11 In this chapter is shown how it will fare with "the holy city," till the mystery of God is fulfilled; in the twelfth, what will befal the woman, who is delivered of the man - child; in the thirteenth, how it will be with the kingdom of Christ, while the "two beasts" are in the height of their power. And there was given me - By Christ, as appears from the third verse. And he said, Arise - Probably he was sitting to write. And measure the temple of God - At Jerusalem, where he was placed in the vision.Of this we have a large description by Ezekiel, Eze 40:1-48:35; concerning which we may observe,

1. Ezekiel's prophecy was not fulfilled at the return from the Babylonish captivity.
2. Yet it does not refer to the "New Jerusalem," which is far more gloriously described.
3. It must infallibly be fulfilled even then "when they are ashamed of all that they have done," Eze 43:11.
   
4. Ezekiel speaks of the same temple which is treated of here.
5. As all things are there so largely described, St. John is shorter and refers thereto.

11:2 But the court which is without the temple - The old temple had a court in the open air, for the heathens who worshipped the God of Israel. Cast out - Of thy account.And measure it not - As not being holy In so high a degree.And they shall tread - Inhabit. The holy city - Jerusalem, Mat 4:5. So they began to do, before St. John wrote. Andit has been trodden almost ever since by the Romans, Persians, Saracens, and Turks. But that severe kind of treading which is here peculiarly spoken of, will not be till under the trumpet of the seventh angel, and toward the end of the troublous times.This will continue but forty - two common months, or twelve hundred and sixty common days; being but a small part of the non - chronos.

11:3 And I - Christ. Will give to my two witnesses - These seem to be two prophets; two select, eminent instruments. Some have supposed (though without foundation) that they are Moses and Elijah, whom they resemble in several respects. To prophesy twelve hundred and sixty days - Common days, that is, an hundred and eighty weeks. So long will they prophesy, (even while that last and sharp treading of the holy city continues,) both by word and deed, witnessing that Jesus is the Son of God, the heir of all things, and exhorting all men to repent, and fear, and glorify God. Clothed in sackcloth - The habit of the deepest mourners, out of sorrow and concern for the people.

11:4 These are the two olive trees - That is, as Zerubbabel and Joshua, the two olive trees spoken of by Zechariah, Zec 3:9, Zec 4:10, were then the two chosen instruments inGod's hand, even so shall these. be in their season. Being themselves full of the unction of the Holy One, they shall continually transmit the same to others also. And the two candlesticks - Burning and shining lights. Standing before the Lord of the earth - Always waiting on God, without the help of man, and asserting his right over the earth and all things therein.

11:5 If any would kill them - As the Israelites would have done Moses and Aaron, Num 16:41.He must be killed thus - By that devouring fire.

11:6 These have power - And they use that power. See Rev 11:10. To shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophesying - During those "twelve hundred and sixty days." And have powerover the waters - In and near Jerusalem. To turn them into blood - As Moses did those in Egypt. And to smite the earth with allplagues, as often as they will - This is not said of Moses or Elijah, or any mere man besides. And how is it possible to understand this otherwise than of two individual persons?

11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony - Till then they are invincible. The wild beast - Hereafter to be described. That ascendeth - First out of the sea, Rev 13:1, and then out of the bottomless pit, Rev 17:8.Shall make war with them - It is at his last ascent, not out of the sea, but the bottomless pit, that the beast makes war upon the two witnesses. And even hereby is fixed the time of "treading the holy city," and of the "two witnesses." That time ends after the ascent of the beast out of the abyss, and yet before the fulfilling of the mystery. And shall conquer them - The fire no longer proceeding out of their mouth when they have finished their work. And kill them - These will be among the last martyrs, though not the last of all.

11:8 And their bodies shall be - Perhaps hanging on a cross.In the street of the great city - Of Jerusalem, a far greater city, than any other in those parts. This is described both spiritually and historically: spiritually, as it is called Sodom Isa 1:9etc and Egypt; on account of the same abominations abounding there, at the time of the witnesses, as did once in Egypt and Sodom.Historically: Where also their Lord was crucified - This possibly refers to the very ground where his cross stood. Constantine the Great inclosed this within the walls of the city. Perhaps on that very spot will their bodies be exposed.

11:9 Three days and a half - So exactly are the times set down in this prophecy. If we suppose this time began in the evening, and ended in the morning, and included (which is no way impossible) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the weekly festival of the Turkish people, the Jewish tribes, and the Christian tongues; then all these together, with the heathen nations, would have full leisure to gaze upon and rejoice over them.

11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth - Perhaps this expression may peculiarly denote earthly - minded men. Shall make merry - As did the Philistines over Samson. And send gifts to one another - Both Turks, and Jews, and heathens, and false Christians.

11:11 And great fear fell upon them that saw them - And now knew that God was on their side.

11:12 And I heard a great voice - Designed for all to hear.And they went up to heaven, and their enemies beheld them - who had not taken notice of their rising again; by which some had been convinced before.

11:13 And there was a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell - We have here an unanswerable proof that this city is not Babylon or Rome, but Jerusalem. For Babylon shall be wholly burned before the fulfilling of the mystery of God.But this city is not burned at all; on the contrary, at the fulfilling of that mystery, a tenth part of it is destroyed by an earthquake, and the other nine parts converted. And there were slain in the earthquake seven thousand men - Being a tenth part of the inhabitants, who therefore were seventy thousand in all. And the rest - The remaining sixty - three thousand were converted: a grand step toward the fulfilling of the mystery of God. Such a conversion we no where else read of. So there shall be a larger as well as holier church at Jerusalem than ever was yet. Were terrified - Blessed terror! And gave glory - The character of true conversion, Jer 13:16.To the God of heaven - He is styled, "The Lord of the earth," Rev 11:4, when he declares his right over the earth by the two witnesses; but the God of heaven, when he not onlygives rain from heaven after the most afflicting drought, but also declares his majesty from heaven, by taking his witnesses up into it. When the whole multitude gives glory to the God of heaven, then that "treading of the holy city" ceases. This is the point so long aimed at, the desired "fulfilling of the mystery of God," when the divine promises are so richly fulfilled on those who have gone through so great afflictions. All this is here related together, that whereas the first and second woe went forth in the east, the rest of the eastern affairs being added at once, the description of the western might afterwards remain unbroken. It may be useful here to see how the things here spoken of, andthose hereafter described, follow each other in their order.

1. The angel swears; the non - chronos begins; John eats the book; the many kings arise.
2. The non - chronos and the "many kings" being on the decline, that treading" begins, and the "two witnesses" appear.
3. The beast, after he has with the ten kings destroyed Babylon, wars with them and kills them. After three days and an half they revive and ascend to heaven. There is a great earthquake in the holy city: seven thousand perish, and the rest are converted. The "treading" of the city by the gentiles ends.
4. The beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies are assembled to fight against the Great King.
5. Multitudes of his enemies are killed, and the beast and the false prophet cast alive into the lake of fire.
6. while John measures the temple of God and the altar with the worshippers, the true worship of God is set up. The nations who had trodden the holy city are converted. Hereby the mystery of God is fulfilled.
7. Satan is imprisoned. Being released for a time, he, with Gog and Magog, makes his last assault upon Jerusalem.

11:14 The second woe is past - The butchery made by the Saracens ceased about the year 847, when their power was so broken by Charles the Great that they never recovered it.Behold, the third woe cometh quickly - Its prelude came while the Roman see took all opportunities of laying claim to its beloved universality, and enlarging its power and grandeur. And in the year 755 the bishop of Rome became a secular prince, by king Pepin's giving him the exarchate of Lombardy. The beginning of the third woe itself stands, Rev 12:12.