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SPECIAL NOTICE: This sermon contains one false assumption on the identity of the Courtyard that is trampled by the Gentiles in Revelation 11. Rather than make a correction, the author has chosen to leave the error in as an object lession on how easy it is to make false assumptions and the need for greater care in research before ariving at exegetical conclusions. The error is explained fully in Part XL.

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Shabbat Shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to the 37th part of our journey through the Book of Revelation. We are currently in the 2nd Interlude of the Book, between the 2nd and 3rd Woes of the second cycle of judgments known as the Shofar or Trumpet Judgments, and specifically, between the 6th and 7th shofar's, though technically last week's Little Scroll Prophecy and this and next week's Two Witnesses Prophecy are part of the 2nd Woe and 6th Shofar still because we are specifically told in Revelation 11:14 that that is when the 2nd Woe ends. Because there is so much interesting and controversial material in this section which must be carefully unpacked, we're going to divide the Two Witnesses episode into two parts, and today focus exclusively on the Temple.

The key to interpreting the section of chapter 11 we're going to read today is, I believe, to be found in the parallelism in the Book of Revelation as a whole. I am saying this in advance of our studying the text because this is, in my view, the hardest part of the Book of Revelation for most to grasp properly. Not only that, but it unravels false narratives leaving only the true one if we are completely honest about what it says. Many false views of the end-times converge on today's verses and must be laid firmly on the anvil of truth to be beaten with the blacksmith's hammer long enough so that we can be in no doubt as to what's there. We must expose all false doctrines that the keys from the first two verses teach us, so that they can be unapologetically and convincingly rejected, however painful that may turn out to be for our personal belief systems.

Moreover, we cannot view these verses in isolation but within the context of the whole Book of Revelation which is going to mean stretching every cell of grey matter you have in your brain to the full. I guess what I am saying is that you're going to have to work very hard to extract the emet (truth) out of it because it's more than likely going to cost you some of your pet doctrinal hobbyhorses. Though those with false views will want to go off on tangents to defend those views, because of denominational traditions, biases, personal blindness, pride, or whatever, we have to stay firmly on the road; and so as not to avoid the core revelation, we must remain firmly and squarely on the Book's trajectory that Yahweh has painstakingly mapped out for us. No Turks, Russians, Zionists, Catholics or Reformers allowed unless plainly and unambiguously indicated! If the meaning's not clear, it must remain unclear...at least for now. This is the first century AD, remember? Once we have the primary interpretation fully established, we can then venture into the realm of multi-layered and cyclical prophecy. If you're a Messianic Evangelical/New Covenant Christian, you will be pleasantly surprised.

So, I repeat, the key to interpreting today's and next week's section of chapter 11 is to be found in the parallelism in the Book of Revelation as a whole. This is an integral text, perfect in its dimensions and content, which is why at the end of it we are commanded not to add or subtract anything from it or it will collapse into a meaningless jumble of apparently unrelated facts and bring dishonour to its Author! It must be allowed to explain itself. Then we can take a look at what the dispensationalists, liberals, preterists, rapturists, messianics, adventists, and others are teaching, and have taught, over the centuries - to see where they're in harmony with the overall theme of the Book and where they aren't. This is, as you may imagine, a huge responsibility!

You will remember, first of all, that there were two episodical visions after the 6th seal (Rev.7), the first signifying that Messiah's people were separated and preserved from Yahweh's judgments; and the second that they were preserved not from, but through, death. The inhabitants of the qadosh (holy, set-apart) city - the New Jerusalem - likewise experience the same. Remember the backdrop to all we're reading is the seven assemblies or congregations of Asia Minor of chapters 2 & 3 who are a typical representation of all believers throughout the generations. But we must, first of all, read the text through their eyes - their history, culture and expectations.

The Book of Revelation was, in the first instance, given for their benefit, to comfort and encourage those who read it with emunah (faith). Right at the outset we read:

"The revelation of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), which Elohim (God) gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his malak (angel, messenger) to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw - that is, the Davar Elohoim (Word of God) and the testimony of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ). Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near" (Rev.1:1-3, NIV).

"For it will not be long now until the crucial moment of fulfilment comes" (Rev.1:3b, Barclay)

"For the time has drawn near" (HRV).

This is the word to the seven assemblies (churches): 'You're going to experience the things spoken of here quite soon', the text says, and it is from this thought that the Preterists find support for their position that everything in the Book of Revelation was fulfilled in the generation of the seven assemblies. And they are right on one level, and only on one level. If you're new to this study, I invite you to go over the various schools of interpretation that we cover in the opening episodes, The Four Methods of Interpretation, Parts 1 and 2 because if you come to a study of the Book of Revelation with a partisan spirit determined to plug only one school of interpretation you're going to miss the bigger picture - there is a lot going on in the Apocalypse on numerous levels simultaneously that no one mode of interpretation can satisfactorily interpret. It is designed to prophetically minister to, and inform, every generation that reads it, but particlarly the first and last ones. So I accept that it might only partially inform mine.

It takes level-headness to lay it all this out accurately. Those who think today's passage is about Jerusalem in the days of Aniochus Epiphanes IV, or Jerusalem in 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans (events that were in the past when John wrote this); or whether it's about Rome of the late first and second centuries AD (immediately after John) - or indeed modern Jerusalem in a Zionist State centuries into the future (i.e. our timeline); or whether, indeed, it's about the people of Elohim (God) right at the very end of the 'end-times' or æon (age) (i.e. in the near future for us) - you're are all going to find some support for these ideas precisely because this kind of prophecy is spiral and multi-layered - in the same way that the festivals repeat year after year, though our spiral may have intervals of centuries - which is its (and therefore Yahweh's) genius. But if you're going to see and appreciate that, you have to stop thinking like a 21st century modernist or postmodernist.

Let's now run through today's and next week's text. We shall, as always, be using the New King James Version (NKJV) with alternative readings included in the text, and then afterwards we shall dissect it further using N.T.Wright's Kingdom New Testament (KNT):

"11:1 Then I was given a [light, hollow] reed (cane) like (similar to) a [solid, heavier] measuring rod (Heb. shevet, 'measuring rod like a staff' - KNT) (Ezek.40:3; Rev.21:15. And the malak (angel) stood, saying, 'Rise and measure (Aram. 'measure/anoint' wordplay) the temple (Gk. Naos = 'Holy Place') of Elohim (God), the altar, and those who worship there (Zech.2:1-2; Ezek.40-42). 2 But leave out the [outer] court (Ezek.40:17,20) which is outside the temple (Gk. Naos = 'Holy Place'), and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles (Goyim, pagans) (Lk.21:24). And they will tread the qadosh (holy, set-apart) city underfoot for forty-two months (3½ years) (Dan.7:25; 9:27; 12:7; Rev.12:6,14; 13:15). 3 And I will give [power ('authority' - HRV)] to my two witnesses (Rev.1:5; 2:13), and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days (42 months) (Dan.7:25; 9:27; 12:7), clothed in sackcloth.' 4 These are the two olive trees (Zech.4:3; Rom.11:24) and the two lampstands (menoah's) standing before the Elohim (God) of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls (1 Ki.17:1; 18:42-45; Lk.4:25; Jas.5:17-18) in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues (Ex.7:17-12:30; 1 Sam.4:8), as often as they desire.

"7 Now when they finish their testimony, the beast (Rev.13:1-4) that ascends out of the very deep ('bottomless') pit (abyss) (Lk.8:31) will make war against ('attack' - NIV) them (Dan.7:21; Rev.13:7), overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city (Jerusalem - Rev.16:19) which spiritually is called Sodom (Is.1:9; Jer.23:14; Ezek.16:46) and Egypt, where also our Master (Lord) was crucified (Heb.13:12). 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations (Rev.13:7) will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves ('refuse them burial' - NIV) (Ps.79:2-3). 10 And those who dwell on the earth (Rev.3:10) will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another (Neh.8:10,12; Est.9:19,22), because these two nevi'im (prophets) tormented those who dwell on the earth.

"11 Now after the three-and-a-half days (v.9) the breath (ruach) of life from Elohim (God) entered them (Ezek.37:9-10,14), and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here' (Rev.4:1). And they ascended to heaven in a cloud (2 Ki.2:11; Ac.1:9), and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake (Rev.6:12), and a tenth of the city fell (collapsed). In the earthquake seven thousand men (1 Ki.19:18; Rom.11:4) were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory (Rev.14:7; 16:9; 19:7) to the Elohim (God) of heaven (Rev.16:11). 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly ('soon' - NIV) (Rev.8:13)" (Rev.11:1-14, NKJV).

Before we attempt a verse-for-verse analysis, let's combine last week's material with today's in a general overview because we need to first make some observations about parallelisms, as I mentioned earlier. It's very important that we continually maintain a view of the bigger picture so we don't get lost in detail because this isn't a two-dimensional text but a four-dimensional one containing both height (many layers) and time (multiple time periods). So I want to backtrack to chapter 9, if I may, and integrate everything from the middle of that chapter to the material in today's segment.

We're essentially standing back now and looking from mid-chapter 9 (the fiery riders) to mid-chapter 11 (the two witnesses) and searching for any important patterns. This chunk may be said to be the '2nd Vision on Earth' (the 1st consisted of plagues and locust attacks). The 2nd Vision consists of 6 shofar's or trumpets and is given to us in 3 parts:

• 1. The immediate judgments or plagues (Rev.9:13-21);
• 2. The episode of 'another mighty (powerful, strong) malak (angel)', his oath and the little scroll (Rev.10:1-11); and
• 3. The Two Witnesses (Rev.11:1-14).

The connection between these three is continuous and close. It is the same malak (angel) who addresses John throughout and the command, "Rise [up] and measure" (11:1) is only a sequel to "Seal up" (10:4) and "Take and eat" (10:9). You're going to see a number of triplets now. So these are the navi's (prophet's) three instructions/tasks given him:

• 1. Seal up;
• 2. Take & eat; and
• 3. Rise up & measure.

Chapter 11 and what follows is therefore the fulfilment of the command "You shall prophesy" where 'prophesying' here is used here in the sense of witnessing in its widest sense.

The descent of "another mighty (strong) malak (angel)" (10:1) is the formal taking possession of the earth in the Name of the King of kings, before actual occupation takes place...which isn't until later in chapter 19, though it is celebrated by anticipation in the next vision "in heaven" (11:15) that we'll see in a couple of weeks' time. Two earthly witnesses are added to the making of the claim as accredited agents of Throne. They are the link between the judgments (mishpatim) and men's sins, which are the cause of these judgments. Their witness is a confirmation of the emunah (faith) of Yahweh's people who are on the earth at that time, and a witness to the "inhabitants on the earth (of the world" (Is.18:3, NKJV), in each generation but most especially in the first and last, that the end is near either for them (each generation in the prophetic spiral, but more particularly for the last generation) and the interval of delay will now come to an end (Rev.10:6). The end-time scene really is being wrapped up for good (for individuals, nations, generations but most particularly and therefore primarily for the last generation).

There are 3 possessions at work here confirming the sequence I spoke about last week, namely, Yahweh → Yah'shua (Jesus) → Malak (Angel) → Navi (Prophet) → Messianic Israel:

• 1. The Malak (Angel) takes possession (in all generations, but especually the last) by planting his feet on the sea and on the earth;
• 2. John takes possession (in his generation) by measuring out part of the territory occupied; and (as we'll see next week)
• 3. The Two Witnesses take possession (in the last generation) by prophesying in Divine and miraculous power.

So just as after the 6th Seal there was an Episode relating to the protection and deliverance of Elohim's (God's) people then on the earth - so here, after, or at, the end of the 6th Shofar (Trumpet), there is a similar Episode with a similar object, namely, to show that with all the external destruction that will be happening, there shall be the preservation of all that essential to Yahweh's purpose, and essential to Yahweh's People, Messianic Israel. Nothing that is holy or dedicated to Yahweh is ever lost or destroyed.

This 3rd Episode of the 6th Shofat (Trumpet) is one whole, and is recorded in today's and next week's 14 verses of chapter 11, completing at once the 6th Shofar (Trumpet) and the 2nd Woe. The 7th Shofar (Trumpet) which follows, which we'll introduce next week, is then expanded into, and consists of, the 7 Vials or Bowls of Wrath, which indeed speedily prove that there is no more delay, and which in turn bring on the consummation of chapter 19.

The points I am trying to make are these:

• 1. First, this Book is a fully integrated text - it wasn't haphazzardly thrown together by someone making things up as they went along and editing it later to make it fit better - and (which is the second main point),
• 2. This is a multi-dimensional story which, were we able to fully unwrap it and lay it flat on the table, would be considerably longer than 22 chapters of the Book of Revelation!

So let's move into a close exmination of the first two verses which will take us a little while to tease apart for reasons you will presently see, which is why we're dividing this segment into two separate studies:

"Then a measuring rod (light hollow reed) like a staff was given to me. 'Get up', said a voice, 'and measure Elohim's temple (specifically, the 'Holy Place' in the temple), and the altar, and those who are worshipping in it. But leave out the outer court of the temple (Holy Place). Don't measure it. It is given to the nations, and they will trample the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) City (New Jerusalem) for 42 months (3½ years)" (Rev.11:1-2, KNT).

Let's start with the least contentious issue first. The Temple complex, you will remember, consists of three parts:

• 1. The outer Courtyard;

• 2. The Holy [Place] (Heb. qodesh: Gk. Naos); and
• 3. The Most Holy [Place] (or Holy of Holies) (Heb. qodesh qodesh).

In the two references to the "temple" made in verses 1 & 2, the Greek word naos is used which, properly understood, only refers to the 'Holy Place' - the room immediately before the 'Holy of Holies' - and not the Temple as a whole, for which there is another Greek word, hieron. In other words, if you're a Greek primacist, then the 'Holy of Holies' is not made mention of here at all - only the 'Holy Place' and the Outer Court. If you're a Hebraic primacist, then apparently it is the whole temple that is in view. That might be an important difference depending on how you interpret the rest of the first two verses. More on this in a minute.

This brings us to the next important point: what does John mean when he says he was commanded to go around 'measuring' things? Does he mean that in the modern sense of literally - physically - 'to measure' or in some other sense? You see, if I were to ask you to go and measure our house and garden, you'd get a tape-measure (or use a laser beam) to measure the physical dimensions of the place - the length and breath of the building, the floor areas, etc.. You'd bring to me a whole set of physical measurement data so that, for instance, if I'd want do, I could then create an accurate scale model or a set of blueprints or diagrams for a real estate agent's brochure, for instance.

But that can't be the meaning here because John is commanded to 'measure' three different things specifically:

• 1. The Temple;
• 2. The Altar; and
• 3. Those worshipping in the Temple.

Does Yahweh want John to take tailor's measurements of the temple-worshippers - their height, girth, inside leg, etc.? Of course not! Why would any of that be relevent in what is, after all, a spiritual document? If you read Zechariah 2:1-13 you will see that in a parallel fashion it is the entire city of Jerusalem that is being 'measured' prior to judgment and that that has nothing to do with physical measurements. Any why measure the altar for its dimensions when they were already known? Therefore in these first two verses of Revelation 11, those who are being 'measured' are being assessed for judgment, along with what the Temple (or Holy Place) represents. And the reason the altar was measured was to determine whether the worship being offered was authentic or not. You can learn more about what is happening in Matthew 7 but for our purposes what Peter said is adequate for our understanding, so let's take a look at that:

"For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of Elohim (God); and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Besorah (Gospel, Good News) of Elohim (God)?" (1 Peter 4:17-18, NIV).

So the question being asked is: what is the status of the cohenim (priests) inside the Temple (and specifically, the Holy Place, who minister there) and the rest of the children of Israel in the outer court? What is their judgment to be? The Greek text, most interestingly, omits reference to the 'Holy of Holies', where the Ark of the Covenant was located in an unlit, perfectly cuboid room, for a good reason. Why? Well, answer me this question first: who was allowed into the Holy of Holies, and when? The Cohen Gadol or High Priest. How often did he go into that part of the Temple? Once a year at Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement). Why did He enter the Holy of Holies at that time? To receive Yahweh's judgmennt of the Nation of Israel for that year - to determine whether the Covenant still held or whether it had been broken and the nation rejected.

So why would the Greek text only reference the Holy Place? Because in the New Covenant Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is the Eternal Cohen Gadol (High Priest), and He was 'measured' or 'judged' by Yahweh on behalf of the Nation of Israel (us) on the cross when He made atonement for our sins. And He is perpetually flawless, without sin and guiltless. The Holy of Holies never needs to be measured in the New Covenant! Only the Holy Place, that is to say, the New Covenant Melchizedek cohenim (priests) who serve there...and, of course, the Gentile-controlled and -trampled Outer Court where all who profess Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) are permitted to assemble, whatever their spiritual status or degree of sanctification, holy or otherwise, however 'Spirit-filled' (real or imagined) or spiritually regenerated, Torah-abiding or lawless, without regard to 'denomination' or other artificial human category! For they will be measured or assessed, and either retained ot expelled.

So unless you're a Catholic who wrongly believes Christ is recrucified every time the Mass is said, and not 'once and for all' at Calvary as Scripture plainly teaches, you will understand why on this occasion in the Book of Revelation, the Holy of Holies is not to be measured, because all the measuring or judging of the true Cohen Gadol (High Priest), as representative of the nation of Israel as a whole, that ever needed to done was done some 60 years before at the time the Book of Revelation was written by John. Thus the Greek text is the more correct of the two. This means that either the Greek primacists are right or (and this is my view, because of the bulk of evidence on other issues of translation) the Greek translator of the original Aramaic or Hebrew had an ancient source that he utilised which has thus far been undiscovered. In this matter, at least, we have to be honest and concede one point to the Greek primacists pending further concrete evidence. Either way, the King James Version, and (as far as I know) nearly all other English versions since, render naos as temple which is only half true - it should be "the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) Place of the Temple". And you may wonder why.

So, remember, 'measuring' in the Hebraic sense means (to use our Messianic Evangelical vernacular) 'weighing' or spiritually assessing' and those of you who are familiar with our own temple practices in the Chavurat Bekorot (or Holy Melchizedek Priesthood Order) will know that once a year, at Yom haKippurim, each Priesthood member is annually weighed or assessed to determine whether or not he/she is worthy to serve for another year or not, because Yahweh insists on a pure people. A similar practice obtained in the Old Covenant with the Levitical/Aaronic Priesthood. Indeed, you may remember, if a cohen (priest) on duty in the temple fell asleep, he was stripped naked, his clothes burned, and he was sent home completely uncovered, a picture of the loss of spiritual covering!

In other words, weighing for Covenant faithfulness, as Yah'shua (Jesus) was at Calvary, is integral to Gospel stewardship and accountability in the New Covenant of Christ (see Olive Branch 230). It's the means by which the Priesthood is sifted to keep the Messianic Covenant Community pure. Can those of you, then, who know something of our early NCAY history, understand now why we, as a covenant community, were rejected back in 1990, and why we had to start all over again? We didn't meet the Melchizedek priesthood grade...and we still don't.

Indeed - and this I haven't shared with anyone until today as this seems the most appropriate time to do so - on 22 October of this year, I was shown in a prophetic dream that we had been rejected a second time for a lack of holiness! I was shown this building in the spiritual dimension, which is much grander and larger than the modest physical building here at Kadesh-biyqah (our headquarters), and very beautiful. The Enemy had invaded the Courtyard and ripped down the NCAY/MLT lion logo, snapping it in two, and had also torn down the Qodesh la Yahweh or 'Holiness to the Lord' sign too. The Enemy had tried to get into the main building but failed, having built siege works oustide for that purpose which I mentioned to you recently. That means a lot of repenting needs to be done before we can resume our mission! We have been weighed in the balance of holiness once again and found lacking, myself included and especially. I'll talk to you more about this another time as this coming year (2023) will become key to that.

The years 1990 and 2022 stand as testimony of our failure to measure up. One or two of you will remember how 32 years ago the malak (angel) who paced up and down the meeting hall in 1990 during Conference in Bergen, Norway during announcement of the first rejection. We have a third and final chance, though, before the baton is handed over to the next generation. There is one last harvest to be made by my generation and I am determined we shall be found worthy to be its harvesters, before the Final Harvest of the Last Generation. I am resolved, at any rate, even in my increasingly infirm condition, and I pray that you are too. We shall be rededicating ourselves this spring and throughout the year during the festivals for all those who wish to join with us. All that's going on around us in the world - in this Penultimate Judgment - should be a wake-up call!

Once again, in the Book of Revelation, at the end of the æon (age), Yahweh's people as a whole (and not just the wicked) are being measured or judged, as they always have been in the past, to see if they make the grade. That's what John is doing with his measuring rod in verse 1-2 of chapter 11. And what is the measuring stick? Torah, of course - its covenants and commandments - that no tradition-bound doctrinaire Evangelical, Catholic or Eastern Orthodox will ever acknowledge.

Who knew that two verses in the Book of Revelation would resolve that contentious issue once and for all. So mark this well: the Torah is the "measuring rod" of verse 1 and that Torah has now been perfectly incarnated in the living Messiah, Yah'shua (Jesus). And people can cry 'heresy' all they want (and they do, and have done, all my life), but it doesn't alter reality. Is Yah'shua (Jesus) our measuring rod? Of course, no Christian or Messianic would ever deny that, but what they often do deny is what that means practically. So what does it mean? You see, that is where all the denominational difficulties lie because most of them insist, quite vehemently sometimes, on ignoring the obvious implications of this and other passages in the New Testament, and that because they do not love the whole emet (truth) as they profess, just the parts that suit them. You see, the problem is this: each church wants to judge truth subjectively so that they can retain their individual distinctiveness and power-base...control over their members which includes revenue from tithing (invariably misapplied) and other contributions and that because in many quarters of the West, the church has become a business concern.

So, no, we are not allowed to judge subjectively, but we are commanded to "judge righteous judgment" (Jn.7:24, KJV). That is why Paul declared that "the Torah (Law) is qadosh (holy), and the mitzvah (commandment) is qadosh (holy, set-apart), righteous and tov (good)" (Rom.7:12, NIV). So if you're really "filled with the Spirit" and not simply 'filled with spirits' as so many charismatics and others are; if you're not just imagining you are or acting out the part of being 'Spirit-filled' based on your feelings, as millions claim to be, yet wantonly disobey the Torah, then you are disobeying the Living Torah too because the Torah is what enables us to be measured, and to personally measure our discipleship, our faith, and our doctrine in an objective way:

"One who turns away his ear from hearing the Torah (law), even his prayer is an abomination" (Prov.28:9, NKJV).

Interesting too is the fact that the 'measuring rod' was in fact a hollow reed (and so correctly reads in our Norwegian Bible translations) and was very light indeed as opposed to the Hebrew shevet, which we translate as 'staff' too, which was heavier (Ps.74:2; Jer.10:16; 51:19) and was used to literally make physical measurements. One of the best examples of the shevet is to be found being used to measure another temple, this time a new one found in Ezekiel 40:3. Pay close attention and you'll see how Ezekiel did his measuring differently from John using different instruments:

"In visions of Elohim (God) He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city [of Jerusalem]. He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod (shevet) in his hand" (Ezek.40:2-3, NIV).

• 1. Ezekiel had a shevet or heavy, solid measuring rod and John had a hollow reed or light one; and
• 2. Ezekiel also had a "linen cord" (like a tape-measure) whereas John didn't.

Also Ezekiel gives a detailed description of the Temple that was to be offered the exiles in Babylon and Assyria if they would repent, which they didn't, so this conditional prophecy was never fulfilled, nor yet can be (see The 13 Scrolls of Ezekiel) even though Zionist Jews are attempting to, and have already assembled everything for its construction in the modern Jerusalem described as 'Sodom' (as we've just seen - Rev.11:8) and as 'Hagar' the bondwoman (Gal.4:25). Ezekiel is being given a blueprint for a temple to be constructed in the literal Jerusalem of his day but John's temple already exists and is being measured for destruction (cp. Lam.2:8; 2 Ki.21:13; Is.34:11; Amos 7:8-9), at least in parts. This means that the temple being referenced in Revelation 11:1-2 existed when John wrote the Apocalypse which, if our dating is correct, was after the physical Temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed 20+ years earlier in AD 70. Moreover, this temple continues to exist today and is judged in prophetic cycles, the one in today's text being the last and final judgment. It's going through a judgment as we speak, as we did recently!

And this brings us to another major controversy that the Book of Revelation resolves if you will allow it to and not try to superimpose your own views on it. The clue is to be found in the courtyard as compared to the Temple-proper. What does our text today say? It says that the courtyard is trampled by the "gentiles" who for some reason are able to trample the rest of the city of Jerusalem too but not, apparently, the 'Temple' (whether as a whole or just the Holy Place). Now think about this rationally. If this is a literal, physical description, then what we are being asked to believe by the literalists is that a vast army (400 million Red Chinese according to some) besieges and then conquers or 'tramples' Jerusalem underfoot for 3½ years except the Temple building which is somehow transformed into some kind of impregnable fortress which cannot be taken. If that were the unlikely meaning, then you would expect the narrative to incorporate imagery of such an impregnable fortress. It isn't there. Name me any city siege where the whole city is occupied and ravaged for 3½ solid years, let alone one building holding out after such an incredibly long period of time. That is stretching all credulity. When an Enemy conquers a city and goes on the rampage looting, it's all over in day to a week - it doesn't last 3½ years! Come on, let's be resonable! This can only be a spiritual or symbolic description. We'll talk more about this when we come to the Two Witnesses because the Jerusalem they that is described a few verses later on isn't John's spiritual one that is the subject of our discussion today.

We have seen that the mesuring of the Book of Revelation temple is different from that of Ezekiel's but that the measurement of the city is the same as Zechariah's. Desperate though Zionists are that this temple be the one the modern Jews want to build on the Temple mount in modern Jerusalem, John's 'measuring the temple' has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with any physical Jerusalem Temple, or indeed with the the heavenly temple/throne room of chapters 4 and 5 either! This is a description of a third type of 'temple' that we are first introduced to in the New Testament, that Paul speaks extensively about. By the time John was writing - indeed, this was true from very early on in the Messianic Community (Church) - the followers of Yah'shua (Jesus) had been taught to see themselves as the true temple, the place where Elohim (God) now lived through the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit).

What, then, is John commanded to do? To mark out this community with the light reed that I spoke of (because this is about fragile human beings and not stone temple buildings) so that, like in chapter 7, it may be protected against ultimate harm. The temple is the collective Body of Christ. Yet, as we see from today's text, those in the outer court are left vulnerable where they will be trampled or oppressed and killed for 3½ painful years. Only the ones in the Holy Place of the Temple are left untouched and unmolested. And just as Ezekiel's measuring of his visionary Old Covenant stone temple was a way of, on another level, marking out the place where Yahweh was going to come to dwell, so John's marking out this human temple, this New Covenant messianic community (church), is a way of signalling Yahweh's solemn intention to honour and bless this people with His presence.

Why are the people of Elohim (God) divided between the protected Temple and the (apparently) unprotected outer court? I think we can look at this in two complimentary ways. Firstly, the positive one, because throughout the Book of Revelation, the call of Elohim's (God's) people is to bear faithful witness to Yah'shua (Jesus), even though it will mean suffering, and quite possibly a shameful death. The seven letters of chapters 2 and 3 continually promised special rewards to those who 'conquered' or 'overcame'. This meant the people who, in following Yah'shua (Jesus) who Himself achieved victory through His death, were prepared to face martyrdom rather than compromise, something that is unacceptable to nominal Christians and Messianics who love their lives too much. That's the positive sense.

In the negative sense, the outer court contains principally (but not exclusively) the bulk of spiritually-regenerated lawless believers (who refuse to obey Torah) whereas those of the Temple are a small priestly Remnant who do. For as we shall presently see there are two witnesses, not one, and the differece between the ministries of the two explains why the Body of Christ is split into two. This does not mean, though, that everyone in the Outer Court is lawless, just that the bulk who are cannot enter the Holy Place. This does not mean that all who operate in the outer court are lawless. And though the Temple is a kind of 'Noah's ark', in this scenario emmissaries of the Remnant are both sent out to minister to the lawless believers in the courtyard and to bear witness of the emet (truth) to the gentiles and in the process many will bevome martyrs too. So we may not know who is who, and it is probably desirable, for humility's sake, that we do not.

In view of all this, why, then, do many Christians and Messianics still insist that the temple in Revelation 11 is literal? Because, I suspect, in the main, of 2 Thessalonians 2:4 which is clearly an end-time event too:

"Concerning the coming of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Lord Jesus Christ) and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Master has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness (Torahlessness - the Anti-Messiah or Antichrist) is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called Elohim (God) or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in Elohim's (God's) temple, proclaiming himself to be Elohim (God).

"Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness (Torahlessness = Torah-disobedience) is already at work; but the One (Christ) who now holds it back will continue to do so till he (the Anti-Messiah) is taken out of the way. And then the lawless (Torahless) one will be revealed, whom the Master Yah'shua (Lord Jesus) will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendour of His coming. The coming of the lawless (Torahless) one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the emet (truth) and so be saved. For this reason Elohim (God) sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the emet (truth) but have delighted in wickedness" (2 Thess.2:1-12, NIV).

However, this cannot be the temple that John saw in vision simply because the Enemy doesn't trample it - only the Outer Court, and to proclaim himself as Elohim (God) the lawless one would have to be inside the temple-proper, presumably in the Holy of Holies...which he clearly isn't - ever - in John's temple. Therefore, if Paul's temple is literal, it must be one that has been - or will be - built by the descendants of the first century Judeans in the future, or those claiming to be descendants who aren't necessarily so (i.e. modern Zionist Jews and their deceived Zionist Christian supporters), because when Paul wrote his epistles in the 50's the Jerusalem temple had not yet been destroyed by the Romans (in AD 70).

Other problems arise if you believe, as Zionists do, that the 'Jews' and 'Christians' are two separate people of Elohim (God) doing different things, and especially, as I've mentioned, if you believe all the Christians have been 'raptured away' by the time the foretold Book of Revelation events come to pass. In other words, they believe that the times represented by the Book of Revelation are an entirely different dispensation (Yahweh's dealings with a community in a specific period of time) to the Christian one which is supposedly now all 'in heaven'.

These people are called 'Dispensationalists' and certainly dominate in Evangelical Christianity. We are not dispensationalists because we believe:

• 1. There is only ever one people of Elohim (God) at any one time;
• 2. There is no mass evacuation from the earth to heaven or 'rapture' of the kind promoted by the Scofield Reference Bible and believed in by the majority of 'rapturists'; and
• 3. That the final goal of believers isn't 'heaven' where souls are disembodied but back here on earth (otherwise there would be no point in any resurrection) - heaven is but a 'traveller's inn', as it were, on the way to the final destination...a glorified earth.

This is why a correct understanding of other key doctrines is very important to make sense of much of the Book of Revelation. The dispensationalists go further, reinterpreting the two olive trees (that we will talk about next week) but in effect bending the text out of shape in order to make it mean what they want, or expect, it to mean. Indeed, they are forced to contradict the apostle Paul's own very clear teaching that:

"...in Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), you who previously were far [apart] have become near by the blood of Messiah. For He is our shalom (peace), who made the two of them one and loosed the hedge (wall) which stood in the middle [as a partition], and enmity (hostility) (by His flesh and also the Torah, because of commandments in His commands) is abolished, that from the two of them (Judahites and Gentiles) He might create in Himself one new man, and He made shalom (peace)" (Eph.2:13-15, HRV) [1].

In other words, what dispensationalists are in effect saying (which would include Messianic Jews), without perhaps always realising it, is that Elohim (God) re-errects the 'wall of partition' between 'Jew and Genile' so that He can do what He does in the Book of Revelation without tarnishing Gentile believers! In other words, the total echad or oneness between the two groups of people that makes them a single people, undivided in any way by doctrine or practice, must again be torn asunder from being one simple people to two all over again, thus nullifying part of the work of the cross to make one people in Messiah. No, no, no, this is entirely backwards! There aren't two gospels or two plans of salvation. Elohim (God) is not a schizophrenic. There is no such thing as 'Israel' and 'the Church' - there is only Israel into which, as Paul also teaches in Romans 11, all convert Gentiles are adopted by ingrafting. The dispensationalists are, again, in effect, claiming that the two olive trees are separated once again which is accomplished by the Gentile believers being raptured off the earth and the Messianic Judahites (Jews) being forced to remain to go through the tribulations on the earth. I hope you can see how disjunctive such a teaching is with all the other Scriptures on the Body of Christ. I would even say this doctrine denies an essential aspect of the atonement which is that Christ died to bring people together in Him, not to separate them.

I'll not belabour the point but it was essential that we tackle this false teaching head on. I repeat, the 'rapture' is not a mass evacuation of the earth by Gentile believers to avoid persecution but the welcoming committee, as it were, of believers resurrected 'in the twinkling of the eye' on the earth, together with the resurrected 'dead' from heaven returning with Christ who is coming to reign for a thousand years with His - and our - feet back on dear old terra firma (earth), fulfilling the purpose for which the earth was made. What a contrast that is to the even more extreme Advenist belief...a mass of demons living in the ruins of former civilisations, haunting a destroyed, uninhabited world, which would in effect mean Satan gets his former domain back for a thousand years at least.

What I found even more baffling than the evangelical dispensationalist point-of-view is the fact that liberal Christians also essentially take this view...even though they don't believe in the miraculous at all. This is at least the position of the liberal scholars who created the New Interpreter's Study Bible based off the New Resised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible [2] which contains an Excursus that essentially attempts to explain away the 'violent imagery' of the Book of Revelation which is incompatible with the liberals' essentially materialist and pacifist view of Elohim (God) and man. It effectively makes John the exclusive author of Revelation using his imagination (denying revelation and miracles) by creating a collection of fantastic allegories not describing anything literal in particular. There is a sort univeralism about their explanation, though not the kind of conditional universalism that Scripture actually speaks of. It's really hard to sometimes pinpoint what liberals mean as they use a lot of intellectual word salad to get around any kind supernaturalism.

In conclusion, then, we have a dual image in verses 1 & 2 of Revelation 11 of the Messianic Community of Christ essentially being made up of protected and vunerable parts in the Holy Place and the Outer Court, respectively, with some of the occupants of the Holy Place being called to join the vulnerable ones outside to be martyred as witnesses. We dare not claim, then, or over simplfy this duality, saying that one part of this community is 'greater' or 'lesser' than the other for none of us knows what it is that leads believers to end up in the Outer Court to perish at the hands of the Anti-Messiah (Antichrist) and his agents. Since there is no greater love than laying down one's life for one's friend (including, and especially, Christ, of course - Jn.15:13) then in spite of any anti-Torah lawlessness that might be a part of that group, there can be a redemption that comes from such martyrdom. On the other hand, there is a difference between willful disobedience and disobedience in ignorance, because the motives of the heart are different. All of us have blind spots which may never be fully resolved in mortality but we are assured of Yahweh's grace - His undeserved loving-kindness - for those in such a position. So many forces and motives are at play here, with some believers, as Scripture also testifies, getting into the Kingdom by the 'skin of their teeth' (1 Cor.3:12-15).

Next week we shall plunge into the account of the two mysterious witnesses fully armed with important keys of understanding unearthed and assembled today. May the grace of our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) go with you all. Amen.

[1] Be careful of anti-Torah orthodox (Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant) translations of this passage which make out that Torah has been abolished. Stick to the Aramaic original.
[2] M.Eugene Boring, Excursus: Interpreting Revelation's Violent Imagery in The New Interpreter's Study Bible (Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee: 2003), pp.2222-3

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[3] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[4] ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2011)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

I was proofing the text to this sermon two days later, grew very tired, lay down in my room especially dedicated to Yahweh as the 'Holy of Holies' in our home-temple, where I often come to prepare sermons and pray, and fell asleep. I saw a minister, whom I did not recognise, preaching from a pulpit on a large stage in a large, modern church hall. He was suddenly lifted off his feet, and violently thrown through the air to the back of the auditorium where he was impaled on a very large metal clock. I did not see what the time was but it was 11 am where I was in Sweden.

I believe this represents the judgment of false ministers and corrupt politicians who are about to be dramatically deplatformed.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  INTERLUDE I (Ch.7)
  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake I

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months) (1st Woe)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army) (2nd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE II (Ch.10-11)
  (The Malak with the Little Scroll)
  (The Two Witnesses)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake II (3rd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE III (Ch.13-14)
  (The First & Second Beasts)
  (The Lamb & the 144,000)
  (The Messages of the Three Malakim)

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• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

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• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake III, leading to international collapse