Nothing Makes Jesus Angrier...
“Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar and count the number of worshipers. 2 But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months.” – REVELATION 11:1, 2. NLT
The measuring Rod recalls Ezekiel 40 – 43. This temple was never built when they returned from captivity in Babylon (Where Ezekiel received his visions.)
Take a moment to remember that the chapter divisions of the Bible are not original, but were added a long time after the Bible was written. They sometimes hinder rather than help our understanding. The division between chapters 10 and 11 is a good example. In Rev 11:1 John continues interacting with the angel of Revelation 10, but that connection can be lost if one focused on the chapter division instead of the continuing nature of the story.
The first part of chapter 11 (1-13) is a continuation of the scene in 10:8-11. Although the mighty angel and the scroll seem to fade from view, John continues to interact with either the “voice from heaven” (10:4, 8) or the angel of the scroll (10:1-7, 9-10). This passage is still a part of the sixth trumpet which covers the period from the end of Daniel’s prophecies to the close of probation. This is also the gathering time for the battle of Armageddon (cf. 9:13- 21 and 16:1-16). It is the message that is to be prophesied to all the nations (10:11) and the bitterness that all will experience when giving it (10:9-10).
There are important connections between chapters 10 and 11 (1-13): John; the voice from heaven; peoples, nations and languages; verbs like stand, give, eat and fulfill; nouns like mouth, voice, cloud and foot; and last but not least, prophets and prophesying. There is also a connection between this passage and the sixth trumpet passage of 9:13-21. In both places fire comes from the mouth(s). There are common words like angel, harm, kill, worship, see, power, altar, remnant and plague. So the story of the two witnesses is a clear counterpart to the woes of the sixth trumpet.
In Revelation 10:11 John was told, “You must prophesy again to many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
The important word in this text is ‘again.’ The message John has prophesied throughout the book of Revelation is that Jesus is returning. The message of the interdenominational cohort of preachers (spearheaded by the Baptist preacher William Miller) prior to 1844 was that Jesus was returning. Christ had made it clear that there was to be no time-setting for His return. With a loud voice we are to proclaim THAT WE ARE LIVING IN THE TIME OF THE END. The final events are taking place, and soon Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven with the angelic host to gather His people.
Revelation 11:1-2 pictures the measuring of the old temple (which didn’t exist in John’s day because it had been destroyed in AD 70). The Jerusalem temple was magnificently huge. Gentiles were free to circulate around the outermost courtyard (the word translated “nations” in the NLT is also the word for Gentiles). But close to the temple building itself a stone fence was clearly marked, “Any Gentile passing beyond this point will be responsible for his own death, which will surely follow.” It didn’t take long to figure out that Gentiles’ access to the God of this temple was extremely limited.
Inside the Gentile barricade was the Court of the Women. All Jews were welcome here, but that was as far as Jewish women got. Only Jewish men could enter the innermost court in front of the temple building itself. Even Jewish men had their limitations. Only priests could enter the temple building itself, and even they were not permitted to enter the innermost room of the temple, the Holy of Holies. That could be entered only once a year by the High Priest and by him alone.
These levels of access taught important lessons about the holiness of God and the barriers that sin creates between God and the human race. Relationship with God is not a “buddy up” sort of thing for human beings. We must approach Him with the humility that is appropriate to sinners. There is no room for arrogance in our relationship with God.
Amazingly enough, these lessons in humility were often distorted into arrogance. People interpreted their right to closer entrance as a license to think of themselves as superior to others. To make matters even worse, in Jesus’ day the one part of the temple that Gentiles could enter was defiled by a cruel and greedy marketplace. Jesus reacted to the situation with fury, casting the sellers and money changers out of the Court of the Gentiles.
Nothing makes Jesus angrier than when well-meaning religious people set up unnecessary barriers to others who want to come to Him.