Revelation 11:1-2 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.”
Sometime during the “end of time” the Temple will be rebuilt. This has been thought to happen after the antichrist signs a treaty with Israel.
Daniel 9:26B-27A The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.'
This covenant will protect her from all enemies to the point that she will lay down all her defenses to worship in peace.
Ezekiel 38:10-11 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your (Gog) mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people-all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.”
For Israel to be able to erect a Temple and to worship there will take not only a treaty but the promise of protection. Yet the antichrist will break the covenant in the middle of the years and so we will begin the time of Jacob’s trouble. (See Jeremiah 30)
Daniel 9:27B In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
John is surveying the Temple and getting a count of those that will be hunted for their faith in the covenant. The entire Temple will be taken over by the antichrist for a period of three and a half years.
Revelation 11:2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
Daniel 11:31-32 “His (the antichrist’s) armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
This is the time that Jesus spoke to His disciples about in Matthew.
Matthew 24:15-25 “So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the reader understand- 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.”
This will be a time of great peril for the Jews. Many Jews will turn from their faith and others will hunt Jews down to turn them over to die.
Daniel 11:32 “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.”
The Church has for years confused the prophecy of Christ in Matthew 24 with teaching on the rapture. This is about Israel and the Great tribulation which is the last three and half years of the seven year covenant made with the antichrist, (whom Israel will not know as the antichrist or evil ruler until he breaks the treaty and enters the temple to be worshipped.) As we will see, there are other passages that the Church has mistaken for now that are for the time to come as when we see the fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 in an amazing way.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Revelation The Two Witnesses
Revelation 11:2-3 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."
While we are at the midway point of the seven year treaty between the antichrist and Israel, (Daniel 9:26b-27) we are looking back. The two witnesses will have a three and a half year ministry that will begin shortly after the treaty is signed and will end shortly after the treaty is broken.
Who are these two?
Revelation 11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
Zechariah 4:2-3, 14 He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." 14 So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth."
We take one to be Elijah.
Malachi 4:5-6 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Yes Jesus did indicate that John the Baptist was the type of Elijah, but also that Elijah was yet to come – Matt. 17:11-12.)
For the other most side with Moses as he represents the Law as Elijah the Prophets, and both were present with Jesus as He was transfigured. (Matthew 17) However many believe that the second witness will be Enoch, for like Elijah, Enoch did not die. (Genesis 5:24) Whoever they are, they will have a mighty ministry!
Revelation 11:5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
As they are prophesying many will try to stop them, harm them and kill them. Those that try will do so at their own peril for to try is to die. On top of everything else that is going on in the world, they have powers to get their point across.
The fire from their mouth is reminiscent of Elijah! (2 Kings 1)
Revelation 11:6 These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
Of course the water to blood and plagues remind us of Moses! (Exodus 7 – 12)
Revelation 11:7-10 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
After the time of breaking the treaty with Israel the power of the antichrist increases. He is finally empowered to kill the witnesses to the joy of all the unrepentant. Of course this happens in Jerusalem (Luke 13:33), after the antichrist has declared himself to be God and has defiled the temple and sent the faithful of Israel on the run for their lives. That the antichrist can finally kill the witnesses will also bolster his claim to be God in the eyes of the world. But, he is not God and God will show Himself to be the true God!
Revelation 11:11-14 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. 13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
All of this, (the four angels and their demons warriors, the events surrounding the little scroll, the breaking of the treaty with Israel and the abomination that causes desolation, and the killing of the two witnesses), has taken place from the sounding of the sixth trumpet.
Revelation Joy in Heaven
Revelation 11:14-15 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. 15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
Woe is continuing and will increase on earth but there is joy in heaven.
Why would there be joy when so much grief is taking place on earth? Because the grief on earth is chosen just as heaven was chosen by the Redeemed. The purpose of all that is happening is to reclaim the earth and to judge those that chose evil over righteousness, satan over God.
The voices may be that of angels or maybe even the four living creatures around the throne. They are loud and exultant in their proclamation. The time has come. The time for the kingdom of the world to come under the direct rule of God and His Son Jesus. While this is given as being accomplished, (for in the eye of God the world is now given to His Son), there is still much to come in the process of Jesus taking up His reign and rule. (That the rule of Jesus is taken up will soon show in the coming chapters as first the heavens will be shaken and taken by the hosts of heaven.)
The anticipation and relief that all is soon to be accomplished begins to show in the Redeemed!
Revelation 11:16-17 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
We thank you God – God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who has always been that you are now beginning to reign!
(Well, then who has been reigning over the earth up to this future point in time? It seems complicated though it is not. God reigns over time and His purpose and in the heart of the Redemeed. Man reigns over his path to some point and over certain aspects of life on earth. Satan reigns over the evil of the world due to man’s sin and the evil of his heart. The Redeemed have authority over nature, the works of the devil, and even over many events – all being subject to the purpose of God but we do not reign on earth as the time has not come.)
Then the praise becomes very practical and plain. In heaven we will not have the emotions of our non-glorified flesh to confuse us and cause us to wince at the suffering of those that have chosen to serve sin. We will see plainly then that all ends are deserved based on the choice each one has made.
Revelation 11:18 “The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great- and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
Psalm 2
The nations have always been angry with God. Why? Their ruler is angry with God and God will not leave them alone in their rebellion! The nations would have all so different. They would have no one believing in Jesus, serving Him in their way yes, but not living in true faith. They would have all power resting in their hands, but all they have is what has been allotted by God and it is small in comparison with their desires. So the wrath of God shall come upon them. God is just in pouring out His wrath on the world for the world knows that He is, but they will not have Him!
Romans 1:21-23 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
It is time for those on earth that have been faithful to God to be rewarded and those that have refused Him – both alive and dead, to be judged. It is plain and simple. The faithful will receive great reward, both the greatest and the least just as all of the wicked will be punished. In our praise we rightly put the blame for the destruction of the earth on those that have refused God, not on God. They were warned and they refused. The destruction of the earth is on their head and to their shame.
Revelation 11:19a Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.
Why this? Could it be that as the Beast defiles the earthly temple, (Daniel 11:31 and Matthew 24:15), that God reveals the true Temple and the true Ark (Hebrews 8:5), that no man can defile or profane? Of course the display of glory in heaven brings more disaster on earth.
Revelation 11:19b And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Revelation The Dragon and the Woman
Revelation 12:1 AND A great sign (wonder)--[warning of future events of ominous significance] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and with a crownlike garland (tiara) of Twelve stars on her head. (AMP)
Genesis 37:9 Then he (Joseph) had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
The Woman is Israel, national Israel as opposed to spiritual Israel. She takes her place in the John’s sight as a wonder in the heaven to show that all eyes of the earth will be on her.Israel will be and is the end time center of attention. If we take John’s vision as it is given, then our solar system does not revolve around the earth but Israel. (See Jeremiah 31:31-40) While God loves the Church and has given us joint ownership with Jesus of all things, (Romans 8:17), He has never forgotten Israel (Isaiah 49:14-16) nor the promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Jeremiah 33:23-26) The world may see Israel as trouble, but God sees her as His own special people.
While many hate Israel; who hates Israel the most?
Revelation 12:3 Then another ominous sign (wonder) was seen in heaven: Behold, a huge, fiery-red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven kingly crowns (diadems) upon his heads. [Dan 7:7.] (AMP) (See also Daniel 7:23-24)
The Dragon would be satan (Revelation 20:2), and his dominion is shown as the renewed Roman Empire or what we call the European Union.
At this point we order the verses to see a scene of hatred and victory.
Revelation 12:2, 4-5 She was pregnant and she cried out in her birth pangs, in the anguish of her delivery. 4 His tail swept [across the sky] and dragged down a third of the stars and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stationed himself in front of the woman who was about to be delivered, so that he might devour her child as soon as she brought it forth. [Dan 8:10.] 5 And she brought forth a male Child, one Who is destined to shepherd (rule) all the nations with an iron staff (scepter), and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. [Ps 2:8,9; 110:1,2.] (AMP)
Israel was chosen to bring God to His people and the people to God. Out of Israel came forth God in the flesh. (Genesis 18:18-19, Isaiah 7:14) The devil tried to destroy him, (Matthew 2:16-18), but He ascended to God in victory! (Colossians 2:13-15)
(As for the third of the stars being flung to earth we can consider them to be the third part of the angels that rebelled with him, or we can stay with the narrative and see that part of Israel will be overcome by the dragon. See Daniel 8:10)
Revelation 12:6 And the woman [herself] fled into the desert (wilderness), where she has a retreat prepared [for her] by God, in which she is to be fed and kept safe for 1,260 days (42 months; three and one-half years). (AMP)
See Isaiah 26:20-21
Revelation Attack on the Truth
Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
1 John 2:18-19 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The “end time” events are part of the testimony of Jesus (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
As such these future events, that we see beginning to form now, are part of our faith!
The prophetic teachings of the Bible (most notably that found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, and Revelation) must be taken as literal and not as an allegory or symbolism that can be interpreted to fit the mood and situations of the day. As much as we may like to have it differently, as concerning countries the U. S. of A. is not the center of Biblical prophecy – that place belongs to Israel.
Jeremiah 30:10-11 "'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares the LORD. 'I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. Jacob will again have peace and security, and no one will make him afraid. 11 I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'”
Zechariah 12:1-4 This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: 2 "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.”
The prosperity of the U. S. of A. is dependent upon two areas of behavior that while being fully intertwined have not been treated as such by the presidents, judges, and legislators of the last forty years. To remain prosperous the U. S. must pass righteous and moral laws and policies that uphold the sanctity of life, justice for the widow and the orphan, (James 1:27) and maintain the order of God as Creator and Judge over all the earth. (This does not require our country being a Christian country per say but it cannot be antichristian in nature.) The other is to honor and support Israel and the sanctity of Jerusalem. (See Matthew 25:31-46)
At this time the United States is failing in both areas and as such cannot be returned to the prosperity and favor of times past without repenting of our ways. The U. S. is not mentioned in end time prophecy, unless it would be the economic Babylon that comes to ruin.
Revelation 18:1-3 (- 24) After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
From the popular church to the government to the average man on the street, the way of ease of the flesh has been sought and found. The end result will be destruction not blessing. While many are here that still believe and honor the Lord and the true Church here still has a call and a great opportunity to take the Gospel to the world, the blessing of our time now falls on others such as the Church in China, Argentina, and even India. The U. S. has never had Israel’s place and now does not even have her former place. All those that prophecy to the contrary are not speaking the Word of the Lord.
