First 42 Gentile Months: Transformation from Holy City to Sodom and Desecration
The temple here is the one on Earth because of the language used to describe it; the temple in heaven has a totally different setting.
The KJV/TR includes καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος εἱστήκει — "and the angel stood, saying"; the critical text reads only λέγων — "saying" — with no angel named.
Re 11:2, Re 11:8 — The city is called "holy" here, but when the two witnesses die, it is called "Sodom." That shift from holy to unholy supports placing the 1260 days and 42 months at the beginning of the 7 years, not at the end. If this were the end, the change would be the opposite—from unholy to holy—as Jesus takes the city at the end of the tribulation. There are many other supporting proofs for this timing, but this is sufficient for this context.
Re 11:2, Re 20:9
Re 11:2, Re 13:5 — 42 months is always related to the "nations". When we see the sea beast having a time of 42 months, it indicates he is Gentile, that is, of the nations.
1260 Days Start: The Two Witnesses
Important Note: The two witnesses are saints whose overpowering words of prophecy burn up anyone who tries to harm them (Jeremiah 5:14).
When we read “I will give unto my two witnesses,” the expression can feel incomplete in English, since no direct object is stated. While English translations often supply “power” or “authority,” no such word appears in the Greek. Rather, the construction leaves the gift undefined and immediately connects it to the result, “and they will prophesy.” This suggests that what is given pertains to their prophetic commission, without specifying its exact nature. The idea that the witnesses themselves are the gift is not really grammatically possible and contextually unlikely, since they are presented as the recipients of the giving, not its content.
Re 11:3, Re 11:9
Zechariah 4, Re 11:3, Re 11:9
Re 11:3, Re 12:6 — The 1260 days refer to the first half of the 7 years.
The Beast Wages War Against the Two Witnesses
Re 11:7, Re 16:13 — 16:13 is the place where the sea beast is referred to simply as "the beast," since the other figures are identified by name: the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. This makes it most likely that "the beast" in 11:7 refers to the sea beast. If so, it also connects the sea beast with the ascent from the bottomless pit, even though the text does not explicitly describe him as emerging from the pit by means of the key, as it does in the other passages.
Re 11:7, Re 13:7
In Isaiah 13:19-20, God compares the destruction of Babylon to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; this may create a link between Jerusalem, Babylon, and Sodom, as both Jerusalem and Babylon are compared to Sodom in scripture.
The KJV/TR reads "our Lord"; the critical text reads ὁ κύριος αὐτῶν — "their Lord" — the pronoun answering to the two witnesses whose bodies lie in her street.
Re 11:8, Re 14:20, Re 16:19 — Named as Jerusalem in location, but there are many locations of Babylon, like Mesopotamia, Sodom, Egypt, and in Revelation 17, a mystery location. All Babylons are the center of power of man. Do not confuse this Jerusalem Babylon, where the Sea Beast rules, with Mystery Babylon. We know Jerusalem is where Jesus was crucified, so this Babylon is NOT a mystery.
Re 11:8, Re 16:19, Re 17:18, Re 18:10, Re 18:16, Re 18:18, Re 18:19 — The phrase “the great city” (ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη) appears to function as a theologically loaded designation in Revelation, used predominantly for Babylon (Rev 17:18, 18:10, 18:16, 18:18, 18:19), yet applied to Jerusalem in Revelation 11:8—“where also our Lord was crucified.” In that context, Jerusalem is “spiritually” called Sodom and Egypt, indicating a transformation from its identity as the “holy city” (Rev 11:2) into one aligned with paradigmatic centers of rebellion and judgment. This suggests that Revelation is not using the term merely geographically, but associating it with a city’s spiritual condition and opposition to God.
Because Revelation 17:18 defines “the great city” as the one that “reigneth over the kings of the earth,” it may be inferred that the designation corresponds to a center of dominant, God-opposing power. When read alongside Revelation 11:8, this raises the possibility that Jerusalem, in its corrupted state and in connection with the rise of the beast, temporarily participates in that same category (it is possible to infer from Daniel 11:45 and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that Jerusalem becomes a focal point of the final ruler’s activity). However, while this pattern allows for a typological relationship—because Babylon is “the great city”—the text does not explicitly state that the title transfers sequentially or that Jerusalem becomes identical with “Mystery Babylon.” Thus, “the great city” may function as a theological marker for a ruling, rebellious center.
As for Revelation 16:19, also marked as "the great city," it does not automatically become Jerusalem or Mystery Babylon; such a claim must remain a reasoned inference drawn from the book’s patterned language rather than an explicit textual claim. And as it is not likely Mystery Babylon for numerous reasons, it very well could be Jerusalem as the ruling city of the sea beast.
Re 11:2, Re 11:8
Re 11:3, Re 11:9 — Same ratio of days in years to their time of witness.
The Two Witnesses Ascend
The ascension of the two witnesses is not connected to a catching up of the church on its own; this ascension is a catching up of the two witnesses alone based on the text.
Note that the ascension of the two witnesses occurs after their resurrected physical bodies stand on their feet. This means heaven is able to receive resurrected bodies, not only the spirits of the dead. That detail is important because it may indicate that other resurrected bodies can also be present in heaven, possibly even before the first resurrection in Revelation 20.
Re 4:1, Re 11:12 — Jesus used the same words before.
Surprising Glory Given to God
Important Note: No other group in Revelation gives glory to God except those who honor God, such as the saints, the 24 elders, the 4 beasts, the angels, and the 144,000. So this "remnant" or "rest" is very interesting and elicits the question: who are they? Why? Because they give God glory. Those who reject Jesus seem to always be unrepentant when plagues strike; they give gifts when the two witnesses die. If this is a general group and not the 144,000, it is striking and likely points to that general group repenting. Again, a shocking moment in Revelation, and likely pointing out the magnitude of the impact of this moment.
The Seventh Trumpet: Voices, Thunders, Lightnings, & Earthquake
Linear Scene 1.4: Picking back up at Trumpet 7 from Trumpet 6. This is also the 7th angel's voice in Revelation 10. We are now in the final days, at the end of "time" (KJV) or "season" (ESV). Also, when a woe ends, it is not saying that the immediately prior section of text was the woe plague; it is just making sure it is clear that we know the next plague is starting. Thus, "Temple Built and First 42 Gentile Months" are not part of the second woe; only the 200,000,000 army. This moment will pick back up again in Revelation 15, when "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened".
Revelation 11 cannot flow directly into chapters 12–13, because in 11:15 the kingdoms of this world are declared to have become Christ's, yet in chapter 13 the sea beast is still permitted to conquer the saints. These two realities cannot occupy the same narrative moment. Moreover, "the kingdoms of the world" in chapter 11 does not correspond to "the kingdom of our God" in chapter 12, which refers to heavenly authority during the war in heaven, not earthly rule. While themes overlap, the details mark a clear transition in both time and perspective. Chapter 11 resolves forward into chapter 15, not into chapters 12–14, which function parenthetically and shift the reader backward in scope and context.
Finally, each time a plague is introduced in Revelation, its description remains brief, direct, and thematically contained. This pattern holds true for the seals, the trumpets, and the vials alike. When the narrative expands beyond those defined parameters, it signals that the plague itself has concluded and the text has transitioned to new material. For this reason, the material in chapter 10 and the account of the two witnesses cannot properly be considered part of the second woe. The second woe is confined to the judgment of the two hundred million horsemen described in Revelation 9; the extended narrative that follows serves a different structural purpose within the book.
Not speaking of heaven, the kingdom of God; this is not a link to 12:10. This is about the earth.
Season of waiting for judgment ends.
Re 10:7, Re 11:15
Re 11:15, Re 14:15, Daniel 7:13-14
Re 11:15, Re 10:7, Re 14:16, Re 15:2 — When the 7th trumpet blows as the messenger begins to sound (Revelation 11:15), the mystery of God will be finished (Revelation 10:7). At that exact moment, Revelation takes us to chapter 15:2, and we see saints standing on the sea of glass. This also corresponds to the reaping in Revelation 14:16.
Re 7:11, Re 11:16 — In Revelation 7:11, the ones who fall on their faces are grammatically “all the messengers”: πάντες οἱ ἄγγελοι … καὶ ἔπεσαν … καὶ προσεκύνησαν (“all the messengers … and they fell … and worshiped”). The elders and the four living creatures are in the genitive case, τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων, because they belong to the phrase κύκλῳ τοῦ θρόνου καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καὶ τῶν τεσσάρων ζῴων — “around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.” They are not the grammatical subject of ἔπεσαν in this verse. This differs from Revelation 11:16, where οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι — “the twenty-four elders” — are the nominative subject, and the text explicitly says ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ θεῷ, “they fell on their faces and worshiped God.” Thus, a similar action appears in both passages, but the grammatical subject differs: in 7:11, it is the messengers; in 11:16, it is the elders.
The KJV/TR includes a third clause in the title, "and art to come" (ὁ ἐρχόμενος); the critical text reads only "who is and who was" (ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν). The shorter reading fits the verse's own announcement: He has taken His great might and has begun to reign — the "is to come" is no longer awaited. The same shortening appears at 16:5, deep in the judgments. The full three-part title belongs to the season before the arrival (1:4; 1:8; 4:8).
The phrase "destroy them which destroy" gives the feeling of bringing upon those who do evil the evil they deliver. That is, a balanced justice coming from God.
The word used for “time” here is καιρός. In Revelation, καιρός is used in a general and somewhat flexible sense ("the time is near" 1:3 and 22:10, "a short time" 12:12, and "for a time and times and half a time" 12:14); it does not necessarily mean something is happening immediately or at that exact moment. Rather, it refers to a season or appointed span of time that is near, though its precise timing remains somewhat open or undefined. It conveys nearness without strict immediacy. For example, we might say “Christmas is here” on December 1st—not because the day itself has arrived, but because the season has begun and its fulfillment is approaching on the 25th.
ἦλθεν should not be pressed to mean that the wrath and judgment are already completed in full (which the NASB might project). In this context, the force is better understood as “arrival”: “Your wrath has come,” that is, the appointed time has now come. This is confirmed by the following phrase, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι, “and the time for the dead to be judged.” The verse, therefore, announces the arrival of the divinely appointed season for judgment, reward, and destruction, not necessarily the completion of every act of judgment at the moment of the announcement.
Re 11:18, Re 12:17 — Only the nations here and the Dragon are described as being enraged (ὀργίζω).
Re 6:10, Re 11:18 — The phrase ὁ καιρὸς τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι means “the time for the dead to be judged.” Yet in biblical judicial language, “to be judged” does not necessarily mean “to be condemned.” Judgment may include a verdict rendered in favor of the righteous. In Revelation 11:18, this is shown by the following clauses: God gives reward to His servants, prophets, saints, and those who fear His name, while destroying those who destroy the earth. Thus, the righteous dead may be said to “be judged” in the sense that God renders judgment on their behalf, vindicating them and answering the cry for justice in Revelation 6:10.
Re 11:18, Re 20:12-13
Re 11:18, Re 22:12 — μισθός — Reward — these are the only two places this word is used.
Re 10:7, Re 11:18 — τοῖς δούλοις σου τοῖς προφήταις — Thy servants the prophets.
Re 11:18, Re 19:5 — Referring to the same group.
Re 11:19, Re 15:5 — The time the temple opens in heaven and the ark is seen marks when chapters 11 and 15 synchronize. This strongly indicates the reaping of saints in the tribulation.
Parenthetical Scene 3: In Revelation 10:11, John is told that, even though the 7th angel will mark the final days, there are still more details before time ends. He is then taken and hears about the 42 months and 1260 days. The temple and two witnesses appear at the start of the 1260 days. Each time we see 1260 days, it marks the start of the 7-year period. And when we see 42 months, it is designated to the Gentiles. Here, we see that the temple is likely already built before the 7 years of great tribulation begin, because the temple is being measured.
The main point of this parenthetical scene appears to be an indication that when the two witnesses are slain, the city—once called “the holy city” (Rev. 11:2)—is described spiritually as “Sodom and Egypt” (11:8). That moral transformation corresponds naturally with the period in Revelation 13 in which the beast is worshiped and exercises authority for forty-two months (13:5, 8). The shift from holiness to open blasphemy aligns thematically with the rise of beastly dominion. Moreover, this pattern harmonizes with the prophecy of the Book of Daniel, where the sanctuary is profaned during the climactic period of oppression (Daniel 7:25; 9:27; 12:7). Daniel speaks of a “time and times and the dividing of time” (12:7), linked with the shattering of the holy people and the desecration of what is sacred. This places the two witnesses at the start of the 7-year period and makes Revelation 12-13 the broader, full 7-year timeframe for those events.
Important Note: The time counts in this chapter should be understood as overlapping, not added together — the 42 months (11:2) and the 1260 days (11:3) are mentioned together and relate to the same timing, covering the same first half. The seven-year total comes from this first 42 months joined to the beast's second 42 months (13:5) — you can read more about this in the articles on this site.