“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months” (Revelation 11:2).

By the time John receives this vision, Jerusalem has been sacked and the Herodian temple destroyed. Continuing with the wonderful typological themes in this interlude, God’s church is symbolized by this temple (naon). The figurative language directs our thinking to a time far into the future when this is applicable. When is that? Revelation 1 (1-3, 6-7) introduced us to the period to which this apocalyptic book (the whole book!) applies.

•    Show things which must shortly come to pass (in the context of the unfolding events described) (vs 1)

•    Time is at hand (in the context of the unfolding events described) (vs 3)

•    Behold, he cometh with clouds (Revelation is event-driven within the time framework of the eschaton) (vs 7)

Our attention is drawn to God’s church – at the end of time.

The temple was surrounded by two main courtyards called an “outer” and an “inner” court. The two times Christ cleansed the temple it was the “outer” courtyard where unholy trafficking had occurred. In Solomon’s, Ezekiel’s and Herod’s temples, the sanctuary, inner and outer courts, were all considered sacred, belonging to God.

Herod, who helped build and embellish the last temple the Jews would ever have, divided the inner court into a court for priests, another for the Jews in general and one for women. In Christ’s day those three inner courts were off limits to Gentiles (anyone not Jewish). But the outer court was open to all. It was colloquially called the Court of the Gentiles. This verse relates to that court. In turn, Gentiles in prophecy are symbolic of those who have not become part of God’s church. It can also refer to wicked nations or the world as an evil place. To Jesus, these people were a vast mission field yet to be worked.

“In the temple at Jerusalem a low wall separated the outer court from all other portions of the sacred building. Upon this wall were inscriptions in different languages, stating that none but Jews were allowed to pass this boundary. Had a Gentile presumed to enter the inner enclosure, he would have desecrated the temple, and would have paid the penalty with his life. But Jesus, the originator of the temple and its service, drew the Gentiles to Him by the tie of human sympathy, while His divine grace brought to them the salvation which the Jews rejected.”[1]

A deeper spiritual meaning from this imagery comes from Paul: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:19).

“All who are partakers of the divine nature will realize that the Holy Spirit works with them, taking the truth from the sacred Word, where Christ has placed it, and stamping it upon the soul. But we are in great peril of keeping the truth in the outer court, neglecting to bring it into the sanctuary of the soul. Earnestly and solemnly we should prepare ourselves for the cleansing of the soul-temple, remembering that we are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. This work, when thoroughly done, will cleanse the heart from all disunion, all strife, all desire for the supremacy.–Ms 14, 1901, pp. 1, 2, 21; Feb. 21, 1901.”[2]

John’s instructions – the counsel to the 144,000, God’s remnant: Don’t worry about the outer court. All those who make up the ‘inner temple’ is what your attention should be on.” The judgment of the wicked represented here by the outer court of the Gentiles will come later. The picture is one of exclusion from God’s favor. Two classes are emerging. That, in turn, fulfills an end-time prediction (Daniel 12:10, Matthew 25:32).

“In the typical service only those who had come before God with confession and repentance, and whose sins, through the blood of the sin offering, were transferred to the sanctuary, had a part in the service of the Day of Atonement. So in the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes place at a later period. ‘Judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel?’ 1 Peter 4:17.”[3]

We can see that expositor White also understood and portrayed accurately how God’s people are set apart through these divine decrees given to John. Now, another dramatic issue is introduced. Those outer court Gentiles, representing the wicked, persecute God’s people, who are represented here also as “the holy city.”

The word for “Gentiles” (ethnesin) is interpreted elsewhere as “nations” and seems to encompass the whole world in its broadest sense. John was just told that he must prophesy again before many peoples and “nations.” In its simplistic view, it represents all non-Jews; in a greater sense, all those who oppose God’s people, especially at the end of time. In this larger view, the whole wicked world is involved in hurting God’s remnant few.

The wicked are described another way in Revelation: “those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14; 17:2).

There is an important link between “Gentiles,” “tread underfoot,” “holy city” and “forty-two months.”

Holy City Persecuted by Gentiles

(tread underfoot)

42 Months

This is a very fascinating message. Jesus said of Himself: “The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men ... [then] he shall rise” (Mark 9:31). He suffered for three and a half years from His own people. God’s people are delivered here into oppressive hands. They, too, will suffer. How long? Forty-two months or three and a half years! Isn’t that amazing! Later in the chapter they “will rise” to heaven at Christ’s return (11:12). What hope! What amazing imagery.

Within the context of this persecution, “tread underfoot,” it implies that the saints who are measured, judged and chosen will spiritually withstand these ultimate trials. God’s ruling power has infiltrated their hearts. They have irrevocably adopted the principles of the heavenly kingdom. One can almost hear the concluding response of Jesus: “I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name” (Revelation 3:12). This ties together such beautiful language and promises us that we will be restored into the family of God.

“If we can bear persecution for His dear name’s sake, His love becomes a ruling power in our hearts, for we have the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Never is the tempest-tried soul more dearly loved by his Saviour than when he is suffering reproach for the truth’s sake. When for the truth’s sake the believer stands at the bar of unrighteous tribunals, Christ stands by his side. All the reproaches that fall upon the human believer fall upon Christ in the person of His saints. ‘I will love him,’ said Christ, ‘and will manifest myself to him’ (John 14:21). Christ is condemned over again in the person of His believing disciples. When for the truth’s sake the believer is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ manifests Himself to him and ravishes his heart with His love. When he suffers death for the sake of Christ, Christ says to him, They may kill the body, but they cannot hurt the soul. ‘Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33).

“The apostle says to us, ‘... If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.’ Ask yourself, ‘Is my Redeemer thus magnified in me before the universe of heaven, before the satanic agencies, and before the world?’”[4]

As with the Assyrians of old, in the end the judgments of God are turned against the oppressor and will “tread” them “underfoot” (Isaiah 14:24-28, Zechariah 12:9). There are timing and functioning parallels between this verse and the “little horn” trampling the “host of heaven” (God’s people) in Daniel 8:9-10. This, in turn, ties to the “holy people” being “scattered” for a “time, times, and an half” of Daniel 12:7 (cf. Daniel 11:33-35). They all speak of the same time.

Another image of persecution that templates right over this period is from the sea-beast of Revelation 13: “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:5-7).

Jesus spoke about this time in Luke 21:24: “And they [God’s people] shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem [God’s people] shall be trodden down of the Gentiles [wicked], until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Those who will spend eternity with Jesus must prove their loyalty “even unto blood” (Hebrews 12:4).

The universe becomes a witness to the evil and violence of the unfettered wicked in this last period of time. It will also (and this is so personal) show how you relate, react and feel about Jesus under ultimate adversity, just as it did when our Savior went through the agony of a mock legal process and then the Cross.

This is why John noticed at first the sweetness of the “little book.” The unsealed truths he grasped were wonderful and brought the deepest satisfaction. But it was followed by a bitter experience.

The “forty-two months” duration of this experience ties to the “forty-two months” of Revelation 13:5. That, in turn, represents the same time period of “1260 days” in Revelation 11:3 and the “time, times, and a half time” of Revelation12:14 and Daniel 12:7. All of these represent the same declared period that Habakkuk and Daniel called the “appointed time,” when the gospel work will also be finished – during which God’s people will suffer persecution: “and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood” (Daniel 9:26).

“In [Daniel] 12:7 the number refers to the time before the ‘accomplishment’ of the eschaton; and in 12:11-12 it refers to the time between the setting up of the ‘abomination that causes desolation’ and the eschaton. Therefore, the period refers to [a] limited time in which God allows the antichrist and his followers to triumph (see also Rev. 13:5-8) and the people of God to be persecuted and martyred.”[5]

Measuring the church is a variant expression of setting it apart or sealing it. “Trampling underfoot” is an alternative expression for the time of tribulation. Here a great paradox is presented. God’s people will be spiritually preserved. But their physical being is yet subject to even martyrdom. Mentally, they will experience anguish.

Does this sound unfair? Does your heart question how a loving Jesus would even think of letting His friends suffer? It’s an end-time must. He needs to see who really are His friends. Our response in difficult trials and extremely painful times reveals just that. It is one of the final acts in the drama involving everyone before He returns. One of the 24 heavenly elders who experienced all this talked with John about the great multitude standing before the throne. Note what he said: “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). Before the crown comes the cross. No matter how difficult the path, multitudes will be near who refuse to succeed their friendship with Jesus.

One is reminded of a similar irony that Paul gave: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.... For they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure; but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:1-6, 10).

“Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal their testimony with their blood as did the martyrs before them. They themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry unto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard: ‘Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed His people?’ But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon Calvary’s cross and the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery: ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.’ Matthew 27:42. Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease not their earnest intercession.

“Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold companies of angels that excel in strength stationed about those who have kept the word of Christ’s patience. With sympathizing tenderness, angels have witnessed their distress and have heard their prayers. They are waiting the word of their Commander to snatch them from their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The people of God must drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism. The very delay, so painful to them, is the best answer to their petitions. As they endeavor to wait trustingly for the Lord to work they are led to exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have been too little exercised during their religious experience. Yet for the elect’s sake the time of trouble will be shortened. ‘Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him? ... I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.’ Luke 18:7, 8. The end will come more quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires of destruction.”[6]

We are now going to embark on an information journey of how the gospel will go to the world in its last three and a half years. The narration will follow a similar story of Christ’s three and a half year ministry (John 15:20) of proclaiming truths, giving signs and with satanic opposition, persecution and martyrdom in the “city where Christ was crucified.”

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