The last thing John hears that distinguishes the end
of chapter 10 is:
"You
must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and
kings."
In essence, you have
heard the end of things under the rule of rebellion, now go and tell
them. And yet, God is not done talking. Thus we begin chapter 11.
Revelation
11:1-2 GW Then I was given a stick like a measuring stick (A reed).
I was told, "Stand up and measure the temple of God and the
altar. Count those who worship there. (2) But do not measure the
temple courtyard. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations,
and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
Given
a reed – a measuring device, with instructions to measure all but
the court of the gentiles. Why?
As
I began to write I had this image of a real-estate person come into
my head. He walked through the building taking measurements for the
owner. In Ezekiel's case, he watched as the owner did the measuring.
So, perhaps God is demonstrating his ownership or possession of the
temple. Later I came back to my computer where I can quickly look at
multiple comparative resources as to why would he give it over to the
gentiles and find that John MacArthur said something very similar.
This ownership aspect sounds great, but considering that the temple
court is given to the Gentiles it does not work for me. Why would
“God's” temple be quickly given away? I suppose the simple answer
is God has a plan.
We
are given the answer, but do we understand it? It is given to the
gentiles.
Why would he give it over to
the gentiles?
This
is God's temple, and who are the gentiles? But think about my
statement, “this is God's temple”. Is it? King David was not
allowed to build God a temple but his son Solomon was. The temple had
been robbed by Israel's kings and turned into a corrupt commercial
enterprise by the time Jesus walked its courts. In 1Samuel 4:21 God
declared that the glory had departed from Israel because the ark was
taken, but the glory was no longer in the ark, it was in the man
Jesus Christ, and on the day he died the temple veil was ripped in
two, exposing, in a sense, the world emptiness of the holy place to
the world and freeing God to be in those who chose to be his people.
If you have read the Revelation then you might have noticed, as I
did, that it says the temple will be rebuilt, but you will not see it
referred to as God's temple.
As
of this writing there is no temple, so yes, your assumption that the
temple must be rebuilt is correct. For the Jews to rebuild it and
hand it over to the gentiles seems preposterous. There would have to
be such tremendous pride involved in an accomplishment like
this.
This
is one of those moments when, as I was writing, the light came on.
The Jews, and by extension the nation of Israel, will have a fresh
pride and sense of security, but in what? God has always been trying
to get them to look to him as their source. Having regained the land
to rebuild, their pride will be looking in-ward once again. Can you
imagine that. Islam has had control of the temple mount long enough
to believe it is theirs. Read some of the literature about the
volatility surrounding the mount and you will find comments
indicating that Muslims are willing to state that there was no temple
there. Now project that into the future.
Will
Islam give up anything without a fight? Not for a moment, but they
will for three and half years.
At
this very moment the gentiles are struggling to gain control
of Jerusalem. Here is a wild ride for you. November 2012 and the
United Nations general assembly, by majority vote, granted the
Palestinians statehood. From what I understand it is more a
symbolic gesture at this point, but I can guarantee you that the can
of worms has been opened and Israel is not giving up Jerusalem as its
capital to any terrorist organizations. They (Israel), have openly
challenged this “statehood” by moving forward with the building
of more homes for Jews, and the Muslims have since posted no
trespassing signs, indicating that the “UN decreed land” is
Palestinian and that by illegally standing upon it actions will be
taken against you. So the obvious factor here is an increase in
strife, contention, and a Muslim populace that has control of the
temple mount. Muslims will not allow the Jews to even walk on the
temple mount as it is considered holy ground for their mosque.
The
new temple, and the Holy City, Jerusalem, are to be trampled by these
Gentiles for forty-two months. That is three-and a half years.
For
42 months Israel will hardly be recognizable. Therefore the only real
purpose that we can attribute to such unusual action is that it
fulfills God's plan. I suppose that I could also say that this is
part of God's judgment against Israel. I can totally see this, but
that does not mean I have to like it. I know how I react to things
and it will be a slap in the face. I think, as I write, I am slowly
beginning to understand some of the depth of the rejection that God
had to endure.
What
do we know about those that trample and pollute the temple in the
future?
Our
natural assumptions, especially if you are religious, is to assume
that the gentiles are primarily the Greeks or Romans. The Jews saw
them as anyone outside of the covenant, or non-Jewish peoples.
Essentially we are using the term Gentiles to describe the
nations. Color and ethnicity have little to do with it.
Daniel
chapter 9 gives us a little insight. After an extended prayer of
repentance over himself, his people, and their lack of faith an
angel comes and gives him a look into the future.
I
am going to give you two versions. The first translation baffled me,
and was a part of why I could not understand end times events for the
longest time.
Daniel
9:26 YLT And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is Messiah, and
the city and the holy place are not his, the Leader who hath come
doth destroy the people; and its end is with a flood, and till the
end is war, determined are desolations.
Although
it did not clear things up for me I heard many speakers try to
explain “these sixty-two weeks are weeks of years.” Sorry, but it
only hurt my head more. Even my MacArthur's commentary adds, “these
are weeks of years.” The following verse tends to say it clearest
for me; “After the sixty-two sets of seven time periods...”. Now
if I substitute the concept of time periods for years then I am
talking about sixty-two sets of seven-year periods (62x7). In this
case 434 years.
Daniel
9:26 ERV After the “sixty-two
sets of seven time periods”,
the
chosen one will be killed.
He will be gone. Then the people of the future leader will destroy
the city and the holy place. That end will come like a flood. War
will continue until the end. God has ordered that place to be
completely destroyed.
Analyze
the passage slowly and it will make sense. Daniel
9:26
KJV “And after threescore and two weeks shall
Messiah be cut off,”.
Compare that with the words that others used, ascertaining the
consensus and you will discover that we are talking about Jesus
Christ.
The
NIV called him: “the
Anointed One”.
Scripture lays out Jesus death on the cross very clearly for us, and
history backs it up. So we can say with a confidence that the first
sentence is without a doubt talking about Jesus.
Many
will get caught up in anger, argument, and confusion as they scream
out, “but Titus destroyed the temple in 70 A.D., so this passage in
reference to a far-flung, future event is bogus and nonsense!” Not
quite so. Josephus recorded the events of the day and proves
out a slightly different angle. The legions in Jerusalem, according
to Josephus, were composed of a few Italian troops while the majority
were conscripts from locally conquered nations such as Syria and
Arabia. Both of which despised the Jews that they were among.
It
was the Assyrian troops, under the banner of Rome, that took it upon
themselves to sack the temple. Hearing of this Titus ran among them
and seeing as the fire they had set was one that could be stopped
ordered them to stop their destructive actions and put the fire out.
They ignored his order, escalated their actions, and brutally
slaughtered Jews in hopes or obtaining any gold they might have
swallowed.
Popular
religious theory likes to hang their hat on the prince that is to
come as being Italian, and therefore the pope himself. Yeah,
right. The problem with that thinking is that it was not Titus,
the Roman general, that destroyed the temple, but the Assyrians. If
we follow the path back to the destroyers, then we are talking about
a leader that comes out of the middle-east, and is with little
doubt Islamic. Are you paying attention to what is going in
the Middle-east, and Islam's impact on the world around you. It is
not good and it is coming to your neighborhood.
If
you wish to pursue some in-depth scriptural backing for all this then
look into: Mideast Beast: The Scriptural
Case for an Islamic Antichrist, by
Joel
Richardson (Author)
Now
the sixty-two sets of seven time periods have come and gone, and yet
there is no future leader as yet, nor prince that has come and
destroyed the city, as of yet. So it is safe to say that this
continues to speak of a future time. I suspect that time is just
around the corner and not another 2200 years.
Daniel
tells us that the people of the prince to come will destroy
the city. That is a fairly blunt way of putting it. Revelation
11:2 in the King James version states that they will trample the
city and overtake the temple, again.
Seventy
weeks (490 years)
have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to
let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for
the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal
righteousness: so that
the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to
put the holy oil on a most holy place.
Daniel
9:24 (BBE)
As
I read Daniel 9:24 it sounds like God is fully intended to bring
everything to an end.
What
do we understand as the end? Christ's triumphant and deadly return to
the earth, after which the millennial reign is set up, and the Holy
Temple and city are re-established.
Again
we are back to scratching our heads as what to do with this mystery
time period. Problem is no one really knows, but we can speculate
with reason because there are now so many other aspects falling into
place.
Revelation
calls the this prince/leader that is to come not only the beast
(one of many) but also an antichrist. Paul told us that
anything that sets itself up against God, denying his power and life
is an antichrist, so the title fits.
1
John 2:22 NIV Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is
the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist--denying the Father
and the Son.
Who is John writing to?
Why would John write to these groups?
To increase knowledge.
The world deems it self-defeating to give the enemy
your game plan? Not when God is in control.
As a warning.
Every group is being warned. Look at the first four
chapters of the Revelation and you clearly see the church body
receiving warnings, but there is also an opportunity to change.
To establish prophecy.
What
does that mean? Revelation 19:10 KJV “...worship God: for the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” So it makes sense
for us to give the testimony of Jesus as an aspect of our speaking
to others about our life in Christ. To the Jewish reader (the
largest majority during this time was Jewish), they understand that
prophecy is demonstrated and established in pattern. Pattern =
Validation, believability, and consistency.
So
for chapter 11 to open with the measuring of the temple is hugely
significant, especially to the Jewish community. Reading and learning
the Law and the prophets was expected and a source of a father's
pride. They knew the relationship to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel
40:1-3 KJV In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the
beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the
fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day
the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither. (2) In
the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me
upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the
south. (3) And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a
man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line
of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
If
time is to be no more, then the measuring of the New Jerusalem and
the temple mark the immediacy of their integration here on earth.
after eating the scroll
John
was told, after eating the scroll, that he was to tell many others.
Revelation
10:11 KJV And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before
many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
The
word before is Epi and carries meanings of “on, at, and
before.” To speak “at” someone can be interpreted as an
aggressive posture, but we certainly saw the apostle Paul do that at
times. It seems that it is often the only way to break through some
dense thinking.
In
the case of Ezekiel he too is instructed to declare. How does this
fit into the “pattern”?
Ezekiel
40:3-4 KJV And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man,
whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of
flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
(4) And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes,
and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall
shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art
thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of
Israel.
The
Jews who read the Revelation were well aware of what Ezekiel had
written about a city that was to come. Unfortunately, they did not
recognize that it was the Messiah himself who did the measuring the
first time.
Even
the idea that the Gentiles would trample on the Holy City was an
understood concept. Jesus himself spoke of this.
Luke
21:24 KJV And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be
led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Isaiah
5:5 NIV Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I
will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down
its wall, and it will be trampled.
In
Isaiah, the example of the vineyard is Israel, and God himself told
Israel that it will be trampled.
Let
me reiterate something I said earlier. John's largest audience at the
time of writing was Jewish Christians. They did not give up their
Jewish understanding, and their training would, usually, had them
memorize the prophets I referenced.
Maybe
if you walk away from this with anything, remember this. This is a
very Jewish book and God has not decided to give up on this people.
Their understanding and culture is integral to our interpretation.
The second thing I wish people could comprehend, this book was meant
to be read and understood.
Pursue
knowledge and understanding. God will open the windows of heaven to
those who wish to understand. Proverbs 9:10 tells us: The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding.
I
suggest that you accept him as the Lord of your life. I am not very
good at this evangelism stuff but try something like this. Jesus, I
receive you into my life, and I accept this life that paid so dearly
for me to receive. Thank you for bringing me into this family of God
and that I get to spend eternity with you. Thank you for life and the
peace that you bring into my life. Fill my life with your Holy Spirit
as you have promised.
I
can guarantee you that some will criticize me for my lack of
appropriate wording, but consider something. Hanging next to Jesus
was two criminals, paying for crimes committed. Apparently based upon
what he saw, one of the thieves asked Jesus to remember him when he
came into paradise. That meant that in those few hours, that thief
came to some understanding of who he was and what he represented.
That thief came to acknowledge, in a simplistic way, that Jesus was
who the people screaming at him were denying. And he was accepted
into the kingdom when he died. What did Jesus say to him, “this day
you will be with me in paradise.”
