ACC ~ Revelation 11 v1 - 2

THE CREED OF THE CHURCH IS THE MEASURE OF FAITH. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: “He received a measuring rod like a staff, that he might measure the temple and the altar and those who worship in it.” In this passage he speaks of that authority that [John] afterward exercised in the churches after his release. For he later also wrote a Gospel. And when Valentinus and Cerinthus and Ebion and other sects of Satan had spread throughout the world, bishops from the neighboring cities gathered to him and persuaded him to write his testimony concerning the Lord. The “measure” of the faith, however, is the commandment of our Lord, namely, that we must confess the Father Almighty, as we have been taught, and his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who was spiritually begotten from the Father before the beginning of the world, who was made man, and when he had conquered death was received with his body by the Father into heaven, holy Lord and pledge of immortality; he was foretold by the prophets, he was described by the law, and through the hand of God and the word of the Father Almighty he is also the creator of the whole world.This is the rod and measure of the faith, so that no one worships at the holy altar except him who confesses this, “the Lord and his Christ.” “The court on the inside leave outside.” The court is called an “atrium,” an open area between walls. He commands that such as these are to be thrown out of the church, for they are unnecessary. “It is given over to be trampled by the nations.” This means that such persons are to be trampled either by the nations or with the nations. He mentions then again the destruction and the slaughter of the last times and says, “and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE, 11.1-2.

NOT ALL ATTACHED TO THE CHURCH ARE IN THE CHURCH. TYCONIUS: When he says “Rise,” he arouses the church, for John, who is an image of the church, did not hear these things sitting down but standing up. “Measure,” it says, “the temple and the altar and those who worship there.” He did not command that everyone be measured; rather, he commanded that a portion be prepared unto the end [time], so that what is said in the Gospel might be fulfilled, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” “But do not measure the court outside the temple, leave that out.” The court, which is outside the temple, although it seems to belong to the temple, in fact is not the temple, for it has no relation to the holy of holies. These are those persons who appear to be in the church but are outside of it. … Those persons who are outside the temple are also the nations who have never believed the gospel of the Lord. Both groups will trample his church. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.1-2.

ISRAEL IS IMMEASURABLY INCREASED BY THE GENTILES. OECUMENIUS: The blessed John had earlier seen a vision of the multitude of saints who are with Christ and who behold the throne of God. Among these there were many more Gentiles than there were those from Israel.The present vision now reveals something else to John. It reveals how many were pleasing [to God] at the time of the Old Testament and how many at the time of the New Testament. And note how cleverly this is sketched out for him. He is given a measuring stick that he might measure “the temple of God and the altar” in the temple (clearly the one in Jerusalem) “and those worshiping in it.” And he measured. Those who pleased God during the time of the Old Testament were easily measured because there were so few of them. “But do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations.” When he had measured the temple and the altar and those sacrificing within, he heard that it was necessary to place the court on the outside and to widen it, but definitely not to measure it, since it was to attain to greater things than measuring. The court, it says, is given over to the nations, and it is adjacent to and lies outside the temple. Likewise, the New Testament follows immediately upon the Old, for the New fulfills spiritually and in reality that which has but shadow in it. And realities of a different kind arise next to [the Old Testament], as Jeremiah says, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.” For this reason he calls the New Testament the “court of the temple.” And so, the vision indicates in a mystical manner that he who in the New Testament is named “Christ” and “Beginning” was Lord of the Old Testament … and he calls the New Testament the “court” of the Old Testament. For the court is the beginning and entrance to God, but it is not the temple. Therefore, he did not measure the court by which both the [New Testament] and those in it are signified. For both the New Testament and those justified in it are beyond comprehension, these because of their unspeakable magnitude and the New Testament because of its subtlety and the sublimity of its teachings. For it says, “it was given over to the nations.” The blessings of the New Testament were given also to Israel, but since the Gentiles in it are greater in number than those who were pleasing from Israel, it indicates the whole from the greater part, saying that the court was given to the nations. “And they will trample upon the holy city for forty-two months.” It speaks of “the city,” not of the temple, calling the church a “city,” about which it says, “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” And what does it mean that the measuring will be for forty-two months? It indicates that there is little time remaining upon the earth for the citizenship given in the New Testament and that afterward the end will come. For the number forty, the sum of four tens, is not complete, nor is the number two. By these numbers the verse shows that the duration of the New Testament does not last long in the present life, and so the Scripture calls the time of the New Testament the “last” hour or the “eleventh” hour, at which time the Only Begotten became man. But he will endure forever in the coming life. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.1-2.

THOSE OF A FALSE FAITH AND A SINFUL LIFE ARE TO BE EXPELLED. PRIMASIUS: He commands that the teaching of a false faith and the contagion of a sinful way of life among the heretics, Jews and Gentiles be expelled, for it is not right that such persons approach the holy of holies. For the apostle says, “What have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside whom you are to judge?”When all the Jews, heretics, and Gentiles incessantly attack the church by all means available, it is as though they are trampling upon the church. The number of the months signifies not only the time of the last persecution but also the entire time of Christianity. For there are six ages of the world and seven days by which all time moves by passing away and returning. Six times seven makes forty-two, and I believe that the passage refers to both of these [numbers]. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.2.

UNBELIEVING GENTILES AND JEWS. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: We think that the church is called the “temple of the living God,” for in it we offer spiritual sacrifices to God. And I think that the “court outside” is the assembly of the unbelieving Gentiles and Jews, and so by virtue of their impiety they are unworthy to be measured by the angel. “For the Lord knows those who are his,” as it says, but he who knows all things is said not to know the transgressors. That the holy city, whether that be the new Jerusalem or the catholic church, will be trampled by the nations for forty-two months signifies, I believe, that at the appearance of the antichrist those who are faithful and trustworthy will be trampled and persecuted for three and a half years. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 11.1-2.

WE ARE TO MEASURE OUR SPIRITUAL PROGRESS. BEDE: He said, “Rise,” not because John was sitting when he heard these words, but because by this word the heart of each person is aroused to measure the words and deeds of the Gospel. For there each will discover to what extent he has progressed and to what extent he is in agreement with the divine rule. EXPLANATION OF THE APOCALYPSE 11.1.

THE TWO WITNESSES REVELATION 11:3-10

OVERVIEW: Just as the coming of Christ in humiliation was announced by John the Baptist, so his coming in the glory of the Father will be announced by Elijah and Enoch (OECUMENIUS). It may be, however, that John also will return at the end along with Elijah and Enoch (PSEUDO-HIPPOLYTUs), or that it will be Jeremiah who along with Elijah returns to announce the Lord’s coming (VICTORINUS). The sending of forerunners reveals the Lord’s kindness to humanity and his care for mortal sinners (PSEUDO-HIPPOLYTUS). Through them humankind will be instructed about the deception of the antichrist and the wrath of God (PSEUDO-HIPPOLYTUS, TYCONIUS, OECUMENIUS), and by their example the forerunners will show the way of repentance to sinners (TYCONIUS).

The two witnesses symbolize as well the two Testaments by which God governs and rules his church (TYCONIUS). At the same time, there are two kinds of witness, that which is private and in the heart and that which is public and known to all (PRIMASIUS). The two witnesses are said to be two olive trees and two lampstands, for they represent the one church, which is formed from the two peoples of the Jews and the Gentiles (OECUMENIUS, PRIMASIUS) and is illuminated by the two Testaments which pour the oil of knowledge into the church (TYCONIUS, PRIMASIUS). Were anyone to harm the church, the prayers of the church would consume them, either that they might be corrected or that they might be punished (TYCONIUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES). All that God has done for the church, he has given to the church. Therefore, the church has the power of binding and loosing so that she can cause the rain of blessing to cease to fall upon the earth (TYCONIUS, PRIMASIUS).

Similarly, at the end of time God will give great power to his two prophets, for they will promote truth and light by signs and wonders, even as the antichrist by false signs advances the cause of deceit and darkness (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). The preaching of the two witnesses will be met with great resistance by the antichrist, who will exalt himself and glorify himself as God (PSEUDO-HIPPOLYTUS). As many texts claim, the antichrist will arise by God’s allowance as a kingdom among kingdoms and from among the Caesars (VICTORINUS). Yet tradition says that the antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan and hence from the iniquitous hearts of the Jews (TYCONIUS). More likely yet, however, the antichrist will arise from the unstable substance of our sinful human nature. In any case, he will be savage, inhuman and bloodthirsty as is a beast (OECUMENIUS). And so the antichrist will slay those who confess Christ and will slay spiritually those who are deluded by his deceit (TYCONIUS, BEDE). Suitably, he will set up his kingdom in Jerusalem, where the prophets were killed and the Christ was crucified (TYCONIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

In this way the antichrist imitates David, whose son was the Christ (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Yet the Jerusalem of the antichrist will be as Sodom and Egypt because it will enslave and abuse the servants of Christ and will be noted for its licentiousness (OECUMENIUS). Moreover, that spiritual Sodom and Egypt will possess neither the light of faith nor the sound of confession (BEDE). Rather, in it the wicked will rejoice over the death of the righteous (OECUMENIUS) as they strive to destroy the church and remove her from the world (PRIMASIUS). May we, therefore, turn to the Lord of our salvation when we are chastened, so that we might escape eternal punishment, unlike those who rejoiced that they were free from the sufferings intended for their correction (ANDREW OF CAESAREA).

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