Revelation 11:1-14

A REVIEW OF THE EVENTS IN JERUSALEM DURING THE GREAT TRIBULATION (FINAL 3 ½ YEARS)

Revelation 11:1-14

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. The Jewish Jerusalem Temple will be rebuilt and re-established before or during the seven year Tribulation Period but during the last 3 ½ years it will be trampled by the Gentile nations (Revelation 11:1, 2).

A. John is told (probably by the mighty angel speaking for Yahweh) to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshippers (probably get a count) (verses 1, 2).

1. This is the temple on earth because the mighty angel came from heaven to earth in Revelation 10:1, 2. Also, Revelation 11:19 distinguishes this from the temple in heaven.

2. The prophet Ezekiel was given a similar assignment in Ezekiel 40:3, 4.

3. John received a hollow reed probably similar to Ezekiel’s for the purpose of measuring. Ezekiel’s was six cubits or nine feet in length (Ezekiel 40:5).

4. When Yahweh instructs His prophets to measure something, it means that He has prophetic plans for those being measured and, therefore, is guaranteeing that His work will be accomplished and preserved (Jeremiah 31:39; Ezekiel 40:2 – 43:12; Zechariah 2:1-8).

5. John measures from the Holy of Holies, to the brazen altar, to the worshippers. In other words, from the inside out (verse 1).

6. In Herod’s temple (at the time of Christ), the court of the Gentiles was separated from the inner court by a low wall. John is told not to measure this because in this future temple, the Gentiles will be in charge for 3 ½ years (42 months) trampling the temple area (verse 2).

a. This is the same amount of time which Daniel prophesies about in three places. He reveals that sometime in the future, the people of Israel will have 3 ½ years of severe trial and suffering before Yahweh sets up His Kingdom (Daniel 7:25, 9:27, 12:1, 7).

b. This is the same time period which Jesus and the Apostle Paul prophesied about (Matt. 24:15-22; Luke 21:20-24; II Thes. 2:1-12).

c. This time period will be repeated several times in the book of Revelation (Rev. 11:3, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5).

THOUGHT: Yahweh has purposed to set His King on His Holy Hill even though the nations have raged and will rage! Psalm 2:1-6

II. There will be two Jewish witnesses (prophets) during the 3 ½ year Great Tribulation in Israel before Yahweh Jesus takes His rightful throne (Revelation 11:3-14).

 

A. These two prophets will prophesy (probably about believing in Jesus and Yahweh’s coming Kingdom) for 3 ½ years while wearing sackcloth (coarse animal clothing that are signs of mourning and distress) (verse 3; Daniel 9:3).

B. These two prophets are identified with Zechariah’s prophesy in Zech. 4:2-14. As Joshua and Zerubbabel were anointed in leading Israel to restoration from Babylon, even so these two witnesses are anointed in leading Israel through their time of distress, the finishing of the mystery of God (Rev. 10:7), and the return of Israel to Yahweh Jesus (verse 4).

C. These two prophets are given special anointing during this time to kill their enemies with mouth fire, make it not rain, and bring any and all plagues whenever they want (verses 5, 6).

1. The identities of these two prophets are usually associated with Elijah, Moses, or Enoch because of some of the similarities to their previous ministries.

2. Many in the early church thought these were Enoch and Elijah because nothing is recorded that they ever died (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). However, there will be many at Christ’s coming who will never die (I Thes. 4:17).

3. The two most likely candidates are Elijah and Moses. Elijah’s ministry of calling down fire from heaven and making it not rain (I Kings 17:1; 2 Kings 1:10; James 5:17) as well as the prophecy that he will return before the Day of Yahweh (Mal. 4:5) tie him into Rev. 11:5-6a. Moses’ ministry of the ten plagues (Exodus 7:14 – 11:10) tie him into Rev. 11:6b. Also, both of them appeared with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30).

4. These two prophets might actually be Elijah or Moses or two sovereignly chosen prophets with similar ministry styles.

D. If the pre-wrath tribulation timing is correct, then these two witnesses would have started their ministry after seal 4 (Rev. 6:8), would have been active during the rapture of the church and sealing of the 144,000 Jews (Rev. 6:12 – 7:17), possibly called down the Trumpet judgments (Rev. 8:1 – 9:21), and will be protected until the 3 ½ year ministry is ended.

E. At the end of their 3 ½ year ministry, Yahweh will allow them to be killed by the beast (the first mention of this word for the Antichrist ruler of Revelation 6) who is possessed by satanic power from the Abyss (verse 7, 2 Thes. 2:9).

F. Their dead bodies will remain unburied in Jerusalem for 3 ½ days while the world rejoices over their deaths but they will be raised from the dead and ascend to heaven while their enemies watch (verses 8-12).

G. In the same hour that the two witnesses go to heaven in a cloud (like Jesus in Acts 1:9), Jerusalem has a large earthquake destroying a tenth of the city, 7,000 men will be killed and the rest become terrified and give glory to the God of heaven (possibly many believe at this time in Jerusalem) (verse 13).

H. Evidently all this happened between the beginning of the Great Tribulation and the end of the sixth trumpet judgment (second woe) and before the seventh trumpet judgment (third woe) (verse 14).

Revelation 10:1-11

BETWEEN THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH TRUMPET JUDGMENTS

THE APOSTLE JOHN EATS A LITTLE SCROLL

Revelation 10:1-11

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. John is visited by another mighty angel with a specific message after the sixth trumpet judgment is finished (Rev. 10:1-7).

A. John was first visited by a mighty or strong angel in Revelation 5:2 and receives another visit in Revelation 18:21. Daniel received mighty angel visits in Daniel 10:5-6 and Daniel 12:5-7. It seems like “mighty angel” visits bring information to Yahweh’s prophets in the form of new revelation and were also sent to protect Yahweh’s people (verse 1). 

B. John describes the mighty angels clothes, head, face, and feet as radiating color and light which should clue us in that the message he brings comes from Yahweh’s throne (verse 1, Rev. 1:14, 15, Rev. 4:3-5).

C. The mighty angel seemed large and powerful to the Apostle John placing his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the earth. This probably represented Yahweh’s authority to rule and judge everything in, on, or above the earth as has been shown already in the previous seal and trumpet judgments. In his right hand he had a little open scroll which was different from the previous closed scroll in Revelation 5:1, 2 (verse 2).

D. The mighty angel cried out with a loud lion-like voice and as he did, John heard a message of seven thunders which he was not permitted to write for some reason (verses 3, 4; II Cor. 12:4). Maybe when we meet him we are supposed to ask what these were as a special blessing to us for studying Revelation!

E. The mighty angel then gives a message which he swears comes from the very throne of Yahweh by raising one hand (verse 6a, b). The angel in Daniel 12:7 lifted both hands in a sworn oath. The Israelites were told to swear their oaths by the name of Yahweh (Deut. 6:13, 10:20), however, Christ found abuse in oath taking (Matt. 5:33-37, 23:16-22) and so instructed His believers to simply speak the truth and do it (Matt. 5:33-37; James 5:12).

F. The sworn message was “that there will no longer be delay” (verse 6c).

1. Some in the early church translated this “that there will no longer be time” which is a possible translation if you can support it contextually. Since there are time events still to come in Revelation chapters 11-22, the context does not support this reading.

2. This seems to be an answered prayer to the persecuted martyrs, saints, and prophets for Yahweh to judge this earth and establish His Kingdom as in Revelation 6:9-11 (also see Daniel 12:7).

G. The sworn message goes on to say that the “mystery of God” will be finished during the days of the seventh trumpet judgment and probably during the beginning of it when the angel is “about to” sound (verse 7).

1. The “mystery of God” is interpreted by most expositors as a secret that is revealed by God. 

2. Many pre, mid, and post tribulation rapturists would view this as Yahweh finishing up His judgment of this earth during the seventh trumpet (which includes the seven bowl judgments) before establishing His Kingdom on earth.

3. Most pre-wrath tribulation rapturists view this “mystery of God” with the definition the Apostle Paul used in Col. 1:24 – 2:3; Eph. 1:9, 10; 3:1-10 (possibly I Cor. 2:1). In these texts, the Apostle Paul defined the mystery of God as a time period where God has determined to bring salvation to many Gentiles while Israel (as a nation) rejects Christ. When the full number of Gentiles are brought salvation, Yahweh then turns His Kingdom program back to national Israel and their salvation (Dan. 12:7; Acts 15:14-16; Romans 11:25b-26).

II. John is instructed to take the little scroll from the angel and eat it (Rev. 10:8-11).

A. Ezekiel in the Old Testament had a similar experience (Ezekiel 2:8 – 3:3). Prophets in the Old and New Testaments received Yahweh’s message, digested it, and delivered it to the people (verses 8-9a).

B. The message of the little open scroll was sweet to John’s mouth (probably the overall message of Christ’s ultimate rule) but bitter to his stomach (probably the message of judgment and suffering) (verses 9b-10).

C. This prophetic message would go out to all the people of the world involving judgment and the wrapping up of all things (verse 11; Rev. chapters 11-22).

THOUGHT: Read Psalm 2:1-12 this week and give Yahweh Father and Yahweh Jesus all the praise and all the glory! Hallelu-Yah!

Revelation 9:1-21

THE FIFTH AND SIXTH TRUMPET JUDGMENTS OF THE DAY OF YAHWEH

Revelation 9:1-21

As taught by Dave Lindstrom

I. The fifth trumpet (woe 1) brings a swarm of stinging demonic locusts that terrorize the earth for five months (Rev. 9:1-12).

A. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, a star (most likely an angel in this context, see also Judges 5:20, Job 38:7, and Rev. 20:1) descends from heaven onto the earth with a key to the Abyss or bottomless pit. This angel was given the key by Yahweh’s authority just like the one in Revelation 20:1 and, therefore, does not seem to be Satan. The bottomless pit seems to be a prison for many of the fallen angels (Luke 8:31; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) while events on this earth unfold (vs 1).

B. As the angel with the key opened the bottomless pit, smoke came out darkening the sun and the air. Out of the smoke came a massive swarm of demonic locusts to the earth. The authority given to them by Yahweh was to sting non-believers for a period of five months to the point where people will feel like giving up on life itself (but are unable to). However, they did not have any authority to hurt the vegetation of the earth as the first trumpet did. The 144,000 (Rev. 7:4) Jewish believers (as well as probably any new believers) with God’s seal were not harmed by this judgment (verses 2-6).

1. The eighth plague of Egypt (Exodus 10:1-20) was a plague of actual locusts that brought misery to the land of idolatry and slavery. The fifth trumpet brings misery to the people of idolatry and slavery on the whole earth for five months (the life span of a natural locust or the time of the early and latter rains which is April to August).

2. There are many parallels to the Day of Yahweh found in Joel 1:4 - 3:21 to these trumpet judgments.

C. John next describes in detail the appearance of these demonic locusts (vs 7-11).

1. For the Bible expositors who teach this as primarily symbolic and historical (idealists and preterists), the interpretation of these locusts are usually either the iron clad Roman armies, the long-haired Parthians to the east of Rome, or the turban wearing Muslims.

2. For futurist expositors, some try to bring in modern warfare but most believe these to be actual mutated-in-form locusts under demonic control. Evidently from a sight sound and touch standpoint, they were designed to bring fear and pain.

3. This demonic swarm seems to be intelligent and well organized with the name of its leader-king being “Destroyer” (Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek). This might be another name for Satan but probably is a high ranking fallen angel in Satan’s army who is in charge of the Abyss (this is not one of the names listed for Satan in Rev. 12:9). By the way, regular locust swarms “have no king,” Proverbs 30:27.

D. The fifth trumpet judgment is the same as the first woe. Trumpets six and seven are the same as the next two woes (verse 12).

II. The sixth trumpet judgment (woe 2) brings a demonic cavalry with the authority to kill one- third of the earth’s population (Rev. 9:13-19).

A. At a specified and predetermined exact time, Yahweh gives the word through the same angel from Revelation 8:3-5 who attended to the heavenly altar of incense and the prayers of the saints (verse 13). The altar angel gave the word to the sixth trumpet angel to loose four specially created angels (probably fallen since they were bound) who were bound at the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River is the eastern border of Israel (Gen. 15:18), is now running through modern Iraq, is the starting point of many of Israel’s historical invasions (Isaiah 8:5-8), and the possible area of the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:10-14) (verses 13-15).

B. A 200 million strong demonic cavalry were possibly assembled or led by the four angels or the four angels transformed themselves into this cavalry. The characteristics of this cavalry goes way beyond the description of a normal cavalry relegating this to the realm of the supernatural demonic cavalry (verses 16-19).

1. The riders (and possibly horses) had breastplate armor on consisting of three colors (which might have been mixed or separated out into three color groups) fiery red, dark blue, and light yellow.

2. The heads of the horses looked like the heads of lions with the ability to open their mouths and breath out fire, bluish smoke, and sulphur. It was by these three substances that could be breathed out by the horses in which a third of humanity will be killed in the sixth trumpet. The horses tails can also strike and wound people.

3. The tenth plague of Egypt (Exodus 11:4-6, 29, 30) killed all the firstborn. This plague during the Day of Yahweh kills one third of humanity (possibly 1 to 1 ½ billion people by today’s count – after already taking out around 2 billion people due to deaths in Revelation 6:4, 8; 8:11 and the possible rapture of the church).

III. Yahweh’s judgment is seen during His Day but also His tender heart of mercy. Just as in Egypt, He desired for people to repent of their idolatry and self-imposed slavery to demons. He ultimately desires for people to believe that He alone is their only hope. Yet people still harden their hearts and refuse to repent, believe, and be saved (Rev. 9:20, 21). One day it will be too late (Rev. 22:13-15).

“The great Day of Yahweh is near, near, and hastening fast; the sound of the Day of Yahweh is bitter. The mighty man cries aloud there…” Zeph. 1:14

“Seek Yahweh all you humble of the land…perhaps you may be hidden on the Day of the anger of Yahweh.” Zeph. 2:3

Back On Schedule!

Once again I have to apologize for the length of time between posts on this blog. (February? Yikes!!)

The spring season is always a big crunch for me and this one has been the craziest yet. But things are finally leveling out and I'm looking forward to posting the rest of Dave's notes on Revelation.

Sorry again for the delay, and thank you for your patience!

-Paeter