11:1 有一根葦子賜給我,當作量度的杖;且有話說:「起來!將上帝的殿和祭壇,並在殿中禮拜的人都量一量。
11:2 只是殿外的院子要留下不用量,因為這是給了外邦人的;他們要踐踏聖城四十二個月。
11:3 我要使我那兩個見證人,穿著毛衣,傳道一千二百六十天。」
11:4 他們就是那兩棵橄欖樹,兩個燈臺,立在世界之主面前的。
11:5 若有人想要害他們,就有火從他們口中出來,燒滅仇敵。凡想要害他們的都必這樣被殺。
11:6 這二人有權柄,在他們傳道的日子叫天閉塞不下雨;又有權柄叫水變為血,並且能隨時隨意用各樣的災殃攻擊世界。
11:7 他們作完見證的時候,那從無底坑裡上來的獸必與他們交戰,並且得勝,把他們殺了。
11:8 他們的屍首就倒在大城裡的街上;這城按著靈意叫所多瑪,又叫埃及,就是他們的主釘十字架之處。
11:9 從各民、各族、各方、各國中,有人觀看他們的屍首三天半,又不許把屍首放在墳墓裡。
11:10 住在地上的人就為他們歡喜快樂,互相餽送禮物,因這兩位先知曾叫住在地上的人受痛苦。
11:11 過了這三天半,有生氣從上帝那裡進入他們裡面,他們就站起來;看見他們的人甚是害怕。
11:12 兩位先知聽見有大聲音從天上來,對他們說:「上到這裡來。」他們就駕著雲上了天,他們的仇敵也看見了。
11:13 正在那時候,地大震動,城就倒塌了十分之一,因地震而死的有七千人;其餘的都恐懼,歸榮耀給天上的上帝。
11:14 第二樣災禍過去,第三樣災禍快到了。
Then I was given a measuring rod like a
staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and
those who worship there, but do not
measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to
the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
These are the two olive trees and the two
lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours
from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is
how he is doomed to be killed. They have
the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their
prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to
strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony,
the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer
them and kill them, and their dead
bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called
Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the
peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and
refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,
and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry
and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those
who dwell on the earth. But after the
three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up
on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a
loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to
heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great
earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in
the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of
heaven.
The
second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
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從這段經文中看見人性的罪惡,使得世人也不能容許上帝的僕人,視上帝的僕人為禍害,為著他們被邪惡的勢力所打敗而歡呼。然而上帝卻為他們伸冤,讓他們復活被提,然後降災於世界。
可見基督徒在世上必定會遭受非基督徒的厭棄,所以基督徒要有被討厭的勇氣,敢活的與世界不同生活與生命,情願要討上帝的喜歡,而不討人的喜歡。情願為上帝而活,不為世界而活。
當然被人厭棄是一時,蒙上帝喜悅卻是永恆!