Sunday School Notes: Revelation 11:11

¹¹ And after the three-and-a-half days, the Spirit of Life from God came into them [the Two Witnesses], and they stood on their feet, and a great fear fell upon those watching them.

We began with a brief recap of chapter 11 so far for the benefit of a couple of newcomers to the class, and some who had missed some… and, let’s face it, people who had forgotten what we’ve talked about so far, which probably counts for more people than would be willing to admit. 🙂

John’s vision now takes a dramatic turn. The Two Witnesses, who have been lying dead on the street of the great city for three-and-a-half days, are suddenly filled with “the Spirit of Life from God.” They get up on their feet, striking fear into the hearts of those watching–and rightfully so! The rest of this section (11-14) talks about a heavenly voice summoning the Two Witnesses, and then an earthquake, death, and destruction, all of which cause the survivors to be afraid and glorify God.

If, as we have argued so far, the Two Witnesses represent the church, is this picturing the “rapture” of the church (i.e., the church being taken up into heaven), prior to some cataclysmic event befalling those who are not saved, causing them to repent and believe before Christ returns? I can’t say I subscribe to this view, as I hope will become apparent, but it’s not hard to see how one might come to that conclusion based on this passage alone. However, this passage shouldn’t be taken on its own. We need to consider it in light of the context, and everything we’ve discussed to this point.

The first point I reiterated was that this is a vision, and everything we’ve seen so far, from the temple to the Witnesses and their fiery breath, are all symbolic. It’s the meaning of these symbols that are of significance to us. The Two Witnesses have been dead on the street for three-and-a-half days. If we consider that Lazarus was in his tomb for four days, and Jesus was cautioned that he would smell as a result (John 11:39), then I think it’s fair to say these men are truly dead, and there is no hope for them. The message here is that, at this point, the church is, effectively, dead. Not that there is no church, or there are no Christians, but that the church no longer has any influence in the world. Indeed, the earth-dwellers, those celebrating the demise of the Witnesses, are glad not to have their consciences pricked any more by the church reminding them of God’s law and the gospel. They can do what they want without anyone telling them it’s wrong.

But this isn’t the end. After three-and-a-half days, the Witnesses are brought back to life by “the Spirit of Life from God.” I think there are a couple of things going on with that 3.5 days. The first is to emphasize how short the time of the church’s demise is compared to the length of the church’s ministry (3.5 years). The other is the fact that “3.5 days” connects this passage with the “times, time, and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7. This is a fulfillment of prophecy. I would also note that the significance of 3.5 lies, I think, in the fact that it is half of 7, the number of completion, or perfection. We will consider this further when we get into chapter 12, but for now, I think we’re looking at two epochs of history (church history, perhaps?). Again, more of that to come.

The phrase “Spirit of Life from God” seems very specific–why not just “Spirit of Life” or “Spirit of God”? At the back of this passage lies Ezekiel 37:1-14, the famous “Valley of the Dry Bones” story. In this story, Ezekiel is taken “in the Spirit” (sound familiar?) to a valley of dry bones. The question is put to him: “Can they live?” Clearly not. But the Lord has Ezekiel prophesy over the bones, and suddenly they are connected with sinews and flesh. God then has Ezekiel prophesy life into them, and the breath came into them and they lived (the LXX, the Greek Old Testament, refers to this as the pneuma zoês, the “breath [or Spirit] of life”). The Lord then explains this vision to Ezekiel: the bones are the house of Israel, thinking it is dead and without hope. But God will give them life and bring them into their land. Remember, at this time, God’s people were in captivity to Babylon.

The application here is, I think, clear. The church is dead and without hope, but the Lord will breathe life into her, and she will rise again. Someone in the group wondered if this is related to the “second death” mentioned in Revelation 2:11 (“the one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death”). If the “Second Death” is judgment (as we said back when we studied chapter 2), then certainly, this could be a picture of the church being saved from the judgment that will come upon the world. But we shouldn’t lose sight of the real message here, and that is of the vindication of God’s people. They will rise again, and not necessarily in the physical sense (remember, this is a vision), but with regard to their testimony. When judgment comes, only God’s people will survive. We’ll talk more about this when we discuss the next verse.

Is the “great fear” that falls on those watching awe-fear, terror-fear, or believing-fear? In other words, are they frightened into repentance, or are they just scared by what they see? Moses sang of the terror and dread that fell on the Egyptians as a result of the plagues (Exodus 15:16). Did they all repent and follow Israel out of Egypt? This is something we’ll address again in verse 13.

Lord willing, we’ll pick up at verse 12 next time.