Which Old Testament prophecies connect with the events in Revelation 11:2? Setting the Scene “Exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” (Revelation 11:2) This verse introduces three ideas that invite Old Testament comparison: • measuring the temple precincts • Gentile trampling of Jerusalem • a 42-month (3½-year) time span Old Testament Echoes of Measuring • Ezekiel 40:3-5 – “I saw a man… with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand… He measured the wall…” – Ezekiel’s heavenly “blueprint” anticipates a future, literal temple and resonates with John’s commission to measure the inner areas only. • Zechariah 2:1-2 – “I saw a man with a measuring line… ‘To measure Jerusalem…’ ” – Zechariah’s vision promises ultimate protection for Jerusalem; Revelation shows partial, temporary exclusion of the outer court, hinting at unfinished business before final security arrives. Trampling by the Nations: Prophetic Background • Psalm 79:1 – “The nations have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple; they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.” • Isaiah 63:18 – “For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place; but now our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.” • Micah 3:12 – “Zion will be plowed like a field… the temple mount a wooded ridge.” • Daniel 8:13 – “How long… so that the holy place and the host will be trampled?” • Zechariah 14:2 – “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem… the city will be captured…” • Joel 3:17 – “Jerusalem will be holy, never again will strangers pass through her.” Revelation 11:2 fits this stream of prophecy by describing one last period when Gentile powers occupy and desecrate Jerusalem before the Lord’s final intervention. The 42-Month / 1,260-Day / 3½-Year Pattern Old Testament prophecies lay down the identical timetable that Revelation picks up: • Daniel 7:25 – “The saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.” • Daniel 12:7 – “It will be for a time, times, and half a time; when the power of the holy people has been finally shattered…” • Daniel 9:27 – Antichrist breaks his covenant “in the middle of the week” (after 3½ years). John translates Daniel’s “time, times, and half a time” into 1,260 days (Revelation 12:6) and 42 months (Revelation 11:2; 13:5), confirming that both Testaments speak of the same literal span. Putting the Threads Together 1. Ezekiel and Zechariah foresee careful measuring that anticipates a restored, holy temple. 2. Psalms, Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, Zechariah, and Joel predict Gentile trampling of Jerusalem before final deliverance. 3. Daniel supplies the precise 3½-year framework, echoed verbatim in Revelation. Revelation 11:2 therefore stands as the New Testament capstone to a well-established prophetic pattern: a literal temple exists in the last days; Gentile powers overrun the holy city for a divinely limited 42 months; and God’s ultimate victory follows, just as the earlier prophets declared. |
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