Morning Bible Study: Revelation 11:3-14

3  "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days." 

4  These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. 

5  If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. 

6  They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish. 

7  When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them. 

8  And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called "Sodom" and "Egypt," the city where their Lord was crucified. 

9  And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. 

10  All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them. 

11  But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 

12  Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, "Come up here!" And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched. 

13  At the same time there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake, and everyone else was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 

14  The second terror is past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly. NLT

Commentary

(the following commentary is from www.easyenglish.bible/bible-commentary/revelation-lbw.htm)

"Verse 3 God will send two men to speak for him. John does not tell us who these two witnesses are. Many Bible teachers say that these men are Moses and Elijah. Some teachers say that they are Enoch and Elijah. But we cannot be sure who they are.

These two men will wear rough clothes. This is to show that they are serious. What they have to say is important. They tell about God’s anger against the sins of the people.

In prophecy, a month is 30 days. The 1260 days here are the same period as the 42 months in verse 2. They are the last half of the 7-year period before Jesus comes.

Verse 4 Zechariah saw two olive trees and a lamp holder (Zechariah 4:1-7). Zechariah asked an angel what these meant. In his reply, this is what the angel said. ‘Not by force, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of armies.’

The olive trees provide the oil for the lamps. The oil burns in the lamps in order to give light. So, God has given the power of his Spirit to work by these two men.

Verses 5-6 These two verses show the strange power that these men had. Many people wanted to hurt them but none could. Those who tried died. Fire came from the mouths of the two men. Elijah had called down fire from heaven to kill two bands of soldiers (2 Kings 1:10-12).

Like Elijah, these men could stop the rain (1 Kings 17:1). They did this for the period of 42 months. Like Moses, they could turn water into blood (Exodus 7:14-18). God had given to them more power than he gave to any of the prophets. They could use this power as often as they wanted. They had the power to hurt people and to cause damage on the earth.

Verse 7 These two men finished the task that God gave to them. Then the evil beast came up from the deep hole (see 9:1-11). This beast may mean Satan. He fought against them and he killed them.

Verse 8 The two men had worked in the city called Jerusalem. It was there that the Lord Jesus died. When Satan killed the two men, their bodies remained in the street.

Sodom was a very evil place. Egypt was the place where God’s people were slaves. So, the great city had become like Sodom and Egypt.

Verse 9 The bodies were in the street for three and a half days. Crowds of people came to see them. People came from all over the world. Nobody could remove the bodies to bury them.

Verse 10 The people had been afraid of the two men. They did not like what these men had said. What they had done caused so much trouble.

Now the men were dead. News of their death went all round the earth. The news made the people happy. They had parties and they sent presents to each other.

Verse 11 The people were only happy for a short time. After three and a half days, God raised the two men from death. He breathed new life into them. They stood up on their feet. All who saw it were afraid.

Verse 12 A loud voice from heaven called to the two witnesses. ‘Come up here’, the voice said. The two men rose up from the ground. They disappeared from view in a cloud. And they went up to heaven.

Their enemies saw this happen. They had been happy but now they were afraid. They saw the men come alive again. They saw them go up into heaven.

Verse 13 The two witnesses went up to heaven. At the same time, there was a great earthquake. A tenth (10th) part of the city called Jerusalem fell. As a result 7000 people died.

There was a connection between the earthquake and the two men as they went up to heaven. By this God showed that they were his servants. He had sent them and he rescued them. The people could see that this was so. They knew that both events showed the power of God. They had to give glory to God.

This does not mean that the people turned from their sin. It does not mean that they turned to God for him to save them. But they had to recognize that he is the God of heaven.

Verse 14 The second of three times of trouble had ended. The third and last one would come soon."