The teaching continues from the two witnesses in Revelation 11, identified as two olive trees and two lampstands in connection with Zechariah 4. They are two Jews: Elijah, as stated in Malachi, and a modern-day Jew. Claims that the apostle John is one of the witnesses, based on John 21:22, are rejected. Jesus did not say John would not die; the saying that circulated among the brethren was incorrect, and Scripture itself clarifies the point. There is no promise of living into the age without death.
The witnesses possess authority. If anyone desirously wills to harm them, they can cause such people to be destroyed by fire coming from their mouths, which signifies authority. They can shut the heavens and strike the entire earth with plagues for as long and as many as they desire. When their ministry is finished, the beast that came out of the abyss—after his resuscitation—kills them. Their bodies lie in the street of the city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt for three and a half days. People from every tribe, tongue, and nation see the bodies, refuse burial, and rejoice.
After three and a half days the Spirit of life, that is the Holy Spirit, enters them and they stand. A great earthquake destroys a tenth of the city and kills seven thousand people as the witnesses ascend. This occurs near the end of the Tribulation, just before Christ returns.
The narrative then jumps forward. The seventh trumpet sounds at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of the ages. The twenty-four elders, representing the Church, worship, giving thanks to the Lord God Almighty who has taken His great inherent ability and has reigned. The nations were angry (past tense) and the wrath has come. This places the scene between the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the destruction of the present universe, the Great White Throne, and the new heavens and new earth.
Revelation 11:18 speaks of the time of the dead that they should be judged. The dead are the spiritually dead, the unpersuaded—those who were given opportunity or evidence yet did not believe. Creation itself reveals the Creator (Romans 1). They are judged according to their works, not their sins. Christ sent sins away; He did not merely cover them. The Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11–12) is therefore judgment, not a manifestation of wrath. The dead stand before God, indicating they possess some form of life; all humans are resurrected, some unto life and others unto destruction. This is the second resurrection. There is no place for the present earth and heavens.
Hades functions as a temporary holding place (like a local jail); the lake of fire is the permanent destination. No believers remain in Hades. At the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom the sheep-and-goat judgment (Matthew 25:31–46) ensures that only those who belong to Christ enter the kingdom; unbelievers do not. During the Millennium, judgment for scandal or trespass is immediate and results in casting into Gehenna (the lake of fire). Those judged in the Millennium are not later resurrected for the Great White Throne.
Christians are not appointed to wrath. Present judgment is child-training (1 Corinthians 11:32). Mature love casts out fear of judgment (1 John). The Church is already resurrected, presented pure and blameless, and seated with Christ, actively engaged in priestly service as seen in the twenty-four elders of Revelation 4–5. The Church will even judge angels. At the Bema seat (1 Corinthians 3:12–15) works are tested by fire for approval; enduring works receive reward, while those burned up result in loss of reward, yet the person is saved. Self-effort works have no value. The focus is on building according to God’s desirous will.
The rewards mentioned in Revelation 11:18 for servants, prophets, and saints refer to Millennial Kingdom prophets and saints. The Church has already been judged and is reigning. Tribulation saints are resurrected and rewarded at the start of the Millennium (Revelation 20:4). Pre-Church saints are also resurrected at the beginning of the Millennium. Only Millennial Kingdom saints remain to be rewarded at this point. Joel 2:28–31 speaks of the Spirit poured out on all flesh after the people of Israel are no longer put to shame, which occurs once the saved of Israel are in the Millennium following the sheep-and-goat judgment. Sons and daughters prophesy, old men dream dreams, and young men see visions. This is not restricted to the Tribulation.
The Church alone has the unique relationship of the Holy Spirit indwelling each member, teaching how to abide in Christ. Before the Dispensation of Grace and after it, saints do not have this indwelling; they require prophets. In the Millennium the Spirit is poured out (anointing), not indwelling. The word “saint” (hagios) means holy one, one set apart to God; it is not restricted to Christians. There have been and will be saints in other dispensations. Millennial saints fear the Lord and thereby obtain wisdom; the Church obtains wisdom by asking (James) and has no fear of judgment because of mature love.
These rewards relate to eternity and the new earth. The promise that Abraham would be heir of the world (Romans 4:13) is through the righteousness of faith, not the law. Genesis 15 gave the specific land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates; Genesis 17 establishes an everlasting (age-long) covenant to be God to Abraham and his descendants, relating to the new heavens and new earth—the land of the merchants, a description of the earth itself. Specific details of the rewards are not given.
“Those who destroyed the earth” refers to the nations that rise against Jerusalem at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:7–10). Satan is released, deceives the nations (Gog and Magog), and surrounds the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Only their bodies are destroyed; they are judged at the Great White Throne. This differs from Millennial judgment, in which the unsaved are cast alive into the lake of fire (Gehenna). The beast and false prophet are also cast into the lake of fire alive. The seventh trumpet sounds at this final manifestation of wrath.
Revelation 11:19 belongs with chapter 12. The teaching has moved to the edge of eternity; chapter 12 returns to supply further details. The Temple of God is opened in heaven and the ark of His covenant is seen, indicating that God is again dealing with the nation of Israel.
