In Revelation 11, there is a dividing of the love of God. This is not to say that God's love is different for each of us, but it is like a parent with more than one child. They love them all the same (they should). Yet when it comes to the way the parent disciplines them, the discipline differs for each child, because each child will respond to different types of discipline. So in order to get children back in line, the parent does something that the one child who has misbehaved will understand and at the same time, the other children gain the lesson that the parent means what he/she says. So do not think you are getting away from God's love and discipline because He is disciplining your brother or sister. The discipline is a message for you too. Sometimes another family member is the source of the problem and we are just following along. Be careful of what and whom you follow!!!! We all have to give an account for our actions and thinking to the FATHER. Now with this in mind, let us move into chapter 11 of Revelation and see what our Father is doing to show His love to all of His children.

    In verse 1, there are a couple of things going on. Let us take our time with them so that we do not miss anything that may affect us. The first thing that we see is John being given a reed and this reed is like a rod. What is so important about a reed? This reed is stiff like a rod and it is about ten feet. The reed is often used in the Old Testament to make a point or to measure important items. Let us look at some of these Old Testament examples. Many of us will not read the Old Testament thinking it is not our history. Well, if you have this opinion, you are sadly mistaken, for it is our history. Read II Kings 18:21 and Isaiah 36:6. What is important about these reeds? If you look closely, the reed is a sign of strength or it appears to be. However, in the reed, there is a weakness, a bruise or it is broken, but that spot of weakness cannot be seen with the physical eye. Yet because it looks strong, some of us will trust it with our lives. Is this not how some of us do with following people and things that appear to be strong, but are broken and weak? Secondly, read Isaiah 42:1 - 4 and pay close attention to verse three for in this verse the reed is bruised, but it is in God's plan.

     Therefore, God uses that which is bruised for His plan. Do not use your own sight or knowledge to understand what God is doing, just ask Him. Thirdly, if you read Ezekiel 40 - 43 you will see that the reed is used as a measuring tool. However, look at what it is measuring. Is this not what the angel told John to measure in Revelation 11? Yes, but a limit was put on him and that was to measure the temple of God. Which if we had the time to go back to all of the occurrences of "temple of God" or "temple of the LORD" you would see that this is the inner part of the temple. We will come back to this.

    There is something else in Revelation 11:1. The angel tells John to "rise." Is it possible that he was seated at a table rather than standing to write down all that he saw and heard? I cannot answer this question but it shows us that we need to read what is written very careful and not to assume anything. In this way, we can allow the Holy Spirit to teach us.

    In verse two we are given more information that we need to examine very carefully. We need to understand God's word through His word and not through our mind. It is important to understand how God counts time as He presents it in these verses. So let us start with some background information:

• 1 year is 12 months with 30 days per month = 360 days
• 2) 3 ½ years at 360 days per year = 1260 days
• 42 months of 30 days per month = 1260 days
• Read Daniel 9:27 & 12:7
• Read Matthew 24:21 - 22

    To further illustrate how He counts time, lets look at the flood in Genesis 7 -8. We see that it started in the second month on the 17th day and ended on the 17th day of the seventh month. Genesis also says "… the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days." Which is 5 months at 30 days per month equals 150 days.

    Now that we have set the background, let us look at this verse 2. We read that the holy (consecrated, scared) city, Jerusalem, will be tread under foot 3 ½ years, but what does this mean? To see this clearly, we need to look at the whole period. We know that the whole period of the tribulation will last seven years. Moreover, it is broken into two equal parts, tribulation and great tribulation. In the first part of the tribulation, the focus is the world as a whole or the Gentile realm. Yes, it will affect the Jews too, but we see the effects of this time as having no centralized location; the whole world is impacted. Now the angel gives John a clear location on which to concentrate. Do not think that the things that happen in the holy city will not affect the world. Remember that everything that happens affects others. What we do now will impact somebody around us now or in the future.

    Jesus, according to God's plan, has come to the mid-point in trying to reach the rest of the unbelievers on earth. He wants them to come to the love of God and let Him be Lord of their lives. Question, what is your relationship like with God? You are going to have to deal with this question in this lesson.

    John is told to measure the temple of God and the altar, which is where the people who should know God are. In fact, why are they still here on earth after the rapture? Is it possible that they thought they were serving God? Could they have been playing the role of being holy, like some of us play or think?

    Matthew 7:21-23) Even with all of the things that have been going on, we still have people trying to fool God and themselves. This is the case even today. Some people can be fooled by others pretending to be holy. However, if true believers allow God to guide us, then pretenders of holiness will not be able to fool the spirit that is in us. We would see through their flesh if we apply God's word in our lives. ( Matthew 7:13 - 20; 24:4 - 5, 11 - 13, 23 - 24)

    The fact that John was told to measure the inner part of the temple lets us know that coming events will come out of Jerusalem for the next 42 months of the tribulation. We are about to see how God will deal with the Jewish nation and their understanding of Him. So please watch and learn, because some of us are doing the same things today as the Jews in the tribulation. REMEMBER, JOHN IS TO WRITE THIS LETTER TO ALL OF THE CHURCHES. It is a letter of love and warning to get back to God's true word, works and holiness.

Earlier we stated that:

      "in order to get children back in line, the parent does something that the one child who has misbehaved will understand and at the same time, the other children gain the lesson that the parent means what he/she says." So as we see God disciplines the Jews during the great tribulation, do not think that anyone else can get away from God's love and discipline, because He is disciplining your brother or sister. The discipline that you see in the tribulation is a message for you too.