Revelation 11

The Explanation

John is standing in a vision. Someone puts a measuring stick in his hand, like a long thin reed. "Rise, and measure God's temple," the voice says. Measuring means: this belongs to God. He knows exactly how big it is. He knows exactly who is His.

But then two men come into the story. God calls them His two witnesses. A witness is someone who tells what he has seen and heard. These two are not wearing king's clothes. They wear sackcloth, rough itchy cloth, the kind you wear when you are sad. They walk through the city and they tell people the truth about God. Day after day. A very long time.

Nobody can stop them. If someone comes to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths. They can shut the sky so no rain falls. They can turn water into blood. Would you have dared to stand in their way?

And yet the story turns dark. When the two witnesses have said everything God gave them to say, a beast climbs up out of the deep pit. The beast makes war with them. And the beast wins. The two witnesses are killed.

Their bodies lie in the street of the big city. Nobody is allowed to bury them. People from every country come to look and point. Three and a half days long they lie there in the dust. And the people are happy! They throw a party. They give each other presents, because those two annoying men who kept talking about God are finally quiet.

But God is not finished.

After three and a half days, the breath of life from God goes into them. The two witnesses stand up on their feet. Everyone who sees it is suddenly terrified. Then a loud voice from heaven calls, "Come up here!" And up they go, into a cloud, right in front of their enemies' eyes.

Then the ground shakes. A tenth of the city falls down. And the people who are left do something nobody expected. They give glory to the God of heaven.

Then the seventh angel blows his trumpet. Huge voices fill heaven: "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!" Twenty-four elders fall on their faces and thank God. And in heaven God's temple swings open. There stands the ark, the golden chest of God's promise. Lightning flashes. Thunder rolls. Hail comes down.

What Does This Mean?

This is a story about who really wins in the end.

For a while it looks like the beast has won. The witnesses are dead. The bad people are laughing and handing out presents. If you were watching that day, you would have thought God had lost.

But God had not lost. He never lost. He was counting the days, all three and a half of them, and then He breathed life back in. The party stopped. The laughing stopped. God was king all along.

The Common Thread

Look carefully at where the two witnesses lie in the street. The Bible says it is the city "where also their Lord was crucified." That is Jesus.

Jesus was killed too. His enemies thought they had won. His body was laid away and everything went quiet. And after three days God raised Him up, and later Jesus went up into heaven in a cloud, exactly like these two witnesses.

So this whole strange chapter is really Jesus' pattern. First the dark part. Then the standing up. Whoever belongs to Jesus follows that same road, and it ends in the trumpet and the singing: He will reign forever and ever.

For You

Sometimes telling the truth about God is not easy. Maybe someone in your class laughs when you say you pray. You can still say it. Quietly, calmly, like a witness.

And this week, do one thing for someone who is having a dark day. Sit next to them. Ask how they are. Tell them God has not forgotten them.

Talk About It

Why do you think the people in the city were so happy when the two witnesses died?

What is the hardest thing about telling someone that you believe in Jesus?

Praying Together

Lord God, thank You that You are king, even when it does not look like it. Give me courage to say what is true about You. And help me be kind to someone who is sad this week. Amen.