Hope in your King
Revelation 11:1–19
Why is life such a struggle? Why do the innocent continue to suffer? Will it always be like this? Will our suffering ever come to an end? Is there any hope? What will the future look like?
In today’s passage, we get a glimpse of what the future will be like when Jesus returns; the kingdomof the world is transformed into the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah who ‘will rule forever and ever!’ (v.15, MSG).
Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God. There is a sense in which it was ‘now’, and a sense in which it was ‘not yet’.
The present reality of the kingdom of God was shown by all that Jesus did in his ministry. God’s rule and reign is shown by the suppression of evil. The inauguration of the kingdom of God is seen by, for example, the forgiveness of sins, casting out demons and healing the sick.
On the other hand, the future aspect of the kingdom of God was made apparent by Jesus. He taught his disciples to pray, ‘your kingdom come’ (Matthew 6:10). He speaks of a harvest at ‘the end of the age’ (13:39). It appears that the kingdom of God will not be fully realised until Jesus returns.
Today’s passage from Revelation describes what will happen just before the kingdom of God comes in its fullness. The people of God are simultaneously persecuted and protected.
There will be two witnesses (Revelation 11:3). The Old Testament legal system always required at least two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15; John 8:17). Jesus always sent his witnesses out two by two.
The two witnesses here are probably Moses (who turned ‘the waters into blood’, Revelation 11:6) and Elijah (‘who shut up the sky’, v.6), ‘for these two prophets pricked the conscience of all the people on earth, made it impossible for them to enjoy their sins’ (v.10, MSG).
The two witnesses prophesied for 1,260 days (forty-two months or three-and-a-half years). This is probably symbolic of the period between the first and the second coming of Jesus.
Just before the end, they are killed by the beast. Their bodies lie in ‘the street of the great city’ (v.8) – that is Babylon or Rome – with the symbolic names of ‘Sodom and Egypt’, and ‘where also their Lord was crucified’ (v.8), that is Jerusalem.
For a very short time (‘three and a half days’, v.9), everyone gloats over their death (v.10). Then God raises them up: ‘the Living Spirit of God will enter them – they’re on their feet! – and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death’ (v.11, MSG), and they are taken to heaven as the time for the final judgment approaches (vv.12–13).
This is the moment that the seventh trumpet sounds. There is a three-fold sequence. First, the kingdom of God finally arrives in all its fullness (v.15). Second, the completed church (‘the twenty-four elders’, v.16) worships the King. Falling on their faces they worship God saying:
|‘We thank you, O God, Sovereign-Strong, ||WHO IS AND WHO WAS. ||You took your great power ||and took over – reigned!’ (v.17, MSG).
Third, the final judgment begins (v.18). The destroyers will be destroyed. God will reward his ‘prophets and saints’ – both ‘small and great’ will be rewarded.
As ever in Revelation, these scenes are symbolic. Moses and Elijah, the two witnesses to God, are figures of great courage and great power, who encounter opposition and suffering before their final vindication.
This is the reality of what you are to expect in this period between the first and second comings of Jesus – the period in which you now live. There is a struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the ‘beast’. But it is a struggle in which you know the final outcome.
Your struggles will come to an end. The innocent will no longer suffer. There is great hope for the future. Jesus will return. He will reign for ever and ever.
