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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_11:1-6
1Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2"Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. 3"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
Rev_11:1 "a measuring rod like a staff" In the previous sections John watched as the angels performed tasks, but in the seventh trumpet John will be involved in the action.
The term "measuring rod" (kalamos, used in this sense only here) possibly reflects the OT usage of river reeds which were used as horizontal measuring instruments (see hyperlink at Rev_19:11). They were between eight and twenty feet long (cf. Eze_40:5 to Eze_42:20).
▣ "Get up and measure" Measuring was a sign of (1) promised growth and protection (cf. Jer_31:38-40; Rev_21:15). This could be an allusion to Ezekiel's end-time temple (cf. 40-48) or Zechariah's new Jerusalem (cf. Zec_1:16; Zec_2:1-13); or (2) judgment (cf. 2Sa_8:2; 2Ki_21:13; Isa_28:17; Lam_2:8). Here, like the sealing of chapter 7, it is a sign of God's protection of believers. If this interlude parallels chapter 7 then this temple is the whole people of God (believing Jews and believing Gentiles). This then would also parallel Revelation 12.
▣ "the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it" The identity of this temple depends on one's interpretive presuppositions.
1. If we assume that John's imagery is drawn from Ezekiel 40-48, then this is a literal end-time temple in Jerusalem (cf. 2Th_2:4).
2. If, however, we assume the allusion to be to Zechariah 2 then the imagery is the city of God, new Jerusalem.
3. If we assume the heavenly temple (cf. Rev_7:15; Rev_11:19; 15:58; Heb_9:23) then the multitude of Rev_7:9 (the Church, and the woman of Revelation 12) may be the focus (cf. Rev_21:15-16).
It is interesting to note that John is told to measure the people who worship there. This is unusual terminology. This image involves more than just a building. This is imagery that marks off the people of faith from the unbelievers about to experience the wrath of God. Therefore, it is parallel to God's mark on believers' foreheads (cf. Rev_7:3-4).
Rev_11:2 "the court which is outside the temple" This concept of the outer court refers historically to the court of the Gentiles in Herod's Temple. There are several OT allusions to the idea of Jerusalem and the Temple being trodden down by Gentiles (cf. Psa_79:1-7; Isa_63:18; Dan_8:13; Zec_12:3 in the Septuagint). Jesus seems to make a direct allusion to Dan_8:13 in Luk_21:24.
▣ "the nations" See notes at Rev_2:26; Rev_10:11.
▣ "forty-two months" See Special Topic below.
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▣ "the holy city" This could refer to Jerusalem (cf. Isa_52:1; Mat_27:53). However, following the interpretation of the temple in Rev_3:12 as referring to the NT believers, the same method must be followed with this phrase. In the later chapters of Revelation it refers to the NT people of God (cf. Rev_20:9; Rev_21:2; Rev_21:10; Rev_22:19).
John is pulling metaphors from the OT but applying them to the NT people of God. The church is made up of believing Jews and Gentiles. There is no emphasis on racial Jews versus Gentiles in Revelation. There is no more Jew and Greek (cf. 1Co_12:13; Gal_3:28; Col_3:11).
Rev_11:3 "I will grant authority to my two witnesses" This seems to imply God the Father speaking because Jesus is referred to in Rev_11:8 (although there is a Greek manuscript problem with the pronoun, which is omitted in P47 and à ).
▣ "two witnesses" There have been many theories about the identity of these two powerful preachers:
1. The allusion (cf. Rev_11:4) is from Zec_4:3; Zec_4:11; Zec_4:14. This originally referred to the returning Davidic seed, Zerubbabel, and the returning High Priestly seed, Joshua, who were the two Spirit-led leaders (two olive trees) who led the return from Babylonian captivity (i.e., the restored people of God).
2. The two lampstands (cf. Rev_1:20) may imply the two faithful churches, Smyrna, Rev_2:8-11 and Philadelphia, Rev_3:7-13.
3. The two witnesses may imply testimony in court (cf. Num_35:30; Deu_17:6; Deu_19:15).
4. The description of these two witnesses implies Elijah (shut up the sky from Rev_11:6, cf. 1Ki_17:1; 1Ki_18:1; Luk_4:25; Jas_5:17 and called down fire, cf. 1Ki_18:24; 1Ki_18:38; 2Ki_1:10; 2Ki_1:12) and Moses (turn water to blood from Rev_11:6, cf. Exo_7:17-19). Both of these appeared to Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration (cf. Mat_17:4).
5. The intertestamental apocalyptic book of I Enoch 90:31 and two early church fathers, Tertullian and Hippolitus, asserted that they were the two persons from the OT who did not die natural deaths, Enoch (cf. Gen_5:21-24) and Elijah (cf. 2Ki_2:11).
6. The NJB footnote asserts that it refers to Peter and Paul, both martyred in Rome in the reign of Nero (p. 435).
I personally see them as symbolic of the witness of the entire people of God because of the parallel structure of the seven seals and interlude and seven trumpets and interlude. Therefore, both the 144,000 (believing Jews) and the innumerable group (believing nations), as well as the two witnesses, refer to the church.
▣ "clothed in sackcloth" This can be either (1) a sign of mourning and repentance (cf. Gen_37:34; 2Sa_3:31) or (2) simply the normal dress of a prophet (cf. 2Ki_1:8; Isa_20:2; Zec_13:4).
▣ "they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days" Forty-two months of thirty days each equals twelve hundred and sixty days. The gospel will be proclaimed during this period of persecution by the unbelieving nations (cf. Mat_24:8-14; Mat_24:21-22). This symbolic number comes from Dan_7:25; Dan_12:7 and is used often in Revelation (cf. Rev_12:6; Rev_13:5).
Rev_11:4 "the two olive trees" This is an allusion to Zerubbabel, the Davidic seed of the returning exiles and Joshua, the Aaronic seed of the returning exiles (cf. Zec_4:3; Zec_4:11; Zec_4:14). This may imply that the gospel witness of the end-time will represent a royal Messianic and priestly Messianic emphasis (Jesus as King and Priest, cf. Psalms 110; Heb_1:3). These two inspired preachers of repentance bring God's light (cf. Zechariah 4) to a rebellious world (the rebellious Israel is now a rebellious humanity, cf. Isa_6:9-11; Isa_43:8-13; Jer_5:21-29; Eze_12:2).
Rev_11:5 "if anyone wants to harm them. . .if anyone wants to harm them" Both of these are first class conditional sentences which assume that there are those who want to hurt them, but they will be divinely protected until their mission is accomplished.
▣ "fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies" Notice that the power is in their mouth which implies the power of the message they proclaim. In Revelation the mouth is a weapon, the tongue a sword (cf. Rev_9:17; Rev_19:15; Heb_4:12).
Rev_11:6 These OT actions remind one of Elijah (cf. 1Ki_17:1) and Moses (cf. Exo_7:17-19).