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DECEMBER 21
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the 15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there
breath of life from God entered them, and they were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The king-
stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those doms of this world have become the kingdoms
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who saw them. And they heard a loud voice of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall
from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four
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And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and elders who sat before God on their thrones fell
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their enemies saw them. In the same hour on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of “We give You thanks, O Lord God
the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand Almighty,
people were killed, and the rest were afraid and The One who is and who was and who
gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third is to come,
woe is coming quickly. Because You have taken Your great
power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your
wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they
11:13 earthquake. God punctuates the should be judged,
ascension of His prophets with a shattering
earthquake. The destruction and loss of life And that You should reward Your
may be primarily among the leaders of the servants the prophets and the
Antichrist’s forces. the rest. This refers to the saints,
Jews still living, who will not yet have come to And those who fear Your name, small
faith in Christ.gave glory to the God of heav- and great,
en. A genuine experience of the salvation of And should destroy those who destroy
Jews (Luke 17:18,19), in contrast to those who the earth.”
blaspheme and refuse to glorify God (16:9).This 19 Then the temple of God was opened in
makes a key fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in
(12:10; 13:1) and Paul’s (Rom.11:25–27).
His temple. And there were lightnings, noises,
thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
DAY 21:Who are the “two witnesses”of Revelation 11?

In v. 3, John is told that “I will give power to my two witnesses.”These individuals are granted
special power and authority by God to preach a message of judgment and salvation during the sec-
ond half of the Tribulation.The Old Testament required 2 or more witnesses to confirm testimony
(Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Matt. 18:16; John 8:17; Heb. 10:28), and these 2 prophets will be the culmination
of God’s testimony to Israel: a message of judgment from God and of His gracious offer of the
gospel to all who will repent and believe.“They will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty
days,”which is 42 months or 3 1/2 years,“clothed in sackcloth.”Coarse,rough cloth made from goat
or camel hair. Wearing garments made from it expressed penitence, humility, and mourning. The
witnesses are mourning because of the wretched wickedness of the world, God’s judgment on it,
and the desecration of the temple and the holy city by the Antichrist.
The imagery in v.4 is drawn from Zechariah 3, 4.Zechariah’s vision had both a near fulfillment
(the rebuilding of the temple by Joshua and Zerubbabel) and a far future fulfillment (the 2 wit-
nesses, whose ministry points toward Israel’s final restoration in the Millennium).“Two olive trees
and the two lampstands.”Olive oil was commonly used in lamps;together the olive trees and lamp-
stands symbolize the light of spiritual revival.The 2 witnesses’preaching will spark a revival, just as
Joshua’s and Zerubbabel’s did in Israel after the Babylonian captivity.
While it is impossible to be dogmatic about the identity of these 2 witnesses,several observa-
tions from vv. 5,6 suggest they might be Moses and Elijah: 1) like Moses, they strike the earth with
plagues, and like Elijah, they have the power to keep it from raining; 2) Jewish tradition expected
both Moses (Deut.18:15–18) and Elijah (Mal.4:5,6) to return in the future (John 1:21);3) both Moses
and Elijah were present at the Transfiguration, the preview of Christ’s Second Coming; 4) both
Moses and Elijah used supernatural means to provoke repentance; 5) Elijah was taken up alive into
heaven, and God buried Moses’ body where it would never be found; and 6) the length of the
drought the 2 witnesses bring (3 1/2 years) is the same as that brought by Elijah (James 5:17).

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