Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 11

And there was ... — This should be translated as: And there was given to me a reed like a rod (we must omit the words “and the angel stood”), saying. It is not said by whom the reed was given, nor are we told who speaks the command. The whole transaction is impersonal. The reed, like a measuring rod, is given to him, and at the same time the command is given to arise and measure the Temple, the altar, and those who worship in the Temple.

Here, again, we find the basis of the vision in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was brought, in a vision, to a high mountain and saw a man with a line of flax (for measuring long distances) and a measuring line (for shorter distances). But, more probably, the vision of Zechariah was in the seer’s mind (Zechariah 2:1–2), because the vision there of the man with the measuring rod to measure Jerusalem is followed, in the fourth chapter (Zechariah 4:1–6), by the vision of the two olive trees, which are distinctly identified with the two witnesses in the present chapter .

The Temple, altar, and worshippers are to be measured. The measuring implies protecting, or is a token of a resolve to protect, a portion of the sacred enclosure from desecration. The measuring, like the sealing of Revelation 7, is a sign of preservation during impending dangers. To understand what is thus measured out for protection, we must remember that there are two Greek words that are rendered as Temple: one (hieron) signifies “the whole compass of the sacred enclosure, including the outer courts, porches, porticoes, and other buildings subordinated to the Temple itself;” the other (naos) is the Temple itself, the house of God, the Holy and Holy of Holies.

When it is said that Christ taught the people in the Temple, the first of these words is used; and it may be supposed that our Lord carried on His teaching in one of the porches or courts of the sanctuary. But when Zacharias is described as going into the Temple, the word is the second (naos), for he went into the Temple proper and left the people in the outer court, or the court where the brazen altar stood. It is the second of these words which is used here: the Temple proper, the naos, the house of God, is measured, together with the altar.

We are not told which altar is intended. It is at least too hasty to say that it must be the altar of incense, as this alone was in the Temple proper; for the explicit direction to measure the altar sounds like an extension of the measured area and may perhaps mean that some portion of the court reserved for Israel is to be included in the measurement.

The next verse, however, seems to imply that every spot outside the Temple proper was given up to the Gentiles and was not to be measured. It is perhaps wisest, therefore, not to settle this too definitely.

The gist of the measurement is the preservation of the true, invisible Church, the Church within the Church; and everything necessary to worship—Temple, altar, worshippers—all are reserved.

There will always be the real and the conventional—the true and the formal Christian; always those who profess and call themselves Christians, and those who hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. These last are the called and chosen and faithful (Revelation 17:14), the sealed who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and therefore find their safe lodging in the night of danger under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1; compare also to the whole Psalm, and especially to Revelation 11:4-5 and Revelation 11:9-13).

But the court . . .—Translate, And the court which is outside the Temple cast out, and measure not it; because it was given to the nations (Gentiles): and they shall tread down the holy city forty and two months.

The outer court—meaning, perhaps, all that lies outside the Temple itself—is to be omitted. A strong word is used; the words “leave out” are far too weak. He is not only not to measure it, but he is, in a sense, to pass it over, as though considered profane. The reason for this is that it was given to the Gentiles. Our Lord had said that Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24); the sacred seer catches the thought and the deeper significance. There is a treading down worse than that of the conqueror. It is the treading under of sacred things when the beast-power, or the world-power in men, tramples, like the swine, the pearls of grace under their feet, and turns fiercely upon those who gave them.

Such an experience must the Church of Christ undergo. The shrine shall be safe, but the spirit of the nations, though nominally Christian, will be the spirit of Gentilism, worldliness, and even of violence. In the outer court of Church life there will be “the ebbing and flowing mass,” who “sit in the way of knowledge,” who “stand idle in the market-place,” who have no oil in their lamps, and who indirectly pave the way for utter worldliness and practical heathenism.

But there is a limit to this desecration: forty and two months it is to last. The same length of time is expressed in different forms throughout the book. Sometimes we have twelve hundred and sixty days, as in Revelation 11:3 and in Revelation 12:6; at another time forty-two months, as here and in Revelation 13:5. A similar period seems to be meant in Revelation 12:14, where a time, times, and half a time is probably a way of expressing three years and a half; all three forms describe periods of the same length—not, of course, necessarily the same period.

The idea is taken from Daniel, who uses such and similar expressions (Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Daniel 12:11). This incorporation of the expressions used by Daniel is one of those hints which remind us that the laws and principles of God’s government are the same in all ages: so that the principles which receive illustration in one set of historical events are likely to receive similar illustrations in later times; and that the prophecies of one era may contain seeds of fulfillments which spring to fruit in more than one age. Thus the words of Daniel were not exhausted in the age of Antiochus, nor the visions of the Apocalypse in the overthrow of any one nation or the corruptions of any one Church. So much may this constantly-recurring period of three years and a half, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, teach us.

It is not necessary, then, to take the period as an exact literal period. It is true that there have been some remarkable historical periods of this length, which various schools of interpreters have pointed out as the fulfillment of these prophecies; but there have been also remarkable blunders on the part of those who, forgetful of Christ’s own warning, have tried to predict the year when certain prophecies will receive their fulfillment.

It is true, also, that the future may bring us further light, and enable us to understand these descriptions of time better; but for the present, the period of forty and two months, the equivalent of three years and a half (the half of seven, the complete and divine number), is the symbol of a period limited in length, and under the control of Him who holds the seven stars and lives through the ages. It is the pilgrimage period of the Church, the period of the world’s power, during which it seems to triumph; but the period of sackcloth and of suffering will not last forever.

And I will give . . .—Translate as: And I will give (omit “power”) to my two witnesses, and they shall . . . These are the words of God Himself; the omission of the words “and the angel stood” from Revelation 11:1 prevents any confusion of thought on this point.

Two witnesses were required for competent evidence (Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15, and other passages), and there has constantly been a sending forth of God’s chosen messengers in pairs—Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, besides Joshua and Zerubbabel, alluded to by Zechariah; and in New Testament times our Lord sent forth His disciples two and two, as afterwards Paul and Barnabas, or Paul and Silas, went forth to preach.

There is, besides the mere mutual support which two can give, a need for the association of two different characters in the same sort of work: the energy and the sympathy, the elucidator of doctrines and the messenger to the conscience, the apologist and the evangelist, the man of thought and the man of action, the Son of Thunder and the Son of Consolation; it is well that in a world-wide work this duality of power should be brought into play. The witnesses prophesy: the word prophesy must surely be allowed a much wider meaning than merely to predict or foretell future events. The scope of their work, as described afterwards, embraces much more than this : they work wonders, showing signs that remind us of the days of Moses and Aaron; their words are mighty; their life is a testimony.

Their prophesying, or witnessing, extends over forty and two months: a symbolical period, as we have seen, but a period corresponding to that during which other witnesses had witnessed for God. Thus long did Elijah bear witness, under rainless heavens, against the idolatries of Israel; thus long did a greater than Elijah offer the water of life to the Jews, and witness against the hard, unspiritual, worldly religionism of the Pharisee and Sadducee; thus, too, must the witnesses for God bear testimony during the period that the world power seems dominant.

They are clad in sackcloth—the emblem of mourning (2 Kings 6:30; Jonah 3:4) adopted by the prophets, whose God-taught hearts saw reasons for mourning where shallower minds saw none (Isaiah 20:2 and Zechariah 13:2). Compare the garb of Elijah and John the Baptist (2 Kings 1:8 and Matthew 3:4), whose very apparel and appearance were designed to testify against the evils they saw. “The special witnesses of God, in a luxurious and self-pleasing age, are often marked out from the world by signs of self-denial, of austerity, and even of isolation” (Dr. Vaughan).

On verses 3-14:

The Two WITNESSES.—It is the opinion of one able and pre-eminently painstaking commentator that “no solution has ever been given of this portion of the prophecy.” I quote this so that no one will be disappointed when no satisfactory solution is given here; further light in the knowledge of the Bible, and the light of history, and, above all, the aid of the Holy Spirit, may show what the real solution is.

At present it is best to lay down the lines which seem to lead in the direction of such a solution. First, the aim of the present vision must be kept in mind; and secondly, the vision in Zechariah (Zechariah 4, the entire chapter), on which this is professedly built, must be remembered. Now the aim of our present vision seems to be to explain that in the great progress towards victory the Church itself will suffer through corruptions and worldliness, but that the true Temple—the kernel, so to speak, of the Church—will be unharmed and kept safe in her Master’s hands.

But the position of this hidden and enshrined Church will not be one of idle security; in that Temple will be reared in secret, as the rightful king Josiah was, those who will witness undaunted and undefiled for their Lord; throughout the whole of that checkered period of profanation and pain true witnesses for righteousness and faith will never be lacking. To assure the sacred seer that this would be the case, to exhibit the nature of their work and its results, is the apparent aim of the vision. If this be so, the witnesses can scarcely be literal individual men, though it is true that many literal individual men have played the part of these witnesses.

Turning to the foundation vision in Zechariah, we find that the vision there is designed to encourage the weak and restored exiles in their work of rebuilding the Temple; they are shown that, weak as they are, there is a hidden strength, like a sacred stream of oil, which can make them triumph over all their difficulties: not by might or power, but by God’s Spirit, the mountain would become a plain (Zechariah 4:6–7), and “Grace! Grace!” would be the triumphant shout when the headstone of the Temple was raised.

In both visions, then, our minds are turned to the hidden sources of divine strength; there is a safe and secret place measured off by God, where He gives His children strength—not of ordinary might or power, but strength of grace. This is the grace which made Zerubbabel and Joshua strong to achieve their work; this is the grace which can make the two witnesses strong to do their part in the building of that more glorious spiritual temple which is built on the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.

The witnesses, then, stand as the typical representatives of those who, in the strength of God, have, through the long ages, borne witness for Christ against all wrong and falsehood, against a world in arms or a Church in error, or against a nominal Christianity in danger of becoming as corrupt and as cruel as heathenism. Such witnesses stand, like the two columns Jachin and Boaz, before the true Temple of God.

These are . . .—This means, These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks which stand before the Lord of the earth. This is the verse that refers us to the vision of Zechariah for the basis of our present vision.

There, as here, we have the two olive trees, which are explained to be the two anointed ones which stand before the Lord of the whole earth. The explanation is thought to refer to Zerubbabel and Joshua, or, as others think, to Zechariah and Haggai. At that time these men were the witnesses for God in their land and among their people. But the answer of the angel is general: the olive trees are the two anointed ones which stand, and so on. For the vision is general and age-long; it reminds us of the returned Jewish exiles, and of those who were then among them as anointed witnesses, but it shows us that such witnesses are to be found in more than one era. For it is not Zerubbabel and Joshua who can exhaust the fullness of a vision which is the representation of the eternal truth that the oil of gladness and strength from God will rest on those who rely not on might or power, but on God’s Spirit.

The fact that the witnesses are two is brought more prominently forward here than in Zechariah. There, though the olive trees are two, the candlestick is only one, with seven lamps; here there are two candlesticks spoken of as well as two olive trees. This amplification of the original vision is, perhaps, designed to remind us of the greater latitude of diversity in the new dispensation. Just as in the early chapters of this book we had seven golden candlesticks, which, though one in Christ, yet are spoken of as separate, so here the double aspect, the diverse though united efforts of the two witnesses, are brought into prominence.

It may serve to remind us that the witnesses are to be expected to keep their individuality and to use freely their diverse powers. It is not from one class or with one mode of action that the witnesses come: they may be of the statesman class, like Moses and Zerubbabel; of the prophetic or priestly, like Zechariah and Haggai, like Aaron and the later Joshua (Zechariah 3:1); for men may witness for God, as the evils of their time and age require it, in the State as well as in the Church.

The work of Wilberforce, Clarkson, and Howard is a work and a witness for God as well as the work of Chrysostom, Athanasius, and Luther. For the witnesses are raised up to speak against the neglect of humanity as well as against errors in divinity, against a heartless as well as against a creedless Christianity, for both lead back to heathenism. These witnesses are burning and shining lights; in them is centered the light of their age; in them is found the sign that the grace of God never fails, but as the Church’s day is, so shall her strength be.

Here, too, we have the pledge that from Him who is both Priest and King the civil rulers as well as the ecclesiastical rulers may draw grace according to their gifts; and from Him, too, all who are made kings as well as priests to God may derive the power to give the double witness of a life anointed by the Spirit of consecration and ruled by the scepter of righteousness.

And if any man . . .—Better, And if anyone wills to injure them, fire goes forth out of their mouths, and devours their enemies: and if anyone wills to injure them, thus must he be killed. These have power to shut the heaven that the rain may not water (the earth) during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they will.

Again the Old Testament basis becomes evident; the histories of Elijah and Moses supply the illustration. The fire devouring their foes seems to allude to 2 Kings 1:10; like Elijah, they can close the heaven (1 Kings 17:1); like Moses, they can turn water into blood and summon down every plague (Exodus 7:20 and following).

These last characteristics remind us of the spirit and power of Moses and Elias, but we must not forget what has gone before: the witnesses are like olive trees and lights. In them is concentrated grace, light, and power; their witness recalls the great features of various Old Testament teachers and leaders; they display the light of truth, and men cannot oppose or injure them with impunity; they wield a power which it is not safe to provoke.

As from the mouths of the great Sixth Trumpet host there went forth fire and smoke and brimstone to kill the third part of mankind, so out of the mouths of these witnesses there goes forth a purer, but mightier flame. (Compare Psalms 18:8.) We may compare the sword out of the mouth of Christ (Revelation 1:16), and the promise to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 5:14), Behold I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them. The word which is like a sword to lay bare man to himself may become a consuming fire to those who resist or oppose it.

The witnesses for God are thus armed with a spiritual might; for that word which, when accepted and lived by, brings peace, when rejected causes pain and danger. Thus often do the things which might have been for people's peace become an occasion for falling; the stone which, used and built into the life, becomes a precious cornerstone and immovable foundation, grinds to powder those upon whom it falls. So it is with these witnesses: they come to witness for principles that would make the world a Paradise once more.

The world, which casts away their words, will find them come back with scorching force; just as the breath of God gives life and beauty to the world, and power to people's hearts and lives (Psalms 104:30; John 20:22), yet with that same breath of His lips does He slay the wicked (Isaiah 11:4).

Some have thought that there will be a time when witnesses for God will be raised up who will work literal wonders such as these. It is not for us to say that this will not be the case: all prophecy may take a sharper and clearer meaning as the times of the end draw near; but, meanwhile, it is necessary for us to remember that the very power of truth is such that, when rejected, it can and does avenge itself by shutting heaven over our head, and making all the fresh rivulets of life’s purest pleasures loathsome as blood to the sensualized and perverted heart.