Big Idea: God calls his people to faithful witness, leading to hostility from the world but ultimately resulting in vindication by God.

Understanding the Text

The interlude of 10:1–11:13 speaks to the situation of God’s people in this world. The first part of the interlude features the recommissioning of John to continue his prophetic ministry (10:1–11), a ministry that extends to the entire church in the second vision of the interlude: the two witnesses (11:1–13).1This second vision has two parts: 11:1–2 and 11:3–13. Against the backdrop of Ezekiel’s measuring of the temple in Ezekiel 40–42, John too is called to measure the temple in 11:1–2. But unlike Ezekiel, John is commanded not to measure the outer court, which represents the church in the world where it is vulnerable to persecu…