Sunday School Notes: Revelation 11:12-13

¹² And they [the Two Witnesses] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. ¹³ And in that hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell and seven thousand names of men were killed in the earthquake, and the rest became full of fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The world rejoiced when the Two Witnesses (symbolizing the church) were killed, throwing a party and exchanging gifts. But then, the breath of life from the Spirit of God entered into them, and they stood, causing those watching to become fearful. As we discussed last time, this scene symbolizes the ultimate victory of the church, even when all seemed lost and hopeless. We compared this to how Israel during their Egyptian bondage must have felt, prior to the Exodus, or the disciples looking on their crucified Messiah, prior to the Resurrection. God is faithful to His people, even when it seems things couldn’t get any worse.

The onlookers are already startled at the sudden revivification of the Two Witnesses. Now, while they are watching, the Witnesses are summoned to heaven by a divine voice, and transported in a cloud. If the Two Witnesses represent the church, is this some kind of “rapture” event, where the church is taken up to heaven prior to a great tribulation, and the rest of the world is left behind to suffer? This passage could certainly be used to argue for such an event. One of the main reasons I can’t accept such an interpretation is because of the need to be consistent. If we are taking the elements of the vision to be symbolic, it would be out of place to suddenly have a literal rapture. In other words, if the summoning of the Witnesses is a reference to an actual rapture that will happen at some point, then why aren’t the Two Witnesses actual people, and the temple in 11:1-2 an actual temple, and the giant locusts actual locusts, etc.?

In Revelation 4:1, prior to the opening of the seven seals, John had a vision of a door in heaven, and a voice summoned him with the same phrase: “Come up here!” The voice tells John the purpose of this summoning: “to show what will happen.” He is given a vision of the heavenly throne room, the Lamb that was slain, and the creatures and elders praising God. What did this mean for John? It set the stage for the opening of the seals, and it showed the exalted status of the Lamb, the only one worthy of opening the seals. Through this vision, the Lord made known to John that calamity and judgment was coming from His hand, but the saints in heaven are eternally secure. It gave hope and reassurance in light of the terrible things John was about to witness.

This vision compares also to Isaiah 6:1-8, where the prophet sees the Lord on His throne, the heavenly throng sing “Holy, holy, holy,” and Isaiah receives his prophetic commission. Likewise, Ezekiel is transported by the Spirit in Ezekiel 11:1 and 43:5, and on various other occasions (2:2; 3:12, 14, 24) he has supernatural experiences, including the Spirit entering him and setting him on his feet. Each of these times, Ezekiel also receives a prophetic commission.

It’s clear this kind of “meeting with the Lord” is common in the Old Testament. It serves to vindicate their ministry and their message, assuring them that God is with them, and they are truly speaking for the Lord, especially when the Lord knows their message will not be well received. Perhaps this is what the Lord is communicating to the church through this vision. By raising the Two Witnesses and calling them into His presence, the Lord is giving assurance to His people that insofar as they are faithful in their proclamation of the gospel, He will be with them and vindicate them. He will not disown them, but, indeed, Christ will acknowledge them before the Father, just as He promised (Matthew 10:32)

Underscoring this is the fact that the Witnesses are carried up in a cloud. As with the cloud and the Mighty Angel in chapter 10, this signifies the presence of the Lord (notice also the cloud that overshadowed Jesus, Peter, James, and John at the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5, as well as Jesus’s promise that he will return in a cloud of glory in Luke 21:27, and the fact Jesus was taken up in a cloud in Acts 1:9). Once again, this demonstrates quite clearly that the Witnesses (i.e., the faithful church) is speaking from God, and He is with His people.

After the enemies of the Witnesses watch their ascent, there is an earthquake, followed by death and destruction. In other words, judgment begins, just as the witnesses said it would. John says it happened “in that hour” (Greek: en ekeinê tê hôra). I don’t think this is meant to be a chronological reference. As I’ve said before, I’m very wary of trying to put these visions into any form of chronological sequence, though clearly some things are meant to follow sequentially. I think this phrase is giving us a sense of the rapidity with which events unfold once the church has been shown to be speaking for the Lord.

Earthquakes are a prominent feature of apocalyptic, End Times passages in Scripture. Back in 6:12, when the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake. As we discussed back then, this signified the beginning of the end. The End would come with the seventh seal, and this is a pattern we will see repeated here. The sixth trumpet heralds the End, and then with the seventh trumpet, the End comes in all its fullness.

Ezekiel 38:19 is probably behind what John sees here. In that passage, God brings judgment against Gog, using similar apocalyptic language to what we see here, and have seen elsewhere. Indeed, verses 19-23 have a very apocalyptic feel to it such that it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the Lord is using the destruction of Gog as a picture of how He will bring judgment to bear when the Last Days come.

The result of the earthquake is that a tenth of the city falls. We’ve seen “one third” used a few times in Revelation, but not “one tenth.” Usually when we think of a tenth, we think of a tithe, a tenth portion given to the Lord from our labors. Could this be a “tithe” of the city, a portion given over to the Lord in its destruction, indicating that judgment has begun from the Lord’s hand? We’ll hold that thought for the moment. John also gives us a number that goes along with the tenth of the city: 7,000 “names of men” (i.e., people). The number 7,000 reminds us of the 7,000 faithful in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal. It’s possible John is saying that there wasn’t even a faithful remnant in the city. Those that identify the city as Jerusalem could point to the fact that the population of Jerusalem at that time was about 55,000-95,000, so 70,000 would be in that range. This would make 7,000 a tenth of the population of Israel. That’s a bit too vague and leaves too much wiggle room for my liking. I would prefer to see this as 7, the number of completeness, multiplied by 1,000, signifying a very large quantity. Hence, a very large number of people died when the city fell. I also like the link with 1 Kings 19:18, and the fact that in the “great city,” not even 7,000 faithful could be found.

We ran out of time, but, Lord willing, we’ll pick up here next time, and consider further what that “tenth” might mean…