Bibelkommentare

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

A reed — That is, the word of God, that little book that he had newly eaten. This is the only rule of faith and discipline whereby all in the Church must be made and meted.

Like unto a rod — Or, sceptre. The word is that rod of Christ’s strength, whereby he rules in the midst of his enemies, Psalms 110:2 . It is that right sceptre, Psalms 45:6 , which he sways and whereby he sovereigns. The Proverbs of Solomon are called in Hebrew Mishle, or mastersentences,Proverbs 1:1; Proverbs 1:1 ; (from Mashal, dominari to be mastered). And the Scriptures bear the title of Chieftains, Proverbs 8:6 , and of lords of collections, as some render it,Ecclesiastes 12:11; Ecclesiastes 12:11 .

Measure the temple of God — The Church, that had been so woefully wasted and oppressed by Antichrist, that it stood in need of new measuring and repairing.

That worship therein — In the temple, as being all spiritual priests; and in the altar, as placing all their confidence in Christ’s death alone.

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But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

But the court — The antichristian rout, cast out as reprobate silver, as refuse stuff, not worth the measuring.

Given unto the Gentiles — Antichrist and his adherents. Pa-pagans are no better than Pagans. "Are ye not the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord,"Amos 9:7; Amos 9:7 .

The holy city — The true Church. See Daniel 7:21 ; Ephesians 2:19 .

Forty and two months — This number is one and the same with 1260 days. The allusion is unto Daniel 7:25 .

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And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

And I will give unto my two, … — sc. Power to purge the Church, and to stand for the truth, all the while it was trodden under foot. Videsis Catalogum Testium veritatis ab Illyrico editum. Zuinglius recordeth that Luther and he (both at one time, the one not knowing nor hearing of the other) began to write against the pope’s indulgences. And of Luther and Melancthon one writes thus,

" Divisae his operae, sed mens fuit unica; pavit

Ore Lutherus oves, flore Melanethon apes. "

"This separate works, but the intent was the same, by the mouth Luther feeds the sheep, by the flowers Melanethon feeds the bees."

Unto my two witnesses — The whole succession of faithful preachers, under the tyranny and rage of Antichrist. These are said to be two, that is, few; or two, that is, enough, Deuteronomy 17:6 ; or two, in reference to those noble twos, Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Zerubbabel and Joshua, in allusion to whom these witnesses are here described.

Clothed in sackcloth — As calling men to repentance; or as bewailing their blindness; or as lacking better clothing.

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These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

These are the two olive trees — SeeZechariah 4:3; Zechariah 4:3 ; Zechariah 4:11 ; Zechariah 4:14 . in this book of the Revelation the Holy Ghost borrows all the elegancies and flowers in the story of the Old Testament, thereby to set out the story of the New in succeeding ages.

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And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Fire proceedeth out of their mouths — So that a man were better anger all the witches in the world than God’s faithful witnesses; for they have ever vengeance in a readiness for the disobedient,2 Corinthians 10:6; 2 Corinthians 10:6 . God inflicting what they either denounce or desire of him against their adversaries.

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These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

That it rain not — That the influence of divine grace be withheld from those that despise the gospel; so that they become as those mountains of Gilboa, 2 Samuel 1:21 , or that accursed earth,Hebrews 6:8; Hebrews 6:8 .

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And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

And when they shall have finished — Like as Christ, that faithful and true witness (as he is called, Revelation 3:14 ), when he had preached much about the same time as here, was slain by a Roman governor, raised with an earthquake, and received up into heaven in a cloud; so these. And, ουκ αγαπας μετα φωκιωνος αποθανουμενος . (Plut.) Art thou not glad to fare as Phocion? said he to one that was to suffer with him. These two witnesses could not be killed while they were doing, but when they had done their work. No malice of man can antedate my end a minute (saith one hereupon) while my Master hath work for me to do.

Shall overcome them — By arms, not by arguments.

And kill them — This killing, whether it be already past, or yet to come, it is hard to say. But if to come, some think it shall be but a civil death, that is, of them as witnesses only, not a natural death as men; and so the same persons shall rise again, and enjoy the fruits of their former labours and ascend into a greater glory. (Mr Thos. Goodwin.)

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And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

And their dead bodies — This shows it cannot be meant as a natural death; for how should their bodies lie dead (in that sense) for three years and a half, or (say as it were) for a shorter time?

Of the great city — Rome, of whose greatness Lipsius and Stapleton have written. See Revelation 17:18 ; Revelation 18:2-6 . Hence she is called the great whore, and great Babylon, not without reference unto the old Babylon; which was so great a city, that when it was taken by Cyrus, some part of it knew not what condition they were in till three days after. (Herodot. Arist. Pol.)

Where also our Lord was crucified — For he was put to death by a Roman judge, by a Roman authority, by a kind of death proper to the Romans, … He is also crucified in Rome in his members, word, spirit, and worship.

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