Revelation 11:1-4; Two Olive Trees and Two Candlesticks
Revelation 11:1-4 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Feinberg gave a good background introduction, “Again, the mention of the Temple of God the altar, the court, and the holy city alerts the reader that events continue on Jewish ground… This chapter through verse 14 is the continuation of the parenthesis begun in Revelation 10:1 between the sixth and seventh trumpets. The background of chapter 11 is essential. The nation Israel is returned to their land in unbelief. They have made a covenant with a sinister political leader of the time (cf. Daniel 9:27), who promises them political protection and religious freedom. The temple is rebuilt with an attempt at restoring Mosaic ritual…The church is raptured… John’s people are in view, so he is commanded to measure the temple, the altar, and the worshippers. The altar is that of burnt offering, God’s first provision for Israel’s drawing nigh to Him. The measuring reminds of Ezekiel 40; Zechariah 2; and Revelation 21:15. Measuring conveys the concept of marking off for one’s own possession. God does recognize and claim a godly, worshipping remnant in Jerusalem during the time of the Tribulation. The measuring must be symbolical in that the worshippers are included. The outer court, it is explicitly stated, is to be excluded. In the temples of Israel in the past this was the court of the Gentiles. Now it is indicated that the Gentiles will not only command this area as their own, but for forty-two months (i.e. the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation) they will overrun Jerusalem as well. During the domination of the beast and the Antichrist (cf. Rev. 13) Jerusalem will not enjoy autonomy. The rejected court speaks of the mass of the nation in apostasy and rejection, as well as their being the prey of the nations. It is Jerusalem’s greatest hour of agony.”
He further observed, “But God will not allow Himself to be without a. witness. The very period of the trampling down of Jerusalem will be a time of their testimony i.e., 1260 days. Their clothing of sackcloth shows their afflicted condition over the spiritual desolation about them. Notice that they preach with authority… Their function is stated in verse 4 as similar to the two olive trees and two lamp stands before the Lord in Zechariah 4:14.
Zechariah 4:11-13 Then answered I, and said unto him, What arethese two olive trees upon the right sideof the candlestick and upon the left sidethereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What be thesetwo olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oilout of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zechariah 4:14 Then said he, These arethe two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
In that passage, the reference was to two specific men, Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the governor, one representing the governmental power and the other the religious. Through them were mediated the light and message of God to the people of Israel in those post-captivity days. The two witnesses of the Great Tribulation serve in a royal and priestly capacity, witnessing to the soon coming of the King of the earth. Too, they have power, to accredit and authenticate their mission to unbelieving Israel. Miracles like those of Moses and Elijah will confirm their divine empowering. Israel will be in a state of slavery as in Egypt (now under the domination of the first beast), and in a condition of apostasy as in Elijah’s day (now under the delusion of the false prophet, the second beast, cf. Rev. 13:1-18). Because they testify for God, they will be hated of the ungodly. But they will be invincible and immortal until their ministry is completed. Notice the range of their authority in verse 6: “to smite the earth with every plague” and “as often as they desire.”
The olive tree signifies the mighty empowering by the Spirit of God in the ministry of these two witnesses and light signifies their witness of the gospel, rebuking sin, as the light that penetrates the darkness of the Great Tribulation. The sturdy olive tree that is an ancient symbol of long-lasting fruitfulness for Israel finds its influence in the most critical time when the earth made by God is about to be engulfed by the enemy. Not so, God will raise for Himself a standard in every age. Amen.
Amen.