When the age of grace ends, the covenant (karaar) begins the seventieth "seven", the last of the seventy "sevens" an angel gave to Daniel. Revelation 8 and 11 show what happens in its first three and a half years: the two witnesses at work, and the first three trumpets sounding over the earth.
Before the covenant
A war comes first, the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. In it God shows his holiness to the whole world. Hail, rain, earthquakes and other natural events strike only Israel's enemies. Israel does not win by fighting, and everyone sees that this is God's doing. Then the seven-year covenant is made, and it ends the age of grace.
Next comes the half hour. The Lord reads the opened scroll, and seven people in different places bring its message as the seven thunders. We do not know how long the half hour lasts: it may be ten days, a month, six months or a year. At its end the angel casts fire from the altar on the earth, completing the purification of those who accepted the message (Revelation 8:2–5). Then comes the rapture, and then seven angels prepare to sound their trumpets.
The temple and the two witnesses
John is given a reed and told to measure the temple and the altar, but to leave out the court, which is given to the Gentiles to tread for forty-two months, three and a half years (Revelation 11:1–2). After the covenant the temple site comes under Israel's control, and the first thing Israel does is build the temple. Having seen God's power in the war, people from many nations come to offer sacrifices, and the Gentiles come into the court. While the physical temple is built, the spiritual temple, the church, is prepared. By the time offerings begin, the church is taken up in the rapture.
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
— Revelation 11:3
At thirty days a month, 1,260 days is again forty-two months, three and a half years. Jews wear sackcloth and ashes to grieve and pray. The witnesses grieve because God gave Israel victory in the war, yet the nation then made a covenant with other nations. They will say it should never have been made. The Spirit of God comes on them, and from the day of the covenant they teach the word. Many will oppose them, saying that their rulers made the covenant and it must be honoured. Others will listen. The two will most likely work in different places.
Two olive trees and seven lamps
Revelation 11:4 calls the witnesses the two olive trees and the two lampstands before the God of the earth. This returns to Zechariah 4: a golden lampstand with a bowl and seven lamps, fed with oil by two olive trees, one on either side. The olive trees are the two anointed ones, the two witnesses. The seven lamps are the seven thunders. It is one lampstand, not seven: the time of the seven lampstands, the church ages, is over, and only the last, Laodicea, remains with its seven lamps.
Zechariah is told that Zerubbabel's hands laid the foundation of the house and will finish it, and that the seven will rejoice to see the plumb line in his hand. So the seven thunders, on earth during the half hour, see the temple begun and rejoice. They cannot be the seven messengers of the churches, who would not see this. In a spiritual sense too the church of Israel begins to grow through the witnesses. Israel as a nation does not believe in Jesus, but miracles at their hands, in line with its own Scriptures, lead many to listen, while the politically minded follow their leaders. The witnesses work in Israel while the seven carry their message through the rest of the world, and what comes through the witnesses reaches the seven as well, like oil flowing from the olive trees.
Power that no one can resist
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
— Revelation 11:6
Fire comes out of their mouths, but this is not a dragon's breath. When Elijah spoke, fire fell on the soldiers sent against him. In the same way, what the witnesses say happens, and anyone who tries to harm them is killed. The apostles were seized, flogged and even stoned, but no one can oppose these two. The world will see that their power comes from God, yet about half the people will say that a merciful God would not kill, and will oppose them. So people are divided.
The first three trumpets
After the rapture the seven angels sound their trumpets. The first three fall within the same three and a half years as the witnesses' work, which ends at the middle of the seven years, and they match it.
- The first: hail and fire mingled with blood fall on the earth (Revelation 8:7). The witnesses also bring fire. The third part of the earth is the area of their work.
- The second: something like a great burning mountain, a huge meteor, falls into the sea, perhaps the Mediterranean. A third of the sea turns to blood, a third of its creatures die and a third of the ships are destroyed (8:8–9). This matches their power over water.
- The third: a great star burning like a lamp falls on a third of the rivers and springs. Its name is Wormwood. Perhaps it broke apart as it fell. The waters turn bitter and many die (8:10–11). It is one of the plagues the witnesses send.
The trumpets sound in heaven while the two witnesses work on earth, and these events come through them.
Takeaway
God shows the order of what is coming: the war, the covenant, the half hour of final preparation, the rapture, and the trumpets that sound while the two witnesses work. We are to know this order and be ready for the Lord's coming.