Revelation - The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11 keeps John participating in what God is showing him. The little scroll from the chapter before was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his stomach, and that taste still matters here. The new heavens and new earth are sweet, no sin, no suffering, no tears, and eternity with Christ. The bitter part is the judgment that comes before that, especially the reality that people who reject Christ will face the wrath of God on their own.

John is given a measuring rod, and the rod is not there because God needs dimensions. The measuring rod shows ownership, preparation, protection, and judgment. God claims the temple as his, just like he has always judged Israel and then restored Israel. The outside court is not measured because it is given over to the nations, and the nations will trample the holy city for forty two months, the second half of the tribulation.

The two witnesses are placed right in the middle of that hostility. They prophesy for 1,260 days in sackcloth, and sackcloth means mourning. Their proclamation is not some happy, flowery word. Their witness mourns the judgment coming on those outside of Christ, while still calling people to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christ’s church has already been claimed. Ephesians says believers are sealed until the day of redemption, and Christ has called the church to be his witnesses. The Great Commission does not include a comma that says “if you want to.” Christ begins with, “all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me,” and then he says go. That is command language, not a suggestion.

The two olive trees and two lampstands show God’s anointing and enduring presence. The witnesses are protected and empowered by God, and that same Holy Spirit fills believers for witness today. Fire may not literally pour from a believer’s mouth, but the word of God is a fire. A Christian does not have to know everything, but does have to know Christ and be willing to speak with compassion.

The beast finally kills the witnesses when God lifts his protection, and the world celebrates their dead bodies. That kind of rejoicing shows how much the world hates the testimony of Christ. Yet God is not done. After three and a half days, the breath of life enters them, they stand up, and terror falls on the people watching. Revelation’s whole point comes through plain and strong: God wins.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Witness is not optional The Great Commission rests on Christ’s authority, not on a believer’s comfort level. The command to go does not leave room for “if you want to,” because the risen Christ speaks as Lord over heaven and earth. Obedience begins when the church stops treating witness like a personality type and starts receiving it as a calling. [09:01]
• 2. God empowers weak witnesses The olive trees and lampstands show that God supplies anointing and presence before he sends his people into hard places. A believer’s fear, lack of polish, or limited answers does not stop the Holy Spirit from using simple words. The burden is not to compel a heart, but to faithfully share Christ while God does what only God can do. [19:10]
• 3. Prayer brings names before God Prayer is not a religious gesture tacked onto conversation. Prayer carries a real person, with a real name and real pain, before the throne of God. When compassion becomes spoken prayer, the Holy Spirit works in the one being prayed for and in the one doing the praying. [13:42]
• 4. Opposition does not cancel witness The two witnesses face open spiritual war, and their enemies celebrate when they fall. The world’s hostility does not prove that witness has failed, but that the testimony of Christ has struck the nerve of rebellion. The call to speak remains, even when the cost rises and the culture grows darker. [21:44]
• 5. God gets the last word The witnesses look defeated while their bodies lie in the street, but God breathes life into them after three and a half days. Resurrection exposes the world’s celebration as premature. Every believer’s testimony rests on that same reality: life in Christ has already overcome death.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:19] - The Sweet And Bitter Scroll
• [03:23] - Measuring The Temple Of God
• [06:48] - Forty Two Months Of Trampling
• [07:18] - Two Witnesses In Sackcloth
• [08:11] - The Church Is Claimed
• [09:01] - Go Is A Command
• [11:28] - Bike Night Witness Stories
• [13:42] - The Power Of Prayer
• [17:06] - Olive Trees And Lampstands
• [21:44] - Opposition And Spiritual Battle
• [26:27] - Battles In The Mind And Heart
• [32:08] - Resurrection Reality Revealed
• [34:06] - God Wins

Bible Reading

Revelation 11:1-14
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may 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 kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. [03:23]

Observation questions

1. In Revelation 11, what things is John told to measure, and what part is he told to leave out?
2. What time periods are mentioned in this passage, and what is happening during those periods? [06:48]
3. What details are given about the two witnesses’ ministry, including what they wear, what they say, and how they are protected? [07:18]
4. How do the people of the earth respond when the witnesses are killed, and what happens after three and a half days? [32:08]

Interpretation questions

1. The measuring rod points to ownership, protection, preparation, and judgment. How does that help explain why the temple is measured but the outer court is not? [04:27]
2. The two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth, a garment of mourning. What does that suggest about the tone of faithful gospel witness in a world heading toward judgment? [07:50]
3. Jesus gives the command to go and make disciples on the basis of all authority in heaven and earth. How does that shape the way believers should think about witness when they feel unqualified or unwilling? [09:01]
4. The witnesses seem defeated when the beast kills them, yet God raises them up. What does that reveal about how God defines victory, especially when faithfulness looks costly or weak in the moment? [34:06]

Application questions

1. Witness is not optional for those who belong to Christ. Where is the strongest resistance right now in actually speaking about Jesus: fear, busyness, feeling unprepared, or something else? What would honest obedience look like this week? [28:26]
2. Prayer brings real people by name before the throne of God. Who is one person by name that could be prayed for this week, and would it be possible to pray with that person instead of only praying about that person later? [13:42]
3. God empowers weak witnesses by his Spirit. When has the excuse “I don’t know enough” kept someone from speaking, and what would it look like to simply share Christ with compassion instead of trying to have every answer? [18:16]
4. The two witnesses minister in the middle of hostility. Where does the world around this group seem most openly resistant to Christ right now, and how can the group stay gentle, clear, and courageous in that setting? [21:44]
5. Many battles in witness happen in the mind and heart before any words are spoken. What kinds of inner arguments most often talk someone out of praying with a person or starting a spiritual conversation? [26:48]
6. God often works through simple acts of availability. What is one ordinary setting this week—a workplace, hospital, restaurant, neighborhood, or family conversation—where there may be an opening to offer prayer or speak about Jesus? [11:28]
7. Every believer can testify to life over death because of Christ. What part of a personal story most clearly shows that God breathed life where there used to be deadness, and how might that be shared in a simple way with someone else? [34:25]