1Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshippers. 2But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months.”
Revelation 11:1-2
Here are our next two puzzles:
- 4. Measure the temple; yet the measurements of the temple are well known?
- 5. Measure the temple (what part?); but don’t measure the outer court?
What a curious statement to make! This statement represents two parts of the same temple. The way these two parts of Chapter 11 go together is complex and depends on the interpretation of the symbols involved, which is the standard problem with Revelation. We have to begin with the opening section of chapter 11 which we have before us.
John has been given a measuring stick like a rabdos
and told to measure the Temple of God
and the altar
but not to measure the outer court
This very brief instruction leaves us with a number of questions:
- What is the nature of the measuring stick given?
- Why is the kalamos like a rabdos?
- Which temple is to be measured?
- Which altar is to be measured?
- Why leave out the outer court?
These two short verses leave us with a lot of questions we need to resolve, so let’s begin with the measuring stick:
John was given a [κάλαμος] kalamos like a [ῥάβδος] rabdos. These are two interesting words to describe what John was given, along with the instructions which came with them. What is the kalamos? The word [kalamos] is described by a number of words. “reed”, “cane” “staff”, a “measuring rod”, a “stem” or even a “pen”. Apparently it comes from a particular plant, the botannical name of which is ‘arundo donax‘
Arundo donax is a tall perennial cane. It is one of several species of reed. It has several common names including ‘giant cane’, ‘elephant grass’, ‘Spanish cane’, ‘Colorado river reed’ or ‘giant reed’. Arundo and donax are respectively the old Latin and Greek names for this reed. Arundo donax grows in damp swampy soils, which are either fresh or moderately saline, and is native to the greater Middle East but has been introduced to many countries between the tropics (Cancer and Capricorn). This reed or cane grows as high as 6 metres (20 ft) in height, or in ideal conditions can exceed 10 metres (33 ft). The hollow stems are 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter. The grey-green swordlike leaves are 30 to 60 cms long and 2 to 6 centimetres in width with a tapered tip and a hairy tuft at the base. Overall, the plant resembles the large common reed (Phragmites australis) or a bamboo (of the subfamily Bambusoideae). So there you have a comprehensive explanation of this particular plant which is helpful to sort out the confusing list of terms used to describe it.
I hope that helps you; it certainly helps me to get my head around the description related to this reed. The inclusion of a gloss for “pen” or writing instrument left me a little confused but the confusion has gone now. It depends what part of this plant is in use. Like many other words, we have to work out the possible points of comparison first in order to solve a dilemma, as I tell Deeper Bible participants frequently. How can ‘pen’, ‘measuring stick’ and ‘walking staff’ be glosses for the same word? Easy, dependant on which part of the plant you are focused on. Now it is a lot clearer to me and I hope to you.
The text of Revelation 11 has already told us what we need to know. The kalamos is like a rabdos, in other words in the description to John he has been told what point of comparison he should focus on. The rabdos is a “rod”, “staff”, “rod of correction” and a “royal sceptre”. John has been told to take the measuring stick and measure the temple. But we have the hint that this measuring stick can also be a rod of correction and it has royal connections to the sceptre of a king. Ah, now it is coming clearer. How connected to the King are you? To what degree have you allowed God to use His rod of discipline in your life?
I then took these two words [kalamos] and [rabdos] and looked them up in my Greek Concordance. I found quite a list indicating the way both of these words are used in Scripture. For the sake of thoroughness I will give you all I found in summary which is useful to you to gain a complete understanding of the use of these two words for yourself.
Kalamos is found in Matt 117, 1220, 2729-30, 2748 Mark 1519-20, 1536, Luke 724, 3 John 113 , Rev 111, 2115.
Rabdos is found in Matt 1010, Mark 68, Luke 93, 1 Cor 421, Hebrews 18 (where Psalm 456 is quoted) and Hebrews 94, 1121 along with Rev 227, 111, 125,1915.
I have picked out a few indicator verses from those above for your attention.
Kalamos
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?
Matthew 11:7
He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.
Matthew 12:20
They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a sceptre. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it.
Matthew 27:29-20
Rabdos
Which do you choose? Should I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit?
1 Corinthians 4:21
Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a sceptre of justice. [as quoted in Hebrews 1:8] Psalm 45:6
They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.
Revelation 2:27
The primary sense in these verses for both the kalamos and the rabdos is its use as a measuring stick. But it is also clear that the notion of the royal sceptre, the bruised reed and the rod of correction are secondary senses. I think the secondary senses of these two words are extremely relevant to this passage here in Revelation 11 and for the process of measurement or evaluation to follow.
Why is the measuring stick to be used to measure the Temple? Clearly, it is the Temple of God which is to be measured, but why, when the measurements of the Tabernacle and the Temple are clearly spelled out in Exodus and Leviticus and found in numerous passages? Why the request for measurement here? What exactly is to be measured? I think the answer is given at the end of verse 1. “Count the worshippers” as translated in the NLT is not accurate, one verb covers all three. How do you measure the worshippers? The verb [μετρέω] metreō means ‘to measure’, ‘estimate’, ‘allot’ or more correctly “to measure against a set standard”. How do you measure the worshippers apart from count them? That is what John was told to do in this verse. The fully expanded sense of the verb [metreo] is to measure the temple and the altar and those worshipping therein. I am sure that what is intended here is more than simply counting those worshipping. John is one who should know exactly what is meant. After all he was the one who wrote in his gospel, quoting Jesus:
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4:23-24
Gordon Fee suggests that with this passage we should learn to think more theologically rather than in terms of time [or time sequencing as to when these events are going to take place]. The latter is a minor focus in the Letter to the Churches of Revelation. I am convinced that we need to interpret the measuring of the temple at this point, not in terms of the physical dimensions of the Temple of God nor the Tabernacle, but in terms of the worshippers themselves. It’s the people of God, the Holy city who are in focus. “John go and measure them against the pre-determined set of standards.” Measure their love for Me, measure their propensity to remain firm in their belief and trust in Me until the end. Measure their understanding of halal הלל (praise) and chalal חלל (profaning God’s name). Praise we understand and the connection between praise and worship, but profaning God’s name is something we don’t understand so well. Profaning God’s name doesn’t mean necessarily using God or Jesus’ name as a swear word. More to the point the idea is related to treating the name of the LORD commonly, as though it were inconsequential. I would dare to say this covers those who are potentially to be included among the people of God.
Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight. And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.
Amos 7:7-8
Amos talks of the Israelites worshipping the Lord in the sanctuary on the Sabbath and then swindling the people in the market place the next day. We can even treat the name of the Lord commonly in the midst of worship at the “temple / church” while praising the LORD but in the same moment setting our thoughts on the things we plan to do when worship is over.
What does measuring the altar mean and which altar is it? The commentators are divided over the interpretation here. Is it the altar of burnt offering favoured by one group of scholars? Or is it the altar of incense favoured by another group of scholars? If it is the former [altar of burnt offering], the sense is how clearly the worshippers understand justification and righteousness. Do they have the correct understanding of the basis of their salvation and where their righteousness comes from? If the latter [the altar of incense], the sense is related to measuring the quality of their worship. John is then asked to measure the saints on a set standard of measurement.
The third aspect we need to ponder is the significance of leaving out the outer court. The instructions to John , “Do not measure the outer court!” Does the instruction not to measure the outer court have a positive or a negative connotation? In other words, are those from the outer court seen to largely syncretistic and have mixed their belief and trust with other religions and paganism? Or worse, are they in essence people who belong to the world, who are opposed to anything to do with God? The texts here which help us focus are John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 to select two specific verses. Are they following Christ alone and not mixing their beliefs with the paganism of Rome or the ecumenicalism of this modern age? Are these people from the outer court lacking the covering of Christ’s blood and therefore simply lost without hope? Even though they don’t believe at the point John was told not to measure those in the outer court, surely they need to be given a chance of repentance? Does the instruction not to measure suggest they not be evaluated at that time because they would fail the test? Were they not to be evaluated at that time because they would be found to be not worthy? Thus were they being given more time to repent or were they being rejected at that precise moment because God Himself knew they were not worthy?
We also have to give consideration to the bruised and broken reed He will in no wise snuff out as opposed to the unrepentant and obstinate one who belongs to the world and opposes the things of God’s kingdom. I come down firmly on the side of the measurement of the temple being an accurate evaluation as to whether people are true believers and worship in Spirit and in Truth. But in terms of the debate as to whether this passage is primarily negative or positive toward those from the outer court who at this point are not to be measured, I fall on the positive side. But in what way? Positive in the sense that this challenging evaluation is given in the midst of the Pause Point. Other pause points appear to be viewed as Positive (+). In other words God in His long suffering, patience and grace is ever willing to give unbelievers another chance.
But don’t overlook the following Negative (–) passages:
“How long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”
Revelation 6:10
For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”
Revelation 6:17
“Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”
Revelation 8:13
One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. . . . But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:18, 20-21
For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News?
1 Peter 4:17
“Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?” . . . Then he said to me, “These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. . . He who sits on the throne will give them protection.
Revelation 7:13-15
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4:23-24
I am going to track what happens to those from the court of the Gentiles through the rest of Revelation. I am interested to see was this their / our last chance or is there further hope? You have to admit it’s an important question as to when those from the outer court are given their final chance to repent? I really want to know, the answer to that question is relevant to me and those around me.
There are a few more key elements in the text to address before we move on to the next section of Chapter 11:3-14, before the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet.
Do you realise that signs and wonders are not always positive? Sometimes God has to scare you into the Kingdom.
Ian
If we haven’t learned to be worshippers it doesn’t really matter how well we do anything else.
Erwin Lutzer
If God was small enough for us to understand, He wouldn’t be big enough to worship!
Rick Godwin
I’m glad that God is the Judge and we don’t have to make the final decision. Let’s leave it to Him whose thoughts are far above our thoughts and His ways are infinitely higher than ours. After all He is the One who judges justly.
Ian