[:en]THE TWO WITNESSES (vs. 1-14)
The temple is likely a symbol of the true believers of the church. Measuring of temple indicates that God is building walls of protection around His people to spare them from spiritual harm. All believers who remain true and faithful to God has a place reserved for them. But those who refuse to believe will stay outside and will be destroyed.
The two witnesses bear strong resemblance to Moses and Elijah. With God’s power, Moses called plagues down upon the nation of Egypt (Exo. 7-11). Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Both of these men appeared with Christ at His transfiguration (Mat. 17:1-74)
Numbers in Revelation may be symbolical or literal. The 42 months or 1260 days = 3-1/2 years. As half of the perfect number 7, 3-1/2 can indicate incompleteness, imperfection or evil. During this time period, there are many events being predicted. The holy city is trampled (Rev. 11:2), the woman takes refuge in the wilderness (Rev. 12:6) and there is war in heaven (Rev. 7). The devil inspired beast exercises his authoirty (Rev. 13:5). Malachi predicted the return of Elijah before the last judgment (Mat. 4:5). And the events in Daniel and Revelation pave the way for the second coming. So, whether the 3-1/2 years is literal or symbolical, they indicate that evil’s reign will have a definite end.
Jerusalem became an enemy territory comparable to Sodom and Egypt well- known for their evil. When John wrote this book, Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, nearly a miilion Jews had been slaughtered and the temple treasures had been carried off to Rome.
The whole world rejoices at the death of the 2 witnesses because they said things they did not want to hear. Sinful prophets hate those who call attetion to their sins. They hated Christ and His follower. So, it is not surprising that when you take a stand against sin and obey Christ, you will experience the world’s hatred. But future reward outweights your present suffering.
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET (vs. 15-19)
When the seventh trumpet sounded, it announced the arrival of the King and the coming of judgment. He will unlease His full wrath on the evil world and no one can escape.
In the Old Testament, obedience often broughr reward in life (Deut. 28). But obedience and immediate reward are not always linked together. If they are, good people would always be rich and sufering would always be a sign of sin. If we are quickly rewarded for every faithful deed, before long, we will be doing many good deeds for purely selfish reasons. The greatest reward for us is eternal life in his presence.[:]