Revelation 11:4-6 - They have power to shut up the heavens

11:4,5

The olive trees are a reference to Zech 4. Zech 4:14 says ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’ It does seem best to take them as being the church, otherwise it seems to be too limiting. “If anyone tries to harm them ...”. Frequently people do try to harm them, as was happening in John’s day, and happens today, but this is not without consequences. For if someone does try to harm them fire comes out of their mouths and devours their enemies”, and this is how those who try to harm them will die. Now this is not the picture of the church that we usually have, but there are important lessons for us. The first is that we must not compromise with the world, even though sadly much of the church seems so keen to do this. The second is that we must take these verses on board, but along with the rest of Scripture, and the rest of Revelation. Only then will we fulfill the proper role that God has for us. Finally, we must not give into fear. It is our enemies who will ultimately suffer.

11:6

This is not a picture of the “nice little Christian”! Rather it harks back to Elijah who seemed to be able to control the weather (1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17), and to Moses who sent various plagues on Egypt. God gives power to His servants. Now, of course, we do not want to go off the deep end here and become loony Christians. We must also remember that these words were given to John who was in exile, and to a church that was weak, in human terms, and that the book is largely symbolic.  But what we must do is remember that in the face of powerful oppression a faithful church is not weak. We do not fight with the weapons of the world, but with divine power (2 Cor 10:3-6).