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Revelation 11

Revelation 11 sets the witnesses’ suffering and vindication within God’s rule, culminating in heaven’s announcement of his enduring kingdom.

John receives a measuring rod and is told to measure God’s temple, its altar, and its worshipers, while the outer court is left to the nations. Two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth with power to bring judgment. After their testimony ends, the beast kills them, and the world celebrates. God raises them and calls them into heaven. The seventh trumpet then sounds, heaven announces God’s reign, and the heavenly temple opens to reveal the ark of his covenant.

fear for the futureinjustice and angersermon or Bible study notes
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1A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, “Rise and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months.
3I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands, standing before the Lord of the earth.
5If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way.
6These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.
8Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
10Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them.
12I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” They went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly.
15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
16The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God’s throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17saying: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and reigned.
18The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and those who fear your name, to the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Revelation 11:15The seventh trumpet announces the world’s kingdom becoming God’s and his Christ’s, placing earthly opposition under his enduring reign.
Revelation 11:5Fire against the witnesses’ attackers shows the divine power guarding their testimony before the beast is permitted to kill them.
Revelation 11:19The revealed ark brings God’s covenant into view as the vision closes with signs of his presence and judgment.
Where this chapter reaches

Zechariah shares the imagery of olive trees and a lamp stand, while Daniel shares the themes of a beast’s warfare and God’s everlasting kingdom. Psalm shares the picture of angry nations confronting divine rule, linking the elders’ worship with the conflict described across the chapter.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about the contrast between earth’s celebration and heaven’s announcement?

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How does the witnesses’ death and return to life shape your understanding of faithful testimony?

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Questions people ask about Revelation 11

Who are the two witnesses in Revelation 11?

The chapter does not name them. It calls them prophets, olive trees, and lamp stands standing before the Lord of the earth. They testify, suffer death, and receive life from God. Readers differ over whether they represent two individuals or God’s witnessing people; the text leaves their precise identity unstated.

What do the forty-two months and 1,260 days mean in Revelation 11?

Forty-two months and 1,260 days describe equal spans when months are counted as thirty days. The nations trample the holy city for the first span, and the witnesses prophesy for the second. Readers differ over literal and symbolic readings. The chapter gives these events defined limits without supplying a calendar date.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).