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Revelation 11
11 After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them.
After the three and a half days
Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don't measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months. (Revelation 11:2)
Two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, so that she might be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. (Revelation 12:14)
He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out on the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7)
But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. (Luke 4:25)
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn't rain on the earth for three years and six months. (James 5:17)
Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17)
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40)
What are we to make of this time period? It is not completely settled in my understanding. However, I do believe there are multiple legitimate ways of viewing this. What appears to best fit at this point, but with some lingering questions related to things not all aligning completely, is to apply this to the 3 ½ years of Jesus' ministry that brought an end to excuses for viewing God through the immature lenses of the law and the prophets.
the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
Then said he to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
(Ezekiel 37:5,9-11)
When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit! Whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. Whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained."
(John 20:22-23)
But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(Romans 8:11)
Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. (Acts 2:2-4)
When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)
If these two witnesses represent the immature, inferior and partially darkened perceptions of God's character as witnessed to by the perceptions of the Law and the Prophets symbolized by Moses and Elijah, this kind of testimony was rendered impotent or dead during the 3 ½ years of Jesus' ministry. This period could be likened to a time of metamorphosis during which truth and our understanding of history was being reshaped by the witness of the Lamb on earth. After this time the truth as it is in Jesus powerfully prepared His followers to be filled with His Spirit at Pentecost, which in turn brought consternation and fear to the opponents of the truth about God brought to light by the gospel of Jesus. Thus the glory of the old system of witnesses became eclipsed by the far greater glory of the gospel.
Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
They said one to another, "Weren't our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:27,32)
What we see here is the death of two witnesses followed by a reviving of two witnesses but with a very different effect on those around them then they had previously. Something dramatic changes between their death and the new kind of witness emanating from them, and I don't think it is simply because they came back from the dead. I believe it is more likely that the nature of their testimonies is what changed, now in line with the testimony of the Son. More on this later.
Great fear fell on those who saw them
In that day 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. (Revelation 11:13)
Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things.
Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things. By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. None of the rest dared to join them, however the people honored them.
(Acts 5:5,11-13)
As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace be to you." But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. (Luke 24:36-37)
They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" The man said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:8-10)
Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus. Peter answered Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let's make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he didn't know what to say, for they were very afraid. (Mark 9:4-6)
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. (1 John 4:18 NRSV)
This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it. (Jeremiah 33:9)
Why is great fear the default reaction of people confronted with the presence of God?
Why were the disciples of Jesus terrified when He suddenly appeared in person in their midst after the resurrection? It was not merely the surprise factor, for there were two other disciples there strongly urging them to believe He was alive when this transpired. So what was the root issue that led them to be terrified when seeing Him rather than being filled with joy?
Here is another very important question. How do we interpret passages that tell us that people give glory to God from a motivation of fear? Is this a sign of true repentance, or is it something inferior that still leaves them vulnerable to torment in His presence?
Fear has been our problem ever since the entrance of sin into the human psyche in Eden. Fear is the unavoidable symptom of harboring disbelief of God's goodness, kindness, love and unconditional forgiveness. Fear comes because we believe The Lie of the enemy that God relates to us in the reward punishment legal system rather than from a passionate desire for intimate relationship simply because He is love and has no darkness in Him at all.
The reason the disciples in the upper room felt terrified when Jesus suddenly appeared, was for the same reason Adam and Eve felt terrified when this same Jesus showed up in the garden to visit with them after they ate the forbidden fruit. Their fear was a direct result of being infected with the lie that brought misapprehension about God's disposition towards them and the kind of motivations He has for everything He does. They now could only assume that the reason He was coming was to carry out His presumed threat to kill them because they had disobeyed His direct command to them and this was the promised punishment.
Similarly the disciples assumed that Jesus must be very upset with them as they had all forsaken and betrayed Him into the hands of His enemies in His time of greatest vulnerability. Now that He had returned to find them again, it must be to carry out retribution for their betrayal Him and for crass disloyalty. This was the kind of kingdom they had imagined He had come to set up, which is why Jesus needed to come back to correct the way they perceived His disposition towards them along with how God longed to relate to them.
The mindset brought on by counterfeit ways of viewing God assumes that if we offend God He is required to punish us, if not merely to vent His wrath, then because that is how law and justice operate, and God cannot do otherwise even if He might want to differently. It is this distortion of the very foundation of how God is motivated that is the cause of all fear, and the more vested we are in our belief of this, the more terrified we will be when we encounter the presence of pure power. To believe in the power of God while refusing to believe simultaneously that God is nothing but love alone is the recipe of torment. Resistance to love always results in terror which is torment to the human heart that is designed for love yet crippled by unbelief. Resistance to trusting God's heart is the core essence of sin and is the corrosive element that destroys the very parts of our psyche that are necessary in order to experience joy, satisfaction, peace, love and fulfilling bonds with other hearts.
The only path to freedom from fear is the same path to freedom from sin, for sin is simply another name for distrust in God's integrity, truthfulness and trustworthiness. The only way one can avoid the reaction of fear that produces torment is to consent to believe the truth as it is in Jesus. It is this truth of the trustworthiness of God that alone has the ability to align us properly with the power of God's glory so that we will thrive in His intense presence instead of frying in it.
The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning? He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly... (Isaiah 33:14-15)
It is not God who needs to change His thinking about us in order for us to be saved, for love never needs adjustment and it is not God who is our problem. This comes out of the religious definition of sin, that God takes offense when we sin against Him and we must find some way to placate Him or pay off the debt induced by our offenses. This entire way of viewing God is what must be exposed as a fraud and discarded completely, for such views of God are what make up the resistance that results in the fire of torment whenever we encounter the truth of God's love up close and personal.
I am coming to see that this is more likely the meaning of this prophecy of the two witnesses. Their immature testimony of God that represents Him as using a mixture of love and fear has to come to an end in order to be replaced with the Lamb's version of God that is itself a terror to His enemies. It is a terror because they see His power but refuse to believe He is only love. Thus their fear of punishment is anchored in their own imagination and deeply embedded traditions invested in that system, rendering them incapable of believing the truth that alone could set them free.
The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NRSV)
I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!"
After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this." (Revelation 4:1)
This gives us a positive ID that this voice is that of Jesus introduced in chapter 1. The testimony of Jesus the faithful witness is significantly different from that of these two witnesses so far, but now that they have died to that old way of thinking, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ gives them new life and a new identity, and now they are ready to be exalted by heaven as their testimony now is only to point to Jesus as the only reliable witness to emulate, believe and embrace.
After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. Peter answered, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let's make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." (Matthew 17:1-5)
They went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them
But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 1:9)
It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, which parted them both apart; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11)
We must not slip into the trap of the earning/deserving mentality when viewing the accounts of Moses and Elijah being taken to heaven. Neither of them experienced this because they represented God accurately, but simply because God had greater plans for them and they had chosen in the end to allow Him to have His way in their lives. Their end does not justify their earlier misrepresentations.
Who are these who fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the islands shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. (Isaiah 60:8-9)
He said to them, "It isn't for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:7-9)
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Even as it is written, "For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter." No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
(Romans 8:34-37)
even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:5-6)
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God's trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
their enemies saw them
It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has."
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did what Yahweh commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job. (Job 42:7-9)
Show me a sign of your goodness, that those who hate me may see it, and be shamed, because you, Yahweh, have helped me, and comforted me. (Psalms 86:17)
The wicked will see it, and be grieved. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The desire of the wicked will perish. (Psalms 112:10)
"They shall be mine," says Yahweh of Armies, "my own possession in the day that I make, and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn't serve him.
(Malachi 3:17-18)
