and if any one wills to injure them, fire goes out of their mouth, and devours their enemies. And if any one wills to injure them, thus must he be killed.
The two witnesses of Revelation 11 prophesy in sackcloth, and this verse says what happens to anyone who tries to stop them. Fire from a prophet's mouth raises two questions: what is this power for, and why does it look nothing like the way God's servants act today?
The fire moves with their speech. What comes out of their mouth is testimony, and judgment travels with it.
The power of judgment comes out of their mouth. That is, their word brings judgment on their enemies, in line with their testimony, to devour those who would stop that testimony. They have great power in this way... This is great power. But they are in sackcloth — in sorrow and suffering. This power is only in their hand when they need it. And it is there only to secure and keep up their testimony, not to set aside the power of the beast itself.
The judgment is not sweeping. It falls on people one by one, and only on those who go from rejecting the message to attacking the messengers.
Death is the certain portion of anyone who wants to harm the witnesses. Some will receive the testimony, and it may be many. Others — by far the greater number — reject the message with pride and scorn. Another group will try to harm the witnesses by violence or slander. Stern judgment falls on this last group. It does not fall on the crowd, but on one person at a time, as the opposition to the witnesses turns violent.
The clause repeats twice for a reason: the attacker dies, the witness lives. God keeps them alive for as long as He wants them speaking.
God is the God of the earth. Though the holy city is trampled down, He has not given up His claim to the earth. So before He makes that claim good in unstoppable power, He keeps His witness going in the face of the enemy. So much so that, for the whole time of their testimony, no one can touch them. It is their attackers who die, not them.
The witnesses carry powers already seen in Israel's history.
Notice here that the power of the two witnesses in Revelation shows itself in two kinds of signs. They shut heaven so that no rain falls, and they bring down fire from heaven; and if anyone wants to harm them, that is how he must be killed. That is Elijah. They strike the earth with every plague as often as they want. That is Moses.
The Lord Himself refused to do this, and rebuked two of His disciples for wanting it.
This shows that it was not true Christian testimony... It was the very thing the Son would not do when He was on earth, and the thing He rebuked James and John for wanting (Luke 9:54-55). Here, instead, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies. That is exactly right when God is about to take the place of Judge on earth. But the Lord does not take that place now. He is saving sinners... It would be foreign to Christianity, and against everything Christianity breathes, if a believer wished the death or injury of someone who opposed him with evil intent. Christianity shows that the victory grace gives us is to show love and kindness to an enemy.
This judgment is not cruelty. It comes after grace has failed to move people, and it aims at something beyond punishment.
This is not the grace of Christianity. It is the ministry of power in the manner of Elijah and Moses. The judgment must come because grace has had no effect, and its outcome will be blessing, for "when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9).
Some push this fire forward to the final judgment at the end of the world. One writer answers that the power belongs to the witnesses now:
Some try to dodge the difficulty of the devouring fire that comes out of them by pointing to the final fiery judgment on God's enemies. But what could be weaker than such excuses? The true and full meaning is judicial power now, ongoing or occasional, against everyone who opposes them: like Elijah's among a people who had turned away from God, and like Moses' among a people oppressed and enslaved by the Gentiles. Their testimony is prophecy, not the gospel, so it is armed with judgment instead of breathing grace.
- Word — the fire comes out of their mouth. Their testimony carries the judgment against those who try to silence them.
- Guard — the power defends them. It secures their witness; it does not topple the beast. Whoever attacks them dies instead.
- Pattern — the signs are Elijah's and Moses': fire and shut heavens, and plagues on the earth.
- Contrast — Christ refused this and rebuked James and John for wanting it. Today the victory grace gives is kindness to an enemy.
- Purpose — judgment comes because grace had no effect, and it ends in blessing. When God's judgments are in the earth, people learn righteousness.
These have power to shut the heaven that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with every plague.
In Revelation 11 two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth, and this verse hands them power over sky, waters and earth. Why does God back their testimony with drought, blood and plagues instead of the mercy heard in the gospel?
Each power named here belongs to a prophet Scripture already knows.
We may note here that the power of the two witnesses in Revelation shows itself in these two kinds of signs. They shut heaven so that no rain falls. They bring down fire from heaven. If anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. That is Elijah. They strike the earth with every plague as often as they wish. That is Moses.
The conditions of Moses' and Elijah's day come back. Israel returns to idolatry and to foreign rule.
In fact, those times match much of what you have in Moses and Elijah. There was idolatry in Israel then, and Elijah gave a remarkable testimony against it. God Himself punished His people, and the sky above them was like brass. So it will be again. The man who then controls Israel's future will turn away from God, and he will allow and enforce idolatry. Israel will again live under the authority of the nations, as they did in the days of Moses. Yet a little remnant will be set apart for God.
The two prophets also addressed different parties:
Elijah witnessed to a people in relation to God; Moses to a hostile power. In this way God would show how He will leave the people among whom the witness is given without excuse.
Some read this chapter as the literal return of those two men.
This does not mean that they are Moses and Elijah themselves. It means that their testimony has a similar character, and that God backs it as He backed the testimony of those two honoured servants long ago.
This kind of power returns when God's people are in disorder. The verse also names three spheres: sky, waters, earth.
Here we find again the power of Elijah and of Moses. It is the proof that God takes up His relationship with His people once more, but in a sovereign way, through prophets as in earlier days — when His people were in Egypt, or cut off from the temple, as in the time of Elijah. This is always what God does when His people are in disorder and He returns to His relationship with them. The witnesses shut the heavens; they have authority over the waters and over the earth. The three things which we have seen to be objects of judgment (chapter 8) are now in their power.
This power has a purpose and a limit.
Verse 6 gives them the same kind and extent of power that Moses and Elijah had. Elijah shut up heaven; Moses turned water to blood and struck Egypt with plagues. To this last there is no limit — every plague whenever they will. This is great power; but they are in sackcloth — in sorrow and suffering. This power is only in their hand in time of need. And it serves only to secure and maintain their testimony, not to set aside the power of the beast itself.
This way of working would be out of place in the Christian's calling today.
How useless to apply all this to witnessing Christians, in the West or the East, earlier or later! In practice their calling was not to resist evil, to love their enemies, to bless those who cursed them, to do good to those who hated them, and to pray for their persecutors. And the Lord Himself showed the pattern for this calling: their heavenly Father. He does not shut heaven so that no rain falls. He does the opposite, and sends rain in mercy on just and unjust alike, with no distinction between them.
Yet judgment is not the end of God's purpose.
This is not the grace of Christianity. It is the ministry of power in the manner of Elijah and of Moses. This judgment must come because grace has proved ineffective. And its outcome will be blessing, for "when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isaiah 26:9).
- Two powers. Shutting heaven is Elijah's sign. Turning water to blood and sending plagues is Moses' sign. One testimony carries both.
- Two targets. Elijah spoke to a people in relation to God. Moses confronted a hostile power. Together they leave the hearers without excuse.
- Two men, not returned. The likeness is in the character and backing of the testimony, not in the identity of the witnesses.
- Power fenced in. The plagues fall as often as the witnesses choose. But the power is there to guard their testimony, not to remove the beast. They wear sackcloth while they hold it.
- Power for a different day. The believer's calling now is to bless enemies and mirror a Father who sends rain on just and unjust. Judgment comes in that day only because grace has proved ineffective. Its end is that the world learns righteousness.