Revelation 11

January 15, 2026

           Revelation 11

New King James Version

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. [a]And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the [b]God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

The Witnesses Killed

When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also [c]our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations [d]will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

The Witnesses Resurrected

11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And [e]they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed

15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The [f]kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:

“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was [g]and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your [h]wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of [i]His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 11:1 NU, M omit And the angel stood
  2. Revelation 11:4 NU, M Lord
  3. Revelation 11:8 NU, M their
  4. Revelation 11:9 NU, M see . . . and will not allow
  5. Revelation 11:12 M I
  6. Revelation 11:15 NU, M kingdom . . . has become the kingdom
  7. Revelation 11:17 NU, M omit and who is to come
  8. Revelation 11:18 anger
  9. Revelation 11:19 M the covenant of the Lord

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)

           “11:1-2.

          The end of the times of the Gentiles

           1-2a. Restoration of temple worship. This point marks the Lord’s dealing again with Israel and its worship in a restored temple in ‘the holy city,’ Jerusalem (cf. 2 Thess 2:3-4). This is by the seer’s measuring ‘the temple of God’ and ‘the altar,’ and the worshipers,’ 1. Whereas the Lord accepts the godly remnant, the true worshipers, the apostate Jews who have linked themselves with the Gentiles (symbolized by the outer court) God rejects.

           2b. End of the times of the Gentiles. This period, which began with Judah’s captivity under Nebuchadnezzar (605 B.C.), will not end until the second advent (Dan 2:34-35, 44; Rev 19:11, 21). During this time Jerusalem has been subject to Gentile rule (Lk 21:24). Divine recognition of temple worship signalizes the swift close of ‘the times of the Gentiles,’ specified as 42 months. This is the middle of Daniel’s seventieth week (a week of seven years, Dan 9:27) with the last three and a half years yet to run (cf. Dan 7:25; Rev 12:14; 13:5).’

           ‘11:3-13.

          The two witnesses

           3-7. Their identity. Although the two witnesses are commonly identified as Moses and Enoch or Moses and Elijah, such identifications are unlikely since both of the witnesses are killed and resurrected, something which could not be true of these OT prophets as glorified men (Mt 17:3). These witnesses are evidently two members of the latter-day remnant. They are Christ’s witnesses, 3, ‘my witnesses’ referring to the mighty Angel (Christ) of ch. 10. They preach ‘clothed in sackcloth,’ a symbol of mourning, because they identify themselves with Israel’s grievous sin and Jerusalem’s wickedness, 3b, 8 (cf. Joel 1:13; Jer 4:8). Their message is Christ’s lordship over the earth, 4, proclaiming the soon coming of the King of kings to take possession of the earth. ‘The two olive trees and the two lampstands’ (Zech 4:2-3) connect them with testimony that Messiah as King-Priest (the two olive trees in Zech 4 denote these two offices) will shortly reign over restored Israel as the light of the world. They have miraculous powers like Elijah and Moses, 5-6. Fire comes out of their mouths (cf. 2 Kgs 1:10, 12; Jer 5:14; cf. Lk 9:54-55). They command drought like Elijah, 6a (1 Kgs 1 5:17); turn water to blood (Ex 7:19) and work other signs like Moses, 6b (Ex 7:10). They are killed by the beast (head of the revived Roman Empire, Rev 13:1-10; 17:8), who ascends out of the abyss (cf. 9:1-12), but not until they have completed their testimony, 7.’

           ‘8-13. Their destiny. Their corpses are dishonored in Jerusalem, 8, but God resurrects, 11, and translates the two witnesses in ‘the cloud’ (Gr.), 12, i.e., the Shekinah glory (cf. Ezk 10:19; Mt 17:5). Meanwhile their enemies are punished with an earthquake that kills 7,000 and destroys one-tenth of Jerusalem, 13, which causes those who remain to give glory to the ‘God of heaven’ because of His power, not because of their repentance.’

           ’11:14-19.

          The seventh trumpet – the third woe

           14-18. Anticipation of Christ’s worldwide kingdom. The second woe (9:13-21) is here repeated after the parentheses, 10:1-11:13, to bridge the gap of the parentheses and to connect the first two woes with the third and final woe, 14. This woe is said to come ‘soon,’ and includes all the remaining judgments prior to the establishment of the kingdom (11:14-20:3). Verses 15-19 give a panorama of the rest of the book, future events being seen as already present. They envision the establishment of Christ’s worldwide kingdom and reign, 15-17; the judgment of the raging nations at Armageddon, 18a; the judgment of the dead (20:11-15) when the destroyers of the earth will be destroyed, 18c; and the rewarding of prophets and saints in millennial positions of rule and dominion, 18b (20:4-6).’

           ’19. God’s temple in heaven opened. ‘The ark of His covenant’ seen within the temple speaks of God’s faithfulness to His covenants and promises to Israel (Rom 9:4-5). The last apocalyptic judgments and the second advent will realize the consummation of all these commitments made to God’s covenant people Israel. (See ‘The Covenants of Scripture,’ Heb 9.)”           (The New Unger’s Bible Handbook-Merrill F. Unger) (Revised by Gary N. Larson) (MOODY PRESS-CHICAGO)

           Beloved of YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, we will follow the leading of our LORD’S Holy Spirit, to (Hebrews 9) after we have received all the sweet nectar He has for us, in our current Scripture chapter of His Most Holy Word (Revelation 11). Amen.

           “They command drought like Elijah, 6a (1 Kgs 1 5:17);”

           Beloved of YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, after searching for the above Scripture reference in our commentary “(6a (1 Kgs 1 5:17);” I believe it is making a reference to Elijah in (1 Kings 17-18) therefore, we will follow this Scripture reference as I am not aware, as of this time in my receiving all my LORD has for me, that there is another prophet in the Most Holy Word of GOD (again to my knowledge at this point in my learning The Most Holy Word) other than Elijah. Amen. Amen.

           Beloved of YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, please forgive my above mistakes in not typing clearly my thoughts. I did not intend to type there were no other prophets in The Most Holy Word, other than Elijah, but, instead, there were no, to my knowledge any other prophets, in The Most Holy Word, who commanded rain to either stop, or start, other than Elijah, as the above commentary was comparing the mighty gifts given from GOD to Elijah, with the mighty gifts given to the two witnesses, in the Book of Revelation. Amen. Amen.

           I lift up praises to our heavenly Abba-Father-GOD, Who helps me to try and stay consistent with reading the entire letters He blesses me with sharing with you, through His leading, I am getting better at it, which blessed me with seeing my typing mistake this morning, then to correct it. Amen. Amen.

           ‘. . . “1 Kings 18:30-40

New King James Version

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

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New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)

           “1 Kings 18:30-40

Amplified Bible

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people approached him. And he repaired and rebuilt the [old] altar of the Lord that had been torn down [by Jezebel]. 31 Then Elijah took twelve stones in accordance with the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 So with the stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold [a]two measures of seed. 33 Then he laid out the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood.” And he said, “Do it the second time.” And they did it the second time. And he said, “Do it the third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.

Elijah’s Prayer

36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached [the altar] and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back [to You].” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood, and even the stones and the dust; it also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell face downward; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and [as God’s law required] killed them there.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 18:32 I.e. about twenty-two quarts.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.” (BibleGateway.com)

           Let him who has an ear, hear what The Holy Spirit says to His church. Amen.

           “Adversity is the test of faith; prosperity is the test of integrity.”  

           (THE JEREMIAH STUDY BIBLE—DR. DAVID JEREMIAH—NEW KING JAMES STUDY BIBLE—WORTHY)”

           “The Absence of Adversity, is the test of faith in YESHUA CHRIST JESUS;

          The Temporary Lack of Prosperity, is the test of integrity-from YESHUA CHRIST JESUS.” (Holy Spirit)— (Minister Timothy M. Shephard.)

           Have a blessed Thursday beloved of YESHUA JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

           With much precious love, grace, and mercy, from our heavenly Abba-Father-GOD, our Savior and LORD-YESHUA CHRIST JESUS, and our Holy Spirit, to Israel and to you and I;           Sincerely: Minister Timothy M. Shephard. Amen.

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