AND THEY OVERCAME HIM BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY

Revelation 12:11(KJV)

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

I want to believe this verse ranks very high among the most wrongly quoted.

The popular explanation runs something like this,

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Testimony time.

Overcomers time.

Let's begin to share our testimonies."

If the explanation above is right, then perhaps just anyone (believer or unbeliever) who shares their testimonies in church resultantly becomes an overcomer.

Absolutely not.

In Luke 9:1–6, Judas Iscariot was amongst the twelve who went about performing beautiful miracles and who returned to testify (like the seventy others in Luke 10:1–17). He did not become an overcomer because of that.

What does our theme verse imply?

First thing to note is, who did these people overcome?

Satan.

Revelation 12:9-11(KJV)

[9]And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

[10]And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

[11]And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of THEIR TESTIMONY; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Next, John the Apostle did not call it THEIR TESTIMONIES but THEIR TESTIMONY.

This is singular—a common testimony to different people, i.e., these people had THE SAME TESTIMONY.

Who are these people and what testimony did they have?

The seventeenth verse helps further,

Revelation 12:17(KJV)

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ.

The testimony of Jesus Christ.

Who are the people with this testimony?

Believers in Christ Jesus.

In verse 10, John calls them brethren.

Note: He wrote this book to the seven churches in first century Asia (chapter 1:11), which comprised both Christian Jews and Gentiles. So, the word "brethren" wasn't used in the light of being a Jew.

John claimed to have this testimony with these brethren—fellow Christians.

Revelation 1:1-2,9(KJV)

[1]The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

[2]Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

[9]I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The word testimony here is marturia in the Greek, which means record; report; witness (as in something presented as an evidence).

John used this word in the epistle he wrote earlier.

1 John 5:9-12(ESV)

[9]If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the TESTIMONY of God that he has borne concerning his Son.

[10]Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.

[11]And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

[12]Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

The testimony is about God's provision for eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Paul the Apostle used similar words and this brings further light.

2 Timothy 1:8(KJV)

Be not thou therefore ASHAMED of the TESTIMONY of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the GOSPEL according to the power of God.

So, what's the testimony of Jesus?

The word of God, by implication, THE GOSPEL—the message of life!

Paul charged Timothy not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord—the gospel—like he told the church in Rome:

Romans 1:16(KJV)

For I am not ASHAMED of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

So, the believers overcame him (the devil) by the GOSPEL.

2 Timothy 1:8-10(KJV)

[8]Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

[9]Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

[10]But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought LIFE and immortality to light through THE GOSPEL.

Back to our theme verse,

Revelation 12:11(KJV)

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

“...and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

This means they were ready to give up their lives for the sake of the gospel.

This expression was used in a similar fashion earlier:

Revelation 6:9(KJV)

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for THE TESTIMONY which they held.

So, the testimony in our theme verse is the gospel of our Lord Jesus—about his sacrifice for our sins in his death and subsequent resurrection, hence the emphasis on the blood of the Lamb.

We are the ones who have triumphed with Christ. We are the believers—the triumphant church. We are more than conquerors.

Victor Ibosiola © 2017

Edited (2021).