Day 3: The Two Witnesses and the Kingdom Trumpet

Reading: Revelation 10-11

Listen to: Revelation chapter 10

Historical Context

Revelation 10-11 forms a crucial interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, much as chapter 7 formed an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals. This structural pattern – pause before the climax – builds tension while providing theological commentary on the meaning of the judgments. These chapters focus on the role of prophetic witness during the period of tribulation, culminating in the sounding of the seventh trumpet and one of the most triumphant declarations in the entire Bible.

Chapter 10 opens with the descent of a “mighty angel” wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head, his face like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire (10:1). This description echoes elements of the divine theophany in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 10, and the rainbow recalls the covenant promise after the Flood (Genesis 9:13-17). The angel holds a “little scroll” (biblaridion) – distinct from the great scroll with seven seals in chapter 5. The angel straddles the boundary between sea and land, planting one foot on each, suggesting that the message of this scroll concerns the entire earth.

John is commanded to take the scroll and eat it. “It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey” (10:9). This action directly echoes Ezekiel’s commissioning, where the prophet was told to eat a scroll that tasted sweet as honey (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3). The bittersweet experience represents the prophet’s total internalization of God’s message – it must become part of the messenger before it can be proclaimed. The sweetness is the glory of God’s purposes; the bitterness is the suffering those purposes will entail, both for the world under judgment and for the community that bears witness.

The mighty angel then declares: “There will be no more delay!” (10:6). The martyrs had cried “How long?” (6:10); now the answer comes – the mystery of God “will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets” (10:7). The word “mystery” (mysterion) does not mean a puzzle to be solved but a divine plan previously hidden and now being revealed. The entire prophetic tradition of the Old Testament – from Isaiah’s Suffering Servant to Daniel’s Son of Man to Zechariah’s pierced one – is reaching its fulfillment.

Chapter 11 introduces the Two Witnesses (11:1-14), one of the most debated passages in Revelation. John is given a measuring rod and told to measure the temple of God and its altar, but not the outer court, “because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months” (11:2). The forty-two months (equivalent to 1,260 days or three and a half years) is drawn from Daniel 7:25 and 12:7, where it represents a period of tribulation under a persecuting power. Whether this period is literal or symbolic of the entire church age between Christ’s ascension and return has been debated throughout church history.

The Two Witnesses are described with language drawn from Moses and Elijah: they have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain (Elijah, 1 Kings 17:1), to turn waters into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague (Moses, Exodus 7-12). They are also identified as “the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth” (11:4), a direct reference to Zechariah 4, where the olive trees represent Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor – the priestly and royal witnesses of God’s purposes. The Two Witnesses thus represent the faithful prophetic testimony of the church during the period of tribulation, combining the authority of priestly intercession and royal proclamation.

Their fate is dramatic. After completing their testimony, “the beast that comes up from the Abyss” (the first reference to this figure who will dominate chapters 13-14) attacks and kills them. Their bodies lie in the street of “the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (11:8). This city is simultaneously Jerusalem (where Jesus was crucified), Sodom (a symbol of moral corruption), and Egypt (a symbol of oppression) – it represents the world-system in its totality. The nations gloat and celebrate their death, even exchanging gifts (11:10), a grotesque parody of festivity. But after three and a half days – the same symbolic period compressed into days – “the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet” (11:11). They ascend to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watch, and a severe earthquake destroys a tenth of the city.

The seventh trumpet then sounds (11:15), and “there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.’” This is the single most important declaration of Revelation – the announcement that God’s sovereign rule, always real but often hidden, has now been fully manifested. The twenty-four elders worship, declaring: “The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name” (11:18). The seventh trumpet does not introduce another series of plagues but a hymn of victory. The kingdom has come. The reign of Christ is established. All that follows – the bowls, the fall of Babylon, the return of Christ – is the working out of what has already been accomplished.

Key Themes

• The bittersweet word – God’s prophetic message must be fully internalized before it can be proclaimed; it is sweet in its divine purpose and bitter in the suffering it reveals, demanding total commitment from those who carry it
• Faithful witness unto death – The Two Witnesses represent the church’s prophetic testimony in a hostile world; they are killed, vindicated, and resurrected, following the pattern of Christ himself
• The kingdom has come – The seventh trumpet announces the definitive transfer of sovereignty: the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and his reign is eternal

Connections

• Old Testament Roots: The eating of the scroll echoes Ezekiel 2:8-3:3. The Two Witnesses combine elements of Moses (plagues), Elijah (shutting the sky), and the two olive trees of Zechariah 4. The forty-two months come from Daniel 7:25 and 12:7. The requirement of two witnesses fulfills Deuteronomy 19:15.
• New Testament Echoes: The witnesses’ death and resurrection follow the pattern of Christ’s own death and resurrection. The beast from the Abyss anticipates the fuller description in Revelation 13. The seventh trumpet’s declaration of God’s kingdom connects to Jesus’ proclamation that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15) and to the Lord’s Prayer (“your kingdom come”).
• Parallel Passages: Ezekiel 2:8-3:3 (eating the scroll), Zechariah 4 (two olive trees and lampstands), Deuteronomy 19:15 (two witnesses), 1 Kings 17 (Elijah stops the rain), Exodus 7:17 (water to blood)

Reflection Questions

1. The scroll is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the stomach. What aspects of God’s message have you found sweet, and what aspects have been bitter to digest? How do you carry a message that contains both joy and judgment?
2. The Two Witnesses are killed for their testimony but then resurrected and vindicated. How does this pattern – faithful witness leading to apparent defeat followed by divine vindication – apply to the church’s mission in every age?
3. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah.” If this is already declared as accomplished in heaven, how should it change the way we live on earth, where the kingdom seems far from fully realized?

Prayer

Lord of the kingdom, we hear the seventh trumpet sounding and the voices of heaven declaring that your reign is established forever. Even when the evidence on earth seems to contradict this declaration, we trust the announcement made from your throne. Give us the courage of the Two Witnesses – to testify faithfully even when the cost is our very lives, trusting that you will vindicate your servants. Help us to internalize your word, both its sweetness and its bitterness, so that we proclaim not our own message but yours. The kingdom of this world has become your kingdom. Come and reign. Amen.