LESSON NINE

In the New Testament the temple and its various features are often employed as a means of illustrating truth about the church. Peter writes to members of the church, "...you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). Paul reminds the church at Corinth, "...for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are" (1 Cor. 3:17). In the Lord's message to Philadelphia members of that church are promised that they will be made "...pillar(s) in the temple..." (Rev. 3:12). In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he refers to the wall of the temple that divided the inner Jewish court and outer gentile court when he discusses how the redemptive work of Christ tore down "the dividing wall" and created one body of believers (Eph. 2:14). He then presents Christ, the apostles and prophets, and all the saints as the foundation and building materials fitted together "...into a holy temple in the Lord...a dwelling of God in the Spirit" (Eph. 2:20-22).

In Revelation chapter 11, the temple, outer court and holy city are similarly employed to portray saints. Some of these saints, subsequently designated as "two witnesses," are first introduced as "the temple, altar and those who worship in it...." They are measured and specifically distinguished from a larger community, those who do not worship in the altar and the "court which is outside." The entire church, the whole body of Christ, is presented by the figure of the temple, outer court and holy city, but those who "worship in the altar" are the focus of this chapter.²⁵¹ The subsequent discussion and description of two witnesses is a further discussion of those "measured" members of the church whose worship is altar-worship.

The saints brought to our attention as the two witnesses are apparently ethnic believing Jews. This understanding emerges from the fact that in the temple the inner and outer courts existed to accommodate and separate ethnic Jews and gentiles who worshipped the one true God. Thus, here also, believing Jews are being distinguished from believing gentiles.

Our understanding of the central purpose of the two witnesses' ministry is established when they are described as "... those who worship in [the altar]..." (11:1). The entire book of Revelation is a call to worship in the altar, to recognize and value above all else the nature of God demonstrated in the Lamb. It is the Lamb that is central to God's rule, "...in the center of the throne..." (5:6, 7:17). It is the Lamb's wisdom ("eyes") and Lamb's power ("horns") that are the spirits sent "...into all the earth..." (5:5). It is from the altar that prayers ascend and judgment descends (8:3-5). It is in the blood of the Lamb that robes are made white (7:14). It is the sacrifice of the Lamb, the ultimate Priest and King, that makes both priests and kings (5:10). The power of the altar, "...four horns of the golden altar...," appropriately calls for the inevitable destruction inherent and residing in the Euphrates, the life-source of Babylon (9:13-15). It is from the altar that the angel comes to reap the harvest of the earth hostile to God (14:18). It is the altar that speaks during the judgment of the earth's rivers and springs saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments" (16:7). The two witnesses, as those who worship in the altar, are witnesses to life defined by the altar.

Thus, in chapter 11, our attention is drawn to the two witnesses. They are first characterized and distinguished by the scene where John is instructed to measure between the Jewish and gentile courts of the Temple. They are described specifically as those who worship in the altar. And then their identity is further developed as "...the two olive trees and the two lampstands...."

In verse four the two witnesses are identified as "... the two olive trees...that stand before the Lord of the earth." Although the two olive trees are not familiar elsewhere in the book of Revelation, Zechariah (chap. 4) identifies them. In that context an angel shows Zechariah two olive trees that supply oil to a single lampstand. As Zechariah presses the angel for understanding of the two olive trees, especially the two olive branches, he learns that "these are the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth" (Zech. 4:14). Dr. Feinberg says of this scene,

Thus the reference to the two olive trees tells us that the two witnesses of Revelation stand respectively in the offices of priest and king.

In their respective offices the two witnesses are also "the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth." Lampstands are a familiar symbol from the context of Revelation chapters 1 through 3. In chapter 1 the seven churches are identified as seven lampstands (1:20). In chapters 2 and 3 the two lampstands, the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia, are distinguished by the fact that they stand without criticism while the five others are warned by the Lord to repent.

But for Philadelphia and Smyrna to be "the two lampstands that stand" we would expect them also to be composed of Jews, with one church demonstrating the priestly office and the other church the kingly. Such appears to be the case.

Of all the remarks made to the seven churches only Smyrna and Philadelphia are addressed as Jews who had become followers of Christ. In both cases the Lord speaks to the concern of believing Jews who had been put out of synagogues by unbelieving Jews, "those who say they are Jews" (2:9, 3:9). The fact that the Lord addresses only these two churches regarding their experience with the "synagogue of Satan", ethnic Jewish non-believers who falsely claimed to be God's true synagogue, argues favorably that the Lord regarded Philadelphia and Smyrna as the rightful claimants to the title "Jew", and saw their assemblies as the true synagogues. Gentile churches would not be inclined to a negative reaction toward ethnic non-believing Jews calling themselves Jews, or consequently in need of the Lord's assurance that He regarded such false claimants as a synagogue of Satan. Converted gentiles were called Christians, not Jews, and they gathered together as churches, not synagogues.

Likewise, of all the seven churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia are addressed as those destined to demonstrate the offices of priest and king. Whereas Smyrna (2:8) is presented with a picture of Jesus "who was dead and has come to life" (first advent, the great High Priest who gave His own life), Philadelphia (3:7) is presented with a picture of Jesus "who has the key of David" (second advent, the King of Kings). Whereas Smyrna will suffer tribulation and death just as her High Priest Jesus, Philadelphia will be treated as a king by her enemies who "will come and bow down" at their feet.

Philadelphia and Smyrna are therefore two lampstands, ethnic Jewish churches, that stand and exhibit characteristics of the priestly and kingly offices, the two olive trees.

The act of "measuring" both of these churches apart from the five gentile churches ("court which is outside") relates to enabling these two churches to accomplish their special prophetic task, whether they find themselves in the heat of persecution (as in Smyrna) or in a position of relative safety (as in Philadelphia). In the same way, whether Old Testament prophets were persecuted, as Elijah, or roamed free, as Elisha, they were equally set apart and supernaturally endowed for the service of God.

John is supplied "...a measuring reed like a ruler's scepter..." (11:1). This "scepter" is not a normal measuring device. The fact that a scepter is to be used for measuring, is notice that the results are the function of a king's authority. And the kind of "measuring" that John is acting out is apparently similar to what King David did when he defeated Moab (2 Samuel 8:2). The measuring in that context meant the difference between life and death for a conquered people.

This picture of ethnic Jewish believers being distinguished from and treated differently than gentile believers with whom they share a common identity in the body of Christ, is consistent also with the pictures in Revelation chapters 7, 12, 14 and 15. In chapter 7 the 144,000 of the twelve tribes of Israel share a common identity as servants of God with the great multitude of all the nations, but are distinguished by nationality and the act of sealing. In chapter 12 "the woman" (v. 1) and "the rest of her offspring" (v. 17) share identity as those who "keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" but are distinguished in the exclusively Jewish-Christian description of the woman and the special treatment ("place prepared by God", "nourished", "two wings of the great eagle") given her by God during the career of the dragon. In chapter 14 the 144,000 are with the Lord on Mount Zion as "firstfruits" of the Lord's harvest, singing a song no others could learn, while an undesignated group "who had come off victorious from the beast" (15:2) sing the Lord's praises with the phrase, "all the nations will come and worship before Thee." This last group only comes into our view after the 144,000 are with the Lord, and the subsequent scene of harvest is described (14:14-16).

This singling out of a believing Jewish remnant for a powerful prophetic ministry during the time of the great tribulation was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28 ff.) and repeated by the assembled saints on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17).²⁵³ Joel said that the Spirit was to be poured out upon the sons of Israel without distinction between sex, age or class ("all flesh"), resulting in a ministry of prophecy and the display of God's power.

Some commentators have suggested Old Testament prophets such as Moses and Elijah as historically typical of the two witnesses, or, coming again to be the two witnesses. Indeed, some such Old Testament individuals or scenarios may be in some ways typical of the Revelation scene. A likely pair whose case strongly resembles the present scene are Moses and Aaron. In their cases they filled the offices of priest and king in Israel in opposition to the wicked Pharaoh and his magician priests. In that case also we see God's supernatural power granted in opposition to the diabolical power of Pharaoh's priests.

However likely it is that Moses and Aaron or others are typical of the two witnesses' ministry, the language of chapter 11 does not support the suggestion that the two witnesses are two individual persons. The text states that they are "the two lampstands that stand", a direct reference back to the churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna. The singular nouns "mouth" (v. 5) and "body"²⁵⁴ (vv. 8-9) properly express functions of a large body of people, but, would be linguistic errors in reference to two persons. The beast is said to "make war with them and kill them" at the conclusion of their testimony. Such a description does not fit the simple execution of two persons. Next we are notified that their dead body lies (verb supplied by translators) "in the street of the great city". Since the phrase "the great city" is discovered to be a reference to the "woman" (great harlot) of chapters 17 and 18, who personifies the multiplied Babylon-like cities of the world, then a great number of dead are envisioned lying in the streets of the world's cities. It was here in the Babylon-like world-city that the Lord Jesus was crucified. In addition, the wide number of those from "the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations" who look at their dead bodies speaks of a large number of dead bodies distributed widely. Nothing in the text of Revelation chapter 11 leads us to hypothesize two individual persons; but everything about the text and the further context of Revelation leads us to the two churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia.

As the witnesses fulfill their prophetic calling in the context of the beast's opposition, calamity results on a world-wide scale. A comparison between the description of the two witnesses' miraculous power and the scene from chapter 8 at the beginning of the trumpets brings this picture into sharp focus. In chapter 8 the ascent of the saints' prayers is seen to precede the hail and fire (trumpet one), a great star burning with fire (trumpet two) and a great star burning like a torch (trumpet three), all of which fall consecutively on earth with various consequences, followed by a darkness (trumpet four) and a plague (trumpet five). By comparison, in chapter 11 it is said of the two witnesses that,

If "fire proceeds out of their mouth" means that they speak and fire results as Moses spoke and a fiery hail resulted, or Elijah spoke and fire came down from heaven, then the scenes under the trumpets and the ministry of the two witnesses appears to be one and the same. The two witnesses turn water to blood and smite the earth with plagues and call fire down from heaven just as we see under the trumpets. And if to this we add the scene that Joel foresaw, then we conclude that the supernatural calamity under the trumpets is directed from heaven in response to the words of the two witnesses against the ungodly. This is not unlike the case of Israel being delivered from Egypt.

Thus we conclude that the two witnesses are the two churches, Philadelphia and Smyrna, demonstrating the priestly and kingly function, composed exclusively of the tribes of Israel. They are set apart from the five gentile churches who will by this time have become compromised by the world to the point where they no longer present themselves as an effective force for the Lord.²⁵⁵ They will be supported spiritually by faithful gentiles who, as minority members of the five churches, continue to obey and glorify the Lord (cf: Rev. 2-3).

The identity of the two witnesses, and the condition of the five gentile churches, provides a chilling reminder of Paul's words to the Romans,

To Continue Your Study: