John doesn’t sugarcoat what will happen to God’s witnesses in the last days. They will be clothed in sackcloth, an ancient image of mourning (11:3). And they will eventually be overcome and killed by their enemies (11:7). The experience of countless martyrs throughout the ages leaves us with no doubt that the unbelieving world has always been hostile to the truth of God’s Word, and will continue to use force to try to stamp it out.

But at the same time, John makes it clear that God’s people will be protected, even in the face of the greatest hostility against them. In verse 1, he is told to measure the temple of God, which recalls Ezekiel’s vision of a perfectly holy place of worship, inhabited by the Lord Himself (Ezekiel 40:3,5; 43:1-5). In this way, the Lord reassures John that the unbelieving nations will not be able to overcome the Lord’s people, but will be confined to the outer courts (11:2).

And regardless of whether the unbelieving world is convinced or not, the Lord makes it clear in verses 5 and 6 that His witnesses will speak words of amazing power, a power similar to that of Moses in the presence of Pharaoh (Exodus 7:20), a power similar to that of Elijah as he faced down faithless king Ahab (I Kings 17:1; II Kings 1:10).

In fact, the Lord compares His witnesses to the olive trees and lampstands that Zechariah saw in his vision, a vision that pointed to “the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14). Because in the same chapter the Lord refers to Zerubbabel, the descendant of David, rebuilding the Temple, the place where the priests ministered, it is likely that the olive trees and lampstands thus point to the kingly and priestly duties that all God’s people perform (Revelation 1:6). Just as Old Testament priests and kings were anointed to their offices, God’s people have been set apart to bear witness to His righteousness and truth, as well as His love and grace.

But even though the world may continue to spurn God’s witnesses and reject the powerful words we speak, the Lord makes it clear that such opposition will not last long. After all, 1260 days may seem to be a long time to testify before a hostile audience (11:3), but it’s only three and a half years – half of seven, which is the number of completion. Just so, the three and a half days of the unbelievers’ jubilation is also just half of a week.

In other words, those who persecute the Church may rejoice and may seem to be victorious today, but their jubilation will be cut short by the coming of Christ which is symbolized by the earthquake in verse 13 (see 11:19). So let us continue to proclaim His Word, regardless of whatever opposition we face. For the Lord is coming soon.

Zechariah 4:2-4, 11-14

2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.
3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?”
13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.”
14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

Revelation 11:1-14

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,
2 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.
3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.
6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.
7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,
8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,
10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.
13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.