing you to be under gospel ministry. The day will come when that is over. If you have not repented and trusted Christ as your Redeemer and Lord, then you will give glory to God, but not as His follower but as the object of His wrath.
5. Let the church hear the call of the gospel to go forth and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ!

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