The measuring of the temple signifies God’s protection and ownership of it, and yet he allows it to be trampled on by “the nations.” Similarly, the two witnesses offer a powerful testimony to God, but he allows them to be killed and “the peoples and tribes and languages and nations” to celebrate their demise. In precisely what sense, then, does God protect his people?
Some interpreters (dispensationalists) claim that God protects his people from the great tribulation by rapturing them from earth prior to its beginning. And yet even they admit those people who convert to Christianity during the great tribulation will suffer its evils. Other interpreters (preterists, idealists, futurists) teach that God protects his people by bringing them through the great tribulation rather than by taking them out of it. But again, what kind of protection is it if some people suffer.
That brings me to the third point I want to make about Revelation 11.1–14, namely, that what God protects his people from is not persecution or death, per se, but judgment and what John later calls “the second death” (Rev. 20.14). In other words, God protects his people from the terrors of hell.
I find it important to stress this point for several reasons: (1) Some Christians seem to teach that faith saves you from all the ills of the world: from poverty, sickness, depression, persecution, etc. That is hardly what Jesus taught: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt.5.11–12). Or consider this categorical statement from Paul: “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3.12). We should not promise others what neither Jesus nor Paul promised us.
And anyway, (2) Christianity is not a panacea for every ill. It is a cure for the very specific sickness of sin and the spiritual and eternal death that results from it if not treated. That cure is resurrection into an eternal life with God. And sure enough, after the short period of time that God allowed his two witnesses to be persecuted and killed, he raised them from the dead and welcomed them into heaven (verses 11–12).
Seeing this, we are able to affirm that God protects his people, not from all harm, but from ultimate harm, so that through the power of resurrection, they might spend eternity in his presence.
But does such an emphasis on our future resurrection and eternal life make us practically useless on earth? No! The fourth and final point I would like to make about Revelation 11.1–14 is simply this: Our job on earth, as we await eternity, is to witness to others about the grace and justice of God, inviting all people to repent and share in the benefits of salvation. John tells us that the two witnesses “will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” We sometimes think that prophesy is predictive, that is, about the future. But in the Bible, prophesy is about forthtelling as well as foretelling. It is about reminding people of what God requires of them (justice) and that he is offering them a chance to repent and follow him (grace).
As we suffer the world’s harms and await God’s ultimate salvation of us, let us never forget that now is the time to invite others to experience the eternal protection that God provides all his people.
GeorgePWood.com 
WE ARE ONE . GOD BLESS
IAM A MYSTERY TO OTHERS WHEN THEY LOOK INTO MY EYES,AND THIS WORLD IS A MYSTERY TO ME. THERE IS ONE THING THAT IS NOT A MYSTERY , (JESUS) OUR SAVIOR. I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS SUCH A SAD PLACE, BUT IM THANKFUL TO HAVE A FATHER THAT IS MORE PURE THAN THE CLOUDS ABOVE.
YOU WONDER ABOUT THE TWO! ? ASK THY ONE AND TRUE GOD THY FATHER JESUS,& IT SHALL BE REVEALED… YOU MAYBE SURPRIZED… WITTNESESS CAN BE THE PERSON YOU LEAST EXPECT… MYLOVE…THEY CAN BLEND IN JUST LIKE YOU… THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THEY REPENT THERE SINS FROM THERE HEARTS AND MEAN IT..