Two Witnesses Slain
The “second woe” does not end until the “Two Witnesses” have completed their “testimony” and their “corpse,” singular, lies on the streets of “Babylon.” Only then will the final trumpet be heard as its ushers in the hour of the judgment. The martyrdom of the “Two Witnesses” puts the end into motion and seals the doom of the “Dragon.”
God
vindicates their “testimony” by raising them from the dead, just as he
promised to do for the martyrs seen “underneath the altar” when the “fifth seal” was opened - (Revelation 6:9-11).
- (Revelation 11:8-10) - “And their corpse lies on the broad-way of the great city, the which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified. And some of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations see their corpses three days and a half and their corpses do they not suffer to be put into a tomb. And the inhabitants of the earth rejoice over them and make merry and send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented them the inhabitants of the earth.”
THE GREAT CITY
The
“corpse” of the “Witnesses” was left lying on the main street or
“broad way” of the city, its very heart and center of its political,
economic, and social activities.
In
the first instance, the Greek term rendered “corpse” is singular and
serves to stress the unity of the “Two Witnesses.” They symbolize the “saints”
as one group engaged in “testimony” to the city and its “inhabitants.”
The
“Great City” is the place called “Sodom and Egypt, spiritually.”
Neither the language nor the geographical location is literal.
The
term “spiritually” signifies either a metaphorical or allegorical interpretation.
For that matter, “Egypt” is a nation, not a city, and the
identification with “Sodom” and “Egypt” provides scriptural
background. First, from Israel’s exodus from Egypt, which is the same backstory
for the “seven trumpets.” And second, from the destruction of “Sodom”
for its egregious sins.
Elsewhere,
the “Great City” is none other than the “Great Harlot, Babylon.”
In the present passage, she is contrasted with the “holy city” that is “trampled
underfoot by the nations” – (Revelation 11:2,
14:8, 14:20, 16:19, 17:18, 18:16-21).
The
city was the place “where the Lord was crucified.” Jesus was
killed outside the walls of Jerusalem, and in Revelation,
all the shed blood of the prophets and saints is found in “Babylon,”
where also the “inhabitants of the earth” dwell. Thus, in the vision, the
place of his crucifixion is the world city, Babylon - (Revelation 18:24).
MARTYRDOM
Their
bodies lay unburied for “three days and a half.” This echoes the three
days and nights that Jesus spent in the grave before his resurrection. Thus,
the life and death of the “Two Witnesses” emulate the life and death of
the “slain Lamb.”
After
John “measured” the “sanctuary” and the “altar,” the “holy
city” was delivered to the “nations” to be “trampled underfoot”
for “forty-two months.” Likewise, the “Two Witnesses” endure opposition
that culminates in their martyrdom for “twelve-hundred and sixty days,”
the functional equivalent of the “forty-two months.”
Thus, the “war” against them by the “inhabitants of the earth” and the “Beast” portrays the “holy city” being “trampled.” The “Two Witnesses” are the “holy city,” and persecution is how they are “trampled underfoot.”
The
residents of the “Great City” rejoice over their deaths because they “tormented the
inhabitants of the earth.” The same verb for “torment” was used when
the “fifth trumpet” was heard, unleashing the locust-like horde to “torment the
inhabitants of the earth.”
So also,
the words of the “Two Witnesses” proceeded like “fire devouring
their enemies,” and had the “power to turn water into blood,” and to
“smite the earth with every plague.” It is their “testimony” that
“torments” men - (Revelation 9:5, 11:5-6).
The
“Witnesses” are “prophets” sent to “prophesy” to the “inhabitants
of the earth” until they “finish their testimony.” This fulfills the
words given to John when he received the “little scroll” - “In the
days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound, the mystery of
God should be finished, just he declared to his prophets” (Revelation
10:7).
“And
the inhabitants of the earth made merry.” The same idea occurred at the end
of the “sixth trumpet” when the “rest of men not killed by the
plagues” refused to repent. Instead of repenting, the impenitent “inhabitants
of the earth” rejoice over the deaths of God’s prophets.
- (Revelation 11:11-13) - “And after the three days and a half, a spirit of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon them who were beholding them. And they heard a loud voice out of heaven, saying to them: Come up here! And they ascended to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour, there came to be a great earthquake; and a tenth of the city fell, and there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand. And the rest became greatly afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
OLD TESTAMENT PARLLELS
The
vision now pulls together the threads from the stories of Egypt, Elijah,
and the entry of Israel into Canaan, but in an ironic fashion. The tenth
plague of Egypt killed the firstborn throughout the land, but now, it is
the “corpses” of the “Two Witnesses” that lie dead in the “Great
City” - (Exodus 11:1-10).
Before Israel left Egypt, the
Egyptians gave them gifts of gold and jewels; now, in “Babylon,” residents
exchange gifts and rejoice over the deaths of the “Witnesses.” When he
complained about his isolation, Yahweh told Elijah that He had reserved “seven
thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal.” Now, when a tenth of the
“Great City” falls, seven thousand men are killed, but the rest become
fearful and give glory to God.
Elisha
witnessed Elijah taken up into the heavens and cried out, but when the “inhabitants
of the earth” see the “Two Witnesses” rise to heaven, they give
glory to God.
The description of their “ascent… in a cloud” also parallels the ascent of Jesus, who was “taken up and received by a cloud.” As the deaths of the “Two Witnesses” emulated the death of Jesus, so does their vindication - (1 Kings 19:18, 2 Kings 2:11, Acts 1:9).
Israel’s
conquest of Jericho is behind the image of the city’s fall, and this is indicated
by the series of “seven trumpets.” Israel was commanded to march
around the city once each day for six days. On the seventh
day, she marched around Jericho seven times, the priests blew their
horns, the people shouted, and the “wall of the city fell down flat” -
(Joshua 6:1-10).
The
term rendered “great earthquake” is a verbal link to the “sixth seal”
and the “seventh bowl of wrath.” When the former was opened, the “day
of the wrath of the Lamb” was accompanied by the “great earthquake”
that shook the entire creation. Likewise, the last “bowl of wrath” caused
the “great earthquake” that divided the “Great City, Babylon”
into three parts - (Revelation 6:12-17, 16:17-21).
The
“second woe” has reached its conclusion. The stage is set for the final
trumpet blast, the “third woe” and the day of judgment. The series of “seven
trumpets” will end at the same point as the “seven seals.” Just as
the “sixth seal” opening announced the time of the Lamb’s “wrath,”
so the “seventh trumpet” ushers in the final judgment when God vindicates
the righteous and condemns the wicked.