Revelation 11:1–14 (ESV)
The
Two Witnesses
11 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, 2 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. 3 And
I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These
are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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, 8 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. 9 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, 10 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. 11 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. 12 Then they heard a loud voice
from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, 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.
14 The second woe has
passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
Using the figure of twin witnesses, John describes the response of a hostile world to the preaching of God’s Word. Though
ample opportunity is given for people to receive the blessings of repentance and the Gospel, most choose to reject the Church and persecute it. However, the apparent triumph of the Gospel’s enemies is never the last word. Jesus’ promise stands
true: those remaining faithful unto death will be given the crown of life (2:10).
I pray: “Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us; Lord, be our shield
when earthly armor fails us; And in the day when hell itself assails us, Grant us Your peace, Lord.” Amen. (LSB 659:3)
Edward A. Engelbrecht,
The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2217.
Using the figure of twin witnesses, John describes the response of a hostile world to the preaching of God’s Word. Though ample opportunity is given for people to receive the blessings of repentance and the Gospel, most choose to reject
the Church and persecute it. However, the apparent triumph of the Gospel’s enemies is never the last word. Jesus’ promise stands true: those remaining faithful unto death will be given the crown of life (2:10). • “Lord, be our light
when worldly darkness veils us; Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us; And in the day when hell itself assails us, Grant us Your peace, Lord.” Amen. (LSB 659:3)
Edward
A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House,
2009), 2217.