Revelation 11:1-3 ESV
“Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’”
The Temple
The temple of God in the Messianic age is not a physical
temple in physical Jerusalem. God no longer dwells in temples built by human
hands. He dwells in the hearts of those who have surrendered their lives to
Jesus Christ, in dying with him to sin and in living to him and to his
righteousness.
The physical city of Jerusalem is no longer the Holy City of
God. For, physical Jerusalem is now of Hagar, the slave woman, for she is still
in slavery with her children, because, as a nation, the Jews have not accepted
Jesus Christ as their Messiah, though some individuals have (Gal 4:25-26).
Now We, the body of Christ, are the holy city, a spiritual
(holy) nation. For, 1 Peter 2:9 says this:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The Measuring
So, if John was told to measure the temple of God, then he
was told to measure (to examine) the church, which is the temple of God. He was
to assess the altar, which has to do with our surrender and submission to the
Lord, and he was told to measure (evaluate) the worshipers, not inside a
physical building, but those who are part of the spiritual building of God.
So, if he were to examine the church at large in America
today, what would he find? Certainly, he would find that there are true
worshipers of God here who worship him in spirit and in truth. He would
discover that there are believers in Jesus here whose lives are surrendered to
Jesus, that he is the Lord of their lives, and that they are walking in
obedience to his commands.
But, what else would he find? Would that be a picture of the
majority of the church in America? Sadly, it would not. For, the majority of
the church in America has gone the way of the world and of business marketing
schemes in order to grow their businesses called “church.” They are not living
in close fellowship with their Lord. He is not the Lord of their lives. And,
they are not walking in obedience to his commands.
Instead they are busy entertaining themselves and others,
and they are busy trying to fit in with their culture rather than to stand out
as different in their culture. They don’t want to offend anyone, so they won’t
teach them the true gospel of Christ, but a diluted version of the true gospel.
So, basically they have thieved the true gospel and have
turned it into something else only having an outward semblance of the true
gospel of Jesus. Basically, they removed the truth and they replaced it with a
lie. For, they have removed God’s requirements of repentance, obedience, and
submission to him as Lord as part of faith which saves.
So, the Lord is sending out his messengers to teach the
truth and to dispel the lies so that people will turn from their sins, and so
they will walk in obedience to their Lord and so be saved from their sins and
have eternal life with God (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1
Jn 1:5-9).
The Trample
A lot of this thieving of the true gospel and changing the
truth to a lie is part of this trampling of the Holy City, which again is not
physical Jerusalem, but the Jerusalem that is from above, for we who believe in
Jesus are his holy nation.
And, the nations are those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ
as Lord of their lives, which also includes many who profess faith in Jesus
Christ but who have bought into the lies or who are promoting the lies, and
thus their professions of faith are false.
And, the nations are also governments of the people who are
all part of this one world order of the beast of Revelation which is working for
Satan and thus is coming against those who are truly following the Lord with
their lives, and especially they are against those who are exposing their lies.
So, a big part of this trampling of the “holy city,” i.e. of
the true church, is the persecution of the saints of God who are holding to the
testimony of Jesus and who teaching repentance, obedience and submission to
Christ as necessary components of believing faith in Jesus.
The Witnesses
There are many thoughts on who these two witnesses are, and
if they are to be taken literally or figuratively. Some people feel that they are
actually two people, while others not. Also, numbers in the book of Revelation
are often more figurative than they are to be taken literally, so there are
differences of opinion there on whether this is a literal 1,260 days.
So, what is important here? Is it that we decipher who the
two witnesses are or is it that we understand their purpose? I am inclined to
see them as either the law and the prophets or the Old Testament and the New
Testament. They testify to Jesus Christ, to who he is, and to what he did for
us.
For, it is the Word of God which is under fire, and which is
being trampled, and which is being put to death, but the Word of God will never
truly die. It will spring back to life. Right now, the gospel has been so severely
diluted it is not recognizable, but it is being revived. I see it happening.
The truth is going out, although it is under fire, and although
its messengers are being persecuted for telling the truth. And, people are
listening to the truth, and it is making a difference in some people’s hearts
and lives. And, as the persecution increases, I believe the truth will spread
even further.
And, the truth that is in Christ Jesus is that we must
forsake our sins, we must be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God,
and we must now walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness, if we want to be saved and have eternal
life with God (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
Knowing
You Jesus
By Graham Kendrick
All I once held dear, built my life
upon,
All this world reveres and wars to own;
All I once thought gain I have counted
loss,
Spent and worthless now compared to
this.
Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best,
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You Lord.
*Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment