Revelation 11:7

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

·        To make their testimony more strong, they must seal it with their blood (MH)

·        The time when they should be killed:  when finished with testimony.  They are immortal till their work be done (MH)

Daniel 7:3, 7, 8, 21  …..I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them.

Zechariah 14:2  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished.  Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Revelation 11:6

These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

·        The two witnesses have the power to bring both drought and plague, similar to the power Elijah (James 5:17-18) and Moses (Exodus 7-12) had.  (DG)

·        In the ancient Greek grammar, all the nouns used to speak of the two witnesses in this passage are in the masculine gender. The two witnesses are definitely two men. (DG)

Exodus 7:19-20 ….And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

1 Kings 17:1  And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”

Revelation 11:5

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies.  And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

·        The two witnesses have special protection from God, similar to Elijah’s in 2 Kings 1.  (DG)

·        God makes their inspired denunciations of judgment to come to pass and devour their enemies. (JFB)

Numbers 16:35  And a fire came out from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

Jeremiah 5:14  Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts:  “Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Revelation 11:4

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.

·        God made them to be like Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two olive-trees and candlestick in the vision of Zechariah (MH)

·        If we will be witnesses, we must first have something to witness – our own personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Then, we must have the power of the Holy Spirit to bring forth the story of what we have witnessed effectively. (DG)

Psalm 52:8  But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

Jeremiah 11:16  The LORD called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.  With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken.

Revelation 11:3

“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

·        God has reserved to Himself His faithful witnesses (MH)

·        They prophesy in sackcloth, as those that are deeply affected with the low and distressed state of the churches (MH)

·        They prophesy during the period of the reign of antichrist (MH)

Deuteronomy 17:6Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

Genesis 37:34  Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

Revelation 11:2

“But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles.  And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.

·        Herod built an outer court and called it the court of the Gentiles.  This was no part of the temple, and therefore God would have no regard to it (MH)

·        There is a set time for the city to be put underfoot

·        Whose who worship in the outer court are either such as worship in a false manner or with hypocritical hearts.  Those who worship in the outer court will be rejected, and only those who worship within the veil accepted. (MH)

Psalm 79:1  O GOD, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps.

Ezekiel 40:17-20  Then he brought me into the outer court; and there were chambers and a pavement made all around the court; thirty chambers faced the pavement……

Revelation 11:1

Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod.  And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship three.

·        The design of this measurement seems to be the preservation of it in those times of public danger and calamity that are here foretold.  (MH)

·        How much was to be measured.  1.  The temple, the gospel church in general.  2.  The altar.  Whether the church was the true altars.  3. The worshippers too must be measured, whether they make God’s glory their end and his word their rule.  (MH)

Ezekiel 40:3  He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze.  He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.

Zechariah 2:1  Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.