RSV ~ Revelation 11 Notes
Rev 11:1 | ISB Notes
measure the temple: A prophetic action in which John measures the sanctuary with a reed but excludes the outer court. There is broad agreement that his action is symbolic and that a spiritual distinction is implied, e.g., believing Israel (or believers in general) is marked out for protection, while unbelieving Israel (or unbelievers in general) is given over to judgment. The measuring that precedes the seventh trumpet (11:15) thus parallels the sealing that took place before the seventh seal (7:1-8). There is less agreement over what is measured. Some take it to be the Herodian Temple in Jerusalem, which was encompassed by an outer courtyard called the Court of the Gentiles. Others note that John elsewhere speaks of the temple of God in heaven (11:19; 14:17; 15:5), in which case the trampling of the outer court may symbolize the Church being persecuted by the unbelieving world.
• Measuring the dimensions of the temple with a reed draws on imagery from Ezek 40-42.
Rev 11:2 | ISB Notes
trample over the holy city: Taken literally, this would refer to the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as in Lk 21:24. Though mass numbers of Jews perished in the calamity, the Christians of Jerusalem fled safely to the Transjordan town of Pella (Lk 21:20-21; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3, 5). Taken symbolically, this could refer to the persecution of the saints, whose destiny is the holy city above (Rev 21:2, 10).
• Jerusalem and its sanctuary were twice before trampled down by the Gentiles, once by the Babylonians (Is 63:18) and then again by the Syrians (1 Mac 3:45). forty-two months: A time of tribulation (13:5), also described as three and a half years (12:14) or 1,260 days (11:3; 12:6). Some interpret these figures literally; others read them figuratively, indicating a limited period of persecution or as representing the entire course of Church history.
• The time frame is drawn from Daniel’s vision of a tribulation to come upon the People of God in the future (Dan 7:25; 9:27; 12:7). This was foreshadowed by the Syrian desecration of Jerusalem from 167 to 164 B.C.
Rev 11:3 | ISB Notes
two witnesses: Represent the Church’s witness to Israel and, more specifically, her conviction that the Law and the Prophets bear witness to Christ. So understood, the fate of the two witnesses symbolize the rejection of the gospel by unbelieving Israel (11:10), as well as the Church’s conformity to Christ in his dying, rising, and exaltation (11:7, 11-12). Some see the witnesses as two historical individuals, either as two unknown martyrs or as two figures from the OT, such as Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Elijah.
• The actions of the witnesses recall those of Moses and Elijah: they “shut the sky” (11:6; 1 Kings 17:1); they turn water “into blood” (11:6; Ex 7:20); they are taken up to “heaven” (11:12; 2 Kings 2:11); and they give “testimony” to Jesus (11:7; Lk 9:28-31).
sackcloth: A coarse garment of goat hair worn as a sign of mourning and repentance (Dan 9:3; Joel 1:13).
Rev 11:4 | ISB Notes
two olive trees: An image drawn from Zech 4:114.
• Zechariah saw two olive trees that symbolized the anointed leaders of Israel who helped to rebuild the nation after the Babylonian exile: the royal governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. Here they represent the twofold mission of the Church to be a royal and priestly witness to the gospel (1:6; 5:10).
Rev 11:7 | ISB Notes
the beast: Later mentioned in 13:1 and 17:8.
Rev 11:8 | ISB Notes
the great city: The city of Jerusalem (Jer 22:8), which crucified the Lord Jesus and took the lives of numerous early Christians (Acts 5:28-30; 7:58-60; 12:2; 26:10). Some interpret this verse figuratively as a reference to the unbelieving world and its hostility toward the Church. This is the first of several references to the “great city” in Revelation (17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21).
Sodom and Egypt: Places infamous in the Bible for their moral depravity and oppressive slavery (Gen 18:20; Ex 1:8-14).
• Occasionally the Prophets compared the iniquity of Jerusalem to that of Sodom and Egypt (Is 3:9; Jer 23:14; Ezek 23:27).
Rev 11:9 | ISB Notes
men from the peoples: The Gentiles in general or perhaps Diaspora Jews living among them throughout the Roman world. The world applauds Jerusalem’s violent attempt to halt the advance of the gospel.
Rev 11:11 | ISB Notes
breath of life: An allusion to Ezek 37:1-14, where the restoration of faithful Israel is portrayed as a resurrection of bodies by the breath of the Spirit.
Rev 11:12 | ISB Notes
in a cloud: Recalls how Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud (Acts 1:9) and anticipates how the saints, too, will ascend into glory after the general resurrection (1 Thess 4:1617).
Rev 11:13 | ISB Notes
earthquake: The murderous city experiences the first tremor of divine judgment.
tenth of the city: The figure of 7,000 casualties, indicative of sevenfold judgment, suggests Jerusalem is still in view. See note on Rev 6:1-8:5.
gave glory: This is the only chastisement in Revelation that leads some to repentance (contrast with 9:20-21 and 16:9, 11).
Rev 11:15-19 | ISB Notes
The seventh trumpet, which ends the second I series of judgments delayed since 10:1. With this final blast, the kingdom of Christ appears, judgment begins, and destruction overtakes the wicked.
• The biblical backdrop is twofold. (1) The collapse of Jericho, an event that gave Israel a decisive hold on the Promised Land, likewise followed seven trumpet blasts (Josh 6:1-21). (2) The declaration in 11:15 recalls the dream of Nebuchadnezzer (Dan 2:31-36), in which the eternal kingdom of God destroys the godless kingdoms of the world (Dan 2:44-45). See note on Rev 10:7.
Rev 11:17 | ISB Notes
who are and who were: A shortened form of the title in 1:4, 8 and 4:8. The omission of the future element “who is to come” here and in 16:5 is deliberate, signaling that God has at last come as King and Judge over the earth (11:15). The manifestation of God’s kingdom may be linked with the trampling down of Jerusalem, as in Lk 21:31 (cf. Zech 14:1-9).
Rev 11:19 | ISB Notes
ark of his covenant: The throne of God in the heavenly temple. From its base issue divine judgments symbolized by violent thunderstorms and earthquakes (4:5; 16:17-18).
• John sees the heavenly counterpart to the ancient ark where Yahweh sat invisibly enthroned in the sanctuaries of Israel (2 Sam 6:2; Is 37:16).