Revelation 11

John is told to measure God’s temple, which marks out what belongs to God and is kept safe, while the holy city is trampled. Two witnesses then prophesy with power, are killed, and are raised up before the eyes of their enemies. The chapter ends as the seventh trumpet sounds and heaven declares that the world’s kingdom now belongs to God and His Christ. Christians read the details in different ways, but the message is shared: God protects His people, His witness cannot finally be silenced, and His reign wins.

Revelation 11:1

John is handed a measuring rod and told to measure God’s temple, the altar, and the worshipers. In Scripture, measuring marks out what belongs to God and is under His care. Believers differ over whether the temple is literal or stands for God’s people. Either way, the worshipers are known and counted.

BSA: measure (“to find the size or amount of, to assess”): God takes stock of His worshipers; nothing about them is overlooked.

Greek: κάλαμος (kalamos, G2563) — “a reed.” This was a common river reed used as a measuring stick. John’s measuring is done with a plain tool of everyday life, yet it carries God’s authority.

See also: Ezekiel 40:3; Zechariah 2:1-2.

Revelation 11:2

The outer courtyard is left out, because it is given to the nations, who trample the holy city for 42 months. Some understand this as a real time of persecution. Others take it as a limited season in which the church suffers. In either case, the time has a fixed end.

BSA: trample (“tread under foot, oppress”): This is rough, contemptuous treatment, the way a crowd tramples ground.

Greek: πατήσουσιν (patēsousin, G3961) — “they will tread on.” The word means to walk over something and crush it underfoot. It pictures a city treated with contempt, but only for a measured time.

See also: Luke 21:24.

Revelation 11:3

God Himself commissions two witnesses and gives them power. They prophesy for 1,260 days, about the same span as the 42 months, wearing sackcloth, the clothing of mourning and repentance. Their message is a call to turn back to God, and it is spoken at a cost.

BSA: empower (“give authority and strength to”): The witnesses’ strength is given by God; it does not come from themselves.

Greek: μάρτυσίν (martysin, G3144) — “witnesses.” This is the word from which we get martyr. A witness is someone who speaks the truth about what he knows, even when it costs his life.

See also: Daniel 7:25.

Revelation 11:4

The witnesses are called two olive trees and two lampstands standing before the Lord of the earth. The picture comes from Zechariah’s vision of oil feeding a lamp. It shows that God’s Spirit supplies their light and that they serve before the Lord of all the earth.

BSA: lampstands (“a holder for a lamp”): A lampstand does not make light itself; it holds up the light for others to see.

Greek: λυχνίαι (lychniai, G3087) — “lampstands.” Earlier in Revelation the lampstands are the churches. Here the witnesses carry the same calling to hold up God’s light in a dark world.

See also: Zechariah 4:2-3; Zechariah 4:14; Revelation 1:20.

Revelation 11:5

Anyone who tries to harm the witnesses meets fire from their mouths. Their words carry God’s judgment, and no enemy can stop their work before it is finished. The scene recalls the prophet Elijah, whose word brought fire.

BSA: fire (“divine judgment, flames”): The fire stands for God’s judgment, carried by the witnesses’ own words.

See also: 2 Kings 1:10; Jeremiah 5:14.

Revelation 11:6

The witnesses can shut the sky so that no rain falls, and strike the waters and the earth with plagues. These are the signs of Elijah, who shut the heavens, and of Moses, who turned the Nile to blood. God confirms their word with the same kind of power He gave His earlier prophets.

BSA: plague (“a blow or wound”): Each plague is a blow that strikes the earth to wake it from its stubbornness.

See also: 1 Kings 17:1; Exodus 7:19.

Revelation 11:7

Only after the witnesses have finished their testimony can the beast overcome them. Nothing touches them before God’s appointed moment. The beast rises from the Abyss, which shows that his power is dark and does not come from heaven. Here the faithful are seemingly defeated.

BSA: Abyss (“deep, seemingly bottomless pit, the underworld”): The beast comes from the dark depths, the home of evil powers.

Greek: ἀβύσσου (abyssou, G12) — “of the bottomless deep.” The word means a depth with no floor. It names the prison and source of dark spiritual powers, not an earthly place.

See also: Daniel 7:21; Revelation 9:1-2.

Revelation 11:8

Their bodies lie unburied in the street of the great city. It is called Sodom and Egypt, for its sin and its oppression, and it is the place where their Lord was crucified. That points to Jerusalem, though many Christians also see a picture of any world system that rejects God.

BSA: figuratively (“spiritually, symbolically”): The names Sodom and Egypt describe the city’s character, not its location.

Greek: πνευματικῶς (pneumatikōs, G4153) — “spiritually.” John says the city is called these names in a spiritual sense. He is naming what the city is like, not its address.

See also: Isaiah 1:9-10.

Revelation 11:9

People from every nation look at the bodies for three and a half days and refuse them burial. Leaving a body unburied was a deep dishonor in the ancient world. The whole world joins in contempt for God’s witnesses.

BSA: tomb (“memorial, burial place, sepulchre”): Denying a tomb meant denying them any honor or memory.

Revelation 11:10

Those who dwell on the earth celebrate and send each other gifts, as at a feast, because the prophets’ message had troubled their consciences. People will celebrate when a voice that exposed their sin is silenced. Their joy is short-lived.

BSA: gloat (“rejoice, celebrate”): The joy is real but wrong; the world is glad because the unwelcome truth has stopped.

Revelation 11:11

After three and a half days, God’s breath of life enters the witnesses and they stand on their feet. Fear falls on those who watched. The scene echoes Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones. God has the last word over death, and the witnesses are vindicated.

BSA: breath of life (“spirit of life, vital principle”): Life comes from God alone, as it did at creation.

Greek: πνεῦμα ζωῆς (pneuma zōēs, G4151) — “breath or spirit of life.” The word pneuma means both breath and spirit. The picture is of God giving life directly, as He did when He first made man.

See also: Ezekiel 37:5; Ezekiel 37:10.

Revelation 11:12

A loud voice from heaven calls them up, and they rise in a cloud while their enemies watch. The people who thought they had won see the victory reversed. For believers this is a hint of what is promised to all who belong to Christ.

BSA: Come up (“ascend, go up”): Heaven itself calls them upward to be with God.

See also: 2 Kings 2:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Revelation 11:13

A great earthquake strikes that same hour. A tenth of the city falls and 7,000 die. The survivors are afraid and give glory to the God of heaven. Judgment here is partial, and it leaves room for some to turn to God.

BSA: tenth (“one tenth, a significant portion”): The destruction is severe but limited, leaving room for repentance. glory (“honor, praise”): To give God glory is to acknowledge Him as He truly is.

Revelation 11:14

John marks the end of the second woe, which is the sixth trumpet, and announces that the third is coming quickly. These woes were announced by the eagle in chapter 8. The pause here prepares us for the seventh trumpet, which brings the great climax.

BSA: woe (“alas, expression of sorrow”): A woe is a cry of grief over coming judgment.

See also: Revelation 8:13.

Revelation 11:15

The seventh trumpet sounds, and voices in heaven declare that the kingdom of the world now belongs to the Lord and His Christ. He will reign forever. The word is spoken as though it were already done, because God’s victory is certain.

BSA: kingdom (“royal power, dominion”): The rule over all human society is handed to its rightful King. Christ (“the Anointed One, Messiah”): The Christ is the promised King whom God has anointed.

Greek: ἐγένετο (egeneto, G1096) — “has become.” John uses a past-tense verb for something still to be completed. He speaks of it as settled because God has decided it.

See also: Psalm 2:2; Daniel 7:14.

Revelation 11:16-17

The twenty-four elders fall on their faces to worship and give thanks. They thank God because He has taken His great power and begun to reign. He is the eternal One, and His rule never ended. Now it is plainly seen.

BSA: Almighty (“all-powerful, having absolute control”): Nothing can hold back or overturn God’s rule.

Greek: παντοκράτωρ (pantokratōr, G3841) — “the all-ruling one.” It joins the words for all and to hold power. It describes God as holding everything under His rule.

See also: Revelation 1:8.

Revelation 11:18

The nations rage, but God’s wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead, to reward His servants, small and great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth. God brings justice to the wicked and reward to the faithful.

BSA: wrath (“strong anger, righteous indignation”): God’s anger is just, a fitting answer to evil. reward (“give payment, bestow”): God pays His servants what He has promised.

Greek: ὠργίσθησαν (ōrgisthēsan, G3710) — “they were enraged.” The nations’ anger is a verb from the same root as God’s wrath, ὀργή. Human rage is set against God’s, and His is the one that stands.

See also: Psalm 2:1-5.

Revelation 11:19

God’s temple in heaven opens and the ark of His covenant appears. The ark was the sign of God’s presence and His promises. Lightning, thunder, an earthquake and hail follow. God stays faithful to His people, and His judgments are real.

BSA: ark (“wooden box, chest”): The ark was a simple chest, but it held the tablets of God’s covenant. covenant (“formal agreement, promise”): The ark stands for God’s binding promise to His people.

Greek: κιβωτός (kibōtos, G2787) — “ark, chest.” This is the word used for the ark of the covenant and also for Noah’s ark. Both are signs of God’s faithfulness to those He keeps safe.

See also: Hebrews 9:4; 1 Kings 8:6.