Revelation 11 Study Notes

Thērion (beast, animal) was used to refer to any living creature excluding man, but usually wild, undomesticated animals. In mythological imagery, thērion could describe supernatural creatures such as the griffin, the hydra, or a huge dragon.

In the NT, thērion normally refers to undomesticated animals in general (Mk 1:13; Ac 11:6; Ti 1:12; Heb 12:20; Jms 3:7), including a snake (Ac 28:4-5) and particularly dangerous animals (Rv 6:8). However, Dn 7 and most of the occurrences of thērion in Revelation (6:8; 18:2 excepted) reflect the more metaphorical, mythological imagery. Thērion occurs ten times in the Greek OT of Dn 7, where four creatures arise from the sea, understood as four Gentile empires (7:17). Similarly, Revelation uses thērion as: (1) a vivid personification of an ungodly Gentile empire (17:3), (2) the antichrist (11:7; 13:1-4,17; 17:7-8; 19:19), or (3) the false prophet (13:11).

11:14 The second woe of the three predicted in 8:13 has now passed. Since the third woe is coming soon, it apparently is closely related to the seventh trumpet (vv. 15-19, see note there).

11:15-19 The sense of finality in the wording of the seventh . . . trumpet has caused some interpreters to think this is the point of the second coming of Christ and that the following chapters double back and retrace the same ground from a different perspective. In a full-blown “recapitulation” view, it is held that the seals, trumpets, and bowls all speak of the same judgments from different perspectives. Such an approach is not necessary, however, since the seventh trumpet overarches the seven bowls of wrath, with the seventh bowl telescoping all the way to the preparation for the second coming of Christ. This perspective is supported by the fact that the phenomena (lightning, rumblings, thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail) ready to be poured out on the earth related to the seventh trumpet (v. 19) are not actually poured out until the seventh bowl (16:18,21).

11:15 The phrase the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ can be understood as follows. (1) The earthly reign of Christ (20:4-6) has already begun at this point, and chaps. 12-19 is a déjà vu of the first half of the book, until the narrative arrives at another description of the kingdom of our Lord over this world, in 20:4-6. (2) The past tense “has become” speaks of certainty so strong that the future is spoken of in the past tense (i.e., “will certainly become”). (3) What is already true in heaven will come true on earth (“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” Mt 6:10-11a); or (4) the timeless perspective of heaven is different from that of this world (e.g., from the standpoint of heaven, “every creature” in the universe blesses God and the Lamb in Rv 5:13, long before “every knee will bow . . . and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” [Php 2:10-11] at the final judgment [Rv 20:11-15]). Any of the last three explanations is more likely than the first.

11:16-18 On the twenty-four elders, see note at 4:3-4. Lord God . . . who is and who was means the one who not only exists but has existed eternally. You . . . have begun to reign may mean that: (1) the kingdom of God already exists in this world in some sense (1:9), or (2) God’s power to reign in heaven is about to come to earth in the wake of his climactic wrath being displayed in the pouring out of the bowls of wrath (15:1-19:5), immediately after the prelude to that section (chaps. 12-14). The time . . . for the dead to be judged . . ., to give the reward to God’s people (2Co 5:10), and to destroy those who destroy the earth (probably the “earth dwellers”; see notes at 3:10; 6:9-11; 8:13) comes after Christ’s return (20:11-15).

11:19 The ark of the covenant had been in the “holy of holies” in the tabernacle (Ex 40:3) and the temple (1Kg 6:19), which was destroyed by the invading Babylonian army (2Ch 36:19). Now it is seen in the heavenly “holy of holies.”