Revelation 11:1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there.

Christ speaks here to John and we immediately see the three elements present in this passage: temple, altar, and the worshipers. In other translations, the word ‘count’ does not appear and the act of measuring appears to include all three elements. The number ‘three’ indicates again that this is an act of God working with perfect justice and resolve with his people, which is here depicted as the full extent of the church.

We read in several places in Scripture that God will measure Israel and the temple, such as

Isaiah 28:17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.

Ezekiel 40:3, 4 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. ⁴he man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”

Zechariah 2:1, 2 Then I looked up--and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. ²I asked, "Where are you going?" He answered me, "To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”

II Kings 21:13 - 15 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, ¹⁵Because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day.

In Rev 11, however, the measurement of the temple, altar and the worshipers is rather an act of setting apart than determining the measure of judgment. The church is set apart from the unbelievers, which is an act of making it holy, separating it from the work for God’s purpose.

Zechariah 2:5 ‘And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,' declares the LORD, 'and I will be its glory within.’

We further see that this act of measuring is setting the church apart from the unbelievers when we read Revelation 11:2 in which John is commanded exclude the outer court.

Scripture reveals to us in the New Testament that the sanctuary of God is the people of God and not the physical temple any longer.

We read in Revelation 3:12 the promise that those who overcome will be a pillar in the God’s temple.

Revelation 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.

Other Scripture passages that give us ample testimony that we should not look to a physical temple in this era are as follows:

I Corinthians 3:16, 17 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? ¹⁷If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Ephesians 2:19 - 22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

I Peter 2:4 - 9 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” ⁷Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," ⁸And, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

But the spiritual character of the new temple is not a New Testament invention; it has been prophesied from the beginning.

Leviticus 15:31 "'You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.'"

Psalm 118:19 – 23 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. ²⁰This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. ²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. ²²The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. ²³The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

Zechariah 6:12, 13 Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. ¹³It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two."

Isaiah 65:17 – 19 "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ¹⁸ut be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. ¹⁹I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”

Isaiah 66:22, 23 "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. ²³From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD.

Later on in Revelation, the New Jerusalem is called the bride and the wife of the Lamb – a portrait of the church, composed of people from every nation who hold to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. John receives instructions to measure God’s temple, its alter, which is associated with the suffering church, and the worshipers as a sign of the ultimate invincibility of the Christ’s church.

Revelation 11:2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

This passage shows that the unbelievers (Gentiles) will not share the same space as the worshipers, which have been set apart from the Gentiles on the inside to glorify God. This image relates to the temple that Herod built in Jerusalem in which the unbelievers were allowed to trade in temple courts.

John 2:14, 19, 20 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁹Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. ²⁰The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"

By excluding the outer court, those who are in it will not be preserved on the Day of Judgment and only the true believers, those whose names have been written in the book of life, who are worshiping in the temple, will survive it, although they are all in the same temple.

Matthew 7:19 - 21 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

Isaiah 48:1 - 3 "Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel--but not in truth or righteousness-²you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel--the LORD Almighty is his name: ³I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

Revelation 11:2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

It will be incorrect to assume a simplistic view of those who are in the sanctuary as the elect and they will be preserved, and those who are in the outer court as the reprobate who will perish. The temple, both the sanctuary and the outer court symbolizes the holy city. In Revelation, cities symbolize communities of people, which means that the measurement of the temple, altar, and the worshipers is an eternal setting apart of God’s people for the last day. It does not set them apart from affliction, persecution, and attack from the other nations.

In the paradoxical way in which Revelation’s visions so often describe the church, Christ’s holy temple-city is secure and vulnerable: secured from apostasy and divine wrath by the power and grace of the Lamb, but vulnerable to attack through persecution by the world.

We should not confuse other references to the holy city, which means the physical streets and buildings that was the capitol of Israel and center of Jewish worship with the holy city described in the Book of Revelation, which is the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb.

Nehemiah 11:1 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

Matthew 27:53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

The physical, earthly Jerusalem, symbolizing anti-Jesus Judaism, as the site of the Lord’s crucifixion, has become identified with “the great city” symbolic of the human community stands in the defiant tradition of Sodom, Egypt and preeminently Babylon. Because a Christ-centered redefinition of God’s people has occurred, the name Jew no longer belongs to anti-Jesus Jews and pro-Jesus Gentiles have been redeemed and consecrated as God’s kingdom of priests. Thus, the name ‘holy city’ no longer describes earthly Jerusalem as it has before. The holy city is the bride of the Lamb, who will be revealed in beauty, ready for her wedding, at the end of history.

In the mean time, however, the holy city will be trampled by the Gentiles, just as earthly Jerusalem and its temple had been razed and trampled by Roman troops. The interim here is symbolized by forty-two months, which will be shown later in our study to symbolize the period of the dragon’s virulent but frustrated attempts to destroy the church through deception and violent aggression, which is the time we are in now.

Therefore, the unmeasured outer courtyard, given to the Gentiles, and the holy city, trampled by the gentiles, balance the portrait of the church as the measured sanctuary: though protected from apostasy and God’s wrath, the church is exposed to physical coercion, social contempt, and violence.

The concept of a secure church but yet exposed to the utmost danger appears to be a paradox, but it is God’s plan to bring out of this calamity those who bear his seal on their foreheads while those without it perish around them.

The only time that believers are persecuted is when they profess Christ and preach the gospel. Therefore, one cannot imagine this vision of John without seeing Christ’s warriors fearlessly profess their faith in him. Some as evangelists, some as teachers, and some in many other offices as gifted by the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:9 – 13 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Christians not professing and living their faith are at peace with the world and with the nations that will afflict and attack the holy city, effectively becoming henchmen of Satan.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

John 15:19, 23 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²³He who hates me hates my Father as well.

John 17:14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

I John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

I John 3:13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.

Romans 8:7 The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

This passage speaking of trampling the holy city by the Gentiles speaks about the gospel also, and not only the gospel, but also about all of those who sacrifice worldly pleasures for the sake of Christ. They work and worship, preach and pray, deny and repent. They suffer the attacks of the nations but they are invincible and express incomprehensible joy in the hope of the life to come in Christ.

Just as the blood of the Lamb protected the Israelites during the Passover here, too, the blood of the Lamb brings permanent, eternal salvation to those who bear his seal: spiritually invincible but physically vulnerable.

There are three different schools of thought regarding the trampling of the temple; those who believe that the book of Revelation was written before 70 A.D.; those who believe that the measured sanctuary is the whole church with the excluding outer court the Jesus-rejecting Jewish community as a whole; and those who believe that the measuring of the temple symbolizes the preservation of the spiritual significance of the temple through the church.

The first school believes that Rev 11:1-2 predicts a protection of Jewish Christians in Palestine from the Roman invasion, since Jesus warned them to flee in Luke 21:21. According to them the temple sanctuary symbolizes those first-century Jews who believed in Jesus and were spared the outpouring of God’s wrath against those who rejected and killed the promised Messiah, who are symbolized in the outer court.

The second school believes that the measuring symbolizes that the church has replaced the Jews as the people of God until the restoration of the ethnic Israel to faith and faithfulness.

The third school believes that the measured sanctuary is the Most Holy Place, which is why they believe that temple worship in the presence of God should remain. They also believe that the exclusion of the outer court symbolizes the destruction of the physical temple and the city of Jerusalem.

There are many problems with these theories, such as the first theory’s inability to address the occurrence of evil in the mold of the rest of the Book of Revelation, especially where the period of 42 months is mentioned.

The second school has problems with the replacement of the Jews as the people of God. That would imply that the recording of the names of the elect in the book of life before creation, which created the universal, invisible church, was an error on God’s part: first choosing the Israelites as his people and then replacing them with the church. It is clear, and in harmony with God’s character, that He chose some to be raised up from the cesspool of death to be with Him forever in glory. Throughout salvation history the object of all of creation is to lead only those few through super human trials and tribulations to the perfection of their faith before they die.

The third school has problems with their localizing of Christ, or even worse, imagining that they can bring God down to a physical temple. The Roman Catholics have problems explaining the Eucharist in which they believe Christ’s physical body is commanded by the priest to come down repeatedly for a communal sacrifice.

It is not the purpose of this study to draw comparisons with other schools of thought, but perhaps a brief synopsis is in order. We believe that what we have proposed in this study is supported and interpreted by Scripture.

Revelation 11:2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

Things that have to do with the yielding of a crop, which one can easily equate with the gospel, are measured in months.

Ezekiel 47:12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.

John 4:35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

Job 39:2 Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?

As we have repeatedly said before, numerology does not prove Scripture but it rather confirms that what is said is part of the fibers that the Holy Spirit weaved into the Scriptures to prevent it from being falsified.

The number 42 is 6 X 7, which is the product of 6, which is the number of the evil one and 7, which symbolizes the covenant that God has with his people, namely, the sum of 3, which is the number of God and 4, which is the number of men. It is, then, no accident that the number of months – symbolizing the unit of measurement with which time is measured until some yield is expected – is 42, composed of those numbers that symbolize God’s covenant church in the same temple as the evil one, even persecuting the church.

Forty-two months, or three and a half years, or also stated as 1,260 days is the period in which the following takes place:

1. The trampling of the outer court of the temple – 42 months.

2. Ministry of the two witnesses, which we will deal with in the next passage – 1,260 days.

3. The woman fleeing into the desert – time, times, and half a time; also 1,260 days.

4. The blaspheming beast – 42 months.

These calamities symbolize the same period, namely, the period between the ascension of Christ and the Second Coming.

Daniel 7:25 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.

Daniel 12:7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.

It is uncertain what the words of the last sentence of Daniel 12:7 mean. The most plausible explanation is that it means when the destruction of the power of the holy people has ended. Or when the power of the destroyer has ended.

Here are some passages of Scripture that best interpret this sentence.

Daniel 7:21 – 27 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them, ²²until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. ²³"He gave me this explanation: 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. ²⁴The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. ²⁵He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. ²⁶"'But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. ²⁷Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'"

Daniel 8:23 - 25 "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a stern-faced king, a master of intrigue, will arise. ²⁴He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people. ²⁵He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.

Matthew 24:21 – 24 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. ²²If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. ²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.

Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

So, we see that the suffering of the elect is part of God’s salvation history for his people and it had been determined to that way from before creation. When the character and attributes of God is taken into account, there can be no other school of thought than the one forwarded here. Scripture is the only secure interpreter of Scripture.

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

Christ speaks about "my two witnesses" which means that He knows them well. These two witnesses symbolize the whole church in its role as witnesses to God’s truth and against the world’s lies and wickedness. There are two witnesses bringing what they are testifying about in compliance with the law:

Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Matthew 18:16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

We dealt with the subject of 42 months previously. It clearly symbolizes the massive task of the witnesses to bring the gospel to the people in these last days between the ascension of Christ and the Second Coming.

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

Being clothed in sackcloth is a sign of repentance and sorrow because of sin.

Matthew 11:21 "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Isaiah 37:1, 2 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. ²He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

Jonah 3:5, 6 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. ⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.

These witnesses will do their work in a state of humility before the Lord and the people.

Judges 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Isaiah 57:15 For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isaiah 66:2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.

I Corinthians 9:16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

II Corinthians 12:5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

Ephesians 2:8, 9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-⁹not by works, so that no one can boast.