THE REVELATION OF JESUS
REVELATION 11
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” Revelation 11:1, 2. Here we see an angel talking about measuring something; measuring in prophecy refers to judgment. This also meant taking careful study of the Temple or Sanctuary and it pointed to 1844 when the attention of God's people was called to learn about the ancient Sanctuary and the prophecies in its ceremonies. Through this study God's people learned that Jesus had started a special final work of judgment in 1844, called the Investigative Judgment.
This verse tells us who was being ‘measured’ or judged here, it is ‘the Temple of God’. What does this mean? It means God’s people. Everybody that has ever claimed to belong to God, has had his name written in the book of life. But not all these people will go to heaven. Why not? Well, take Cain and Abel, they both claimed to belong to God. Abel was faithful and obedient; but Cain was disobedient and became a murderer and never repented. When Cain’s name was looked at in the Book of Life, unconfessed sin was there and Cain’s name was blotted out and his sins remained in the book of sin. He won’t be in heaven. So on and on the process goes, judging the dead by the records of their life and whether or not they had unconfessed and unforsaken sins in their record. It says that God is not measuring the ‘court’, but it is left to the ‘Gentiles’. This means that in this special judgment that happens before Jesus comes back for His people, the world, which is meant by the court, and the Gentiles are not looked at. These are people who never even claimed to belong to God at all, they were just not interested. They are lost and will be judged later. Here again we see another mention of the 1260 days/years of Roman rule and how they would trample underfoot God’s people.
“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.” Revelation 11:3-6. Then we see in verse 3, something new— two witnesses; and they are ‘prophesying for 1260 day/years dressed in sackcloth. As you read verses 3-7, you will see clues to know what they are. They are the Holy Scriptures, the Old and the New Testaments. They are in ‘sackcloth’, Why? Sackcloth is something people used to wear when they were very sad. And again we see that 1260-year period mentioned. The message of God’s Holy Word is said to be sad and hidden at this time as millions of true believers died for their faith and even to be caught with a Bible meant death. But the Bible still had ‘power’; when people would get hold of the Bible and read it, they found the saving power of Jesus in it. It was the Bible that gave these people courage to live and die for Jesus’ truth and it will do the same thing for us.
“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Revelation 11:7, 8. Now we come to an amazing story in prophecy; we see the 2 witnesses ‘finishing’ their testimony in sackcloth, for that is what the words in Greek really tell us. So we know that something happened to the Bible near the end of those 1260 years that ended in 1798. Did something happen then? Yes, it says a ‘Beast’ comes out of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit refers to the wickedness of this world, so out of this wicked world comes a new ‘Beast’; a new ruling power. In 1793, the power of Atheism, calling itself ‘communism’ arose mainly in France and they passed a law outlawing the Bible. The Roman power had kept the Bible from the common people, but now this new power declared that the Bible was to be destroyed forever. ‘It was ‘killed’; in other words, it was to have no political influence at all. What city is here shown to us? The Bible says 3 things; Sodom, Egypt, and where Jesus was crucified. But these are symbols here; Sodom meant the wicked and dirty way they lived when they also ruled to have no marriage anymore, Egypt was where Pharaoh declared he ‘knew not God’, and France now declared the same thing; and Jesus was crucified symbolically, when His people were slain in France in the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, years before. The city? It was Paris, France.
There happened the most terrible events, that they are known as the Reign of Terror! People were killed by having their heads chopped off by a machine called a Guillotine. So many were killed that blood flowed down the streets and colored the waters of the river red! When people refuse the Bible and the authority of God’s holy Law, it doesn’t take long until terrible things happen. Why? Because when we refuse to obey God, Satan forces us to do his will, there is no other choice. “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. Revelation 11:9. "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." Revelation 11:10. "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.” Revelation 11:11. The other nations saw the terrible events that happened when France, by a decree of her government, passed a law doing away with the Bible and all religion and belief in God. For exactly 3 ½ years as the prophecy says, this went on. Wicked people celebrated, but soon terror took the place of merry-making. No one knew when his head would be the next to come off! Exactly 3 ½ years later, that same government passed a law putting the Bible and belief in God back in their rightful place. All thinking people who saw the events that had happened, were made fearful of ever doing such a wicked thing again. After this time the Bible was held in greater reverence at least by the Protestant nations, than ever before.
“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” Revelation 11:12, 13. This refers to the fact that a great missionary movement took place after this time. Bible societies were started and the True Bible carried all over the world to the heathen people by missionaries. What about the Earthquake? And the Tenth part of the city? Well, France was a ‘Tenth’ part of Europe and the ‘Earthquake’, a symbolic one, referred to the terrible French Revolution. Like a real earthquake, it sure shook people up. "And in the earthquake were slain of men [margin, names of men, or TITLES of men] seven thousand." France made war, in her revolution of 1789-98 and onward, on all titles of nobility. It is said by those who have examined the French records, that just seven thousand titles of men were abolished in that revolution. "And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." Their God-dishonouring and Heaven-defying work filled France with such scenes of blood, carnage, and horror, as made eve the infidels themselves tremble, and stand aghast; and the "remnant" that escaped the horrors of that hour "gave glory to God" - not willingly, but the God of heaven caused this "wrath of man to praise him," by causing all the world to see that those who make war on heaven make graves for themselves.
“The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” Revelation 11:14-17. The Seventh Trumpet, which contains the third Woe, covers a lot of ground. Many people get mixed up on it and think weird things, but if we remember it is full of symbols and what these symbols mean in other texts, then we can see the word pictures God has put here for us. The other 2 Woes were about Islam attacking Papal Rome and now here is a third Woe—what does it tell us is going to happen to Rome? In the First Woe, the armies of Islam were attacking Western Rome suddenly and without warning. In the Second Woe again we see armies of Islam attacking Eastern Rome suddenly and without warning with explosives. Now in the Third Woe, which began in Sept. 11, 2001 with forces of Islam attacking suddenly, without warning and with explosives and they are attacking US which formed a secret agreement with the Vatican to bring down the USSR in 1989 and therefore can be considered part of Rome's armies. Also This 7th Trumpet begins in 1844 and we see here the time of the Investigative Judgment. The Woe part would arrive later in history. What are the ‘great voices’? It is the message of the Investigative Judgment being preached in the world. The Elders are happy that this ‘Time’ has finally come. Why are they so happy about this? Because this is the time that Jesus is in the process of receiving His Kingdom. In some of the parables of Jesus we see more about this, in one He says He goes away to receive a kingdom; (Luke 19:12) in another He goes into the Marriage; Matthew 25:1-13) in another the King (Heavenly Father) makes a marriage for His Son; (Matthew 22:1-14) Did you know that most of Jesus’ parables are also prophecies? Yes, indeed they are, and they give us clues to understand the prophets. As we read this Woe, it sounds like Jesus is reigning through the whole thing, but this is a process that is happening now. The books are opened; all the people who have ever claimed to belong to God in the past are looked at. They are not there in person, but their records are all there in detail and the angels are the eye-witnesses.
For those who claimed belief in the Redeemer and remained faithful, Jesus represents them. Those who did not remain faithful or who claimed to be God’s while following their own ways have no one to represent them. They are blotted out of the Book of Life.
We are living in the time of the 7th Trumpet, when Jesus is receiving His
kingdom. Soon the process will be finished and He’ll come to take His people
home “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Revelation 11:18,19.
"And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Revelation 11:19. We see that this ‘woe’ contains something that makes the nations angry; what would do that? In the first two ‘woes’ we see the forces of Islam striking suddenly without warning and in the 2nd woe they had explosives and were led by their ‘heads and their tails’. (see chapter 9) On Sept 11; 2001 we saw Islam strike suddenly without warning with explosives and still led by their ‘heads’ and their ‘tails’ against a power who in 1989 had worked together with Rome in a secret alliance to bring down the communist nation of the Soviet Union, These sudden strikes are continuing and the nations are indeed angry. This is not the only way that this is a ‘Woe’ to ‘Rome’. These verses show us; the dead are being judged. So how is this a 'Woe to Rome?—the saints and prophets are honored by their names being kept in the Book of Life as part of Jesus’ Kingdom. Think of the hundreds of thousands of people tortured to death and massacred in the Dark Ages. They are placed in the list to receive their reward—Eternal Life with Jesus.
But what about those who killed them? What about those haughty church leaders who pretended to be God’s agents? This is when the hidden things of darkness are made plain. Evil men have done many horrible deeds and they thought because the people who knew about it were all killed, that nobody knew what they had really done. But this Woe is the time when ALL the records are opened on those who have pretended to be Christians and their wicked deeds are all written there.
Here is a photo of 3 skeletons that were found buried beneath the hall floor of a Cathedral in Russia. They were found when the authorities demolished this old Catholic church to build a nuclear power plant. It looks like it was a young boy and his parents laid out there. There were hundreds of hidden skeletons in this old church. Who were they? We don’t know. BUT the ‘watcher and the Holy One’ who wrote on Belshazzar’s wall KNOWS! And it is all coming out in the Investigative Judgment. Indeed it is a Woe on all who have done evil while professing to belong to God. Nothing is overlooked; not even a little child who loved Jesus and was killed by wicked people is forgotten. All the true will receive reward and all the false will be blotted from the Book of Life.
‘And the Temple of God was opened in Heaven’ and there was seen the Ark of His Testament’. What is this? It shows that since 1844, the message about the Sanctuary and God’s Law, including the Sabbath, has been being preached in the world. As the Judgment goes to the living, these things will be preached with a ‘Loud Cry’. Then people will choose to either obey God and be sealed for His kingdom OR they will obey man’s laws and honour Rome and get the Mark of the Roman Beast, and be blotted out of the Book of Life.
Thunderings = the loud preaching of a warning message from God. Earthquake = a great time of war and persecution just before Jesus’ return. Great Hail = the final of the 7 last plagues. So you see that this Woe leads to the END of the Roman power forever and the Second Coming of Jesus to ‘gather His children home’. Do you see why this is such an important time? Soon the living will be judged. Let’s choose to be faithful, so Jesus will be given each one of us to be in His kingdom.
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