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Revelation 11 God Reigns
Revelation 11 God Reigns
As we read through this chapter, we are actually coming to the end of the first section. We have seen the picture of the gospel going forth and resistance and persecution arising against God’s people. God responds with many warnings with the purpose of bringing about repentance, but most stubbornly refuse to repent.
Because of the stubborn unrepentant hearts, there are no more warnings (read chapter 10 again!). Now God first has the ‘temple’ measured. I take this to be the temple of God’s people as in Ephesians 2 – the disciples of Jesus. God knows who are His, He cares, and He will respond against those who are mistreating them, even as He promised in 2Thess. It is well to note that such ‘marking’ and ‘measuring’ was not to keep them from BEING persecuted, but rather to give them assurance during and through such persecution. In the END, those who prove to be faithful and overcomers, will be vindicated.
Then we are given a picture of the two faithful witnesses. They are not identified in this book and have been identified / interpreted in many different ways. I see the bottom line as simply the picture of all of God’s people and the response that they receive in the world (they will be hated, shunned, deprived, pressured, slandered, and some even martyred). In the end, God will vindicate and reward them for their faithfulness.
Then the 7th trumpet sounds and it ends, God ‘wins’. The witnesses, though put to death by the worldly peoples, they are raised, rewarded and glorify God. Thus we see that through Jesus “Kingdom of the world HAS become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.” (vs. 15). We are informed that Heaven responds saying: We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign (vs. 17). What has ALWAYS been going on in heaven simply continues: THEY WORSHIP GOD!
We are thus encouraged unto faithfulness to God. The battle is not waged by physical aggression or worldly weapons, but by faithfully following Jesus. There has always been and will always be this war between the world (its values, goals, and weapons) and God’s people. Will you resist? Will you be found faithful unto death?
Hugh DeLong
