Visions of the Great Tribulation in Jerusalem

Welcome to the Unveiling Jesus Christ Newsletter!

Following our discussion of the 70th week in Daniel’s prophecy, we now turn to the related visions in Daniel 12 and Revelation 11. These visions reveal what will happen in Jerusalem during the final 3½ years leading up to the Lord’s return.

Two Angels and Two Witnesses

In Daniel 12:5–6, two angels stood on the banks of the Tigris River and asked Jesus Christ how long desolations would be poured out upon the Jews. The answer is until “time, times and an half” (Daniel 12:7). That is, until the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation.

Given the personal interest of these two angels in Jewish oppressions during the Great Tribulation, it stands to reason that the angels were the premortal spirits of the men who were foreordained to minister as the Two Witnesses in Jerusalem during the same 3½ years.

Measuring the Third Temple in Jerusalem

In Revelation 11:1, John begins to describe the ministry of the Two Witnesses. He was first given a “reed like unto a rod” and was told by Christ to “measure the temple of God.”

The reed is the giant reed called arundo donax that grew in swampy places along the Jordan River and in areas around the Dead Sea. This reed like a rod is similar to the rod of iron that represents the word of God in Lehi’s vision of the tree of life.

The iron-like reed in Revelation 11:1 measures God’s chastisement against the Jews during the period of the Great Tribulation, which is also the subject of the vision of the two angels in Daniel 12.

Thus, John measured the temple of God in Revelation 11:1 to symbolize that Christ will take possession and ownership of it during the Great Tribulation, as explained by Warren Wiersbe:

The Third Temple and Christ’s Ownership

Keep in mind that John was directed to measure the Third Temple that will be built by the unconverted Jews in Jerusalem in the very near future.

Why does the Lord direct John to measure the Third Temple and treat it as His own? For the same reason Christ referred to the Second Temple of Herod as His Father’s house, even though it was profaned by the very Jews who professed to be followers of Jehovah.

Long before the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ, the Jews had forsaken their covenant relationship with Jehovah and had only a form of godliness in Herod’s temple. The same conditions will exist when sacrifices and oblations are made in the Third Temple, as I discuss in my podcast from July 15, 2025.

The Miracle of the Third Temple

Consider the worsening political climate in Jerusalem as we approach Armageddon and think about what a miracle it will be when the Jews construct a Third Temple on the temple mount, even while under attack by all the gentile nations around them.

The only possible explanation for how this could occur is given in Revelation 11:1, where John's measuring of the Third Temple is a symbol of Christ’s protective power.

Charles Ellicott explains this symbolism:

Learn More

For a deeper dive into the desolations of the Jews and the miracle of the Third Temple to be built before the Great Tribulation, check out my podcasts from:

🎧 July 20, 2025 - Daniel’s Vision of the Great Tribulation [Daniel 12]
🎧 July 22, 2025 - Rev 11:1: John Measures the Third Temple and Its Altar

John Cassinat
Unveiling Jesus Christ