More About the Two Witnesses
Revelation 11:7-14
A Second Prophetic Intermission
Rev 11:7-14 is part of a larger intermission section in John’s portrayal of the future Tribulation period. He has already described for us a series of seven seal judgments and an intermission followed by a series of seven more intense trumpet judgments.
This second intermission first portrays an electrifying buildup to the seventh and final trumpet judgment, which will be followed by the third and final series of judgments, called the bowl judgments. From this opening part of the intermission, in which John eats a small scroll with bittersweet aftereffects, we learn that God’s final judgment of the world will be immensely exhilarating for God’s people yet incredibly painful for those who reject him.
The second half of this intermission, then, shifts attention from the world at large to the city of Jerusalem in particular and the temple that will be rebuilt there. It teaches us that God will protect those who turn to him in genuine worship.
God will raise up two extraordinary men. (Rev 11:3-6)
This section of the intermission also shifts John’s focus from the strong angel of Rev 10:1-11 to two extraordinary men whom God calls his witnesses. Though we may guess at specific identities for these men (such as Enoch, Moses, Elijah, or John the Baptist), we simply do not know whether they will be men who return from the past or new men whom we’ve never encountered before.
What matters is not who they are but what assigns and enables them to do for three-and-a-half years. At a time when the persecution of God’s people will reach its zenith, these two men will (1) preach judgment, (2) represent God’s justice, (3) lead in a revival of faith in Israel, and (4) receive some extraordinary abilities. They’ll be able to defend themselves against mistreatment by: (1) producing fire with their mouths, (2) holding back the rain, (3) turning water to blood, and (4) initiating plagues. Such abilities will resemble abilities given previously to Moses and Elijah, though on a greater scale.
The antichrist will kill these two men. (Rev 11:7-10)
Though these two extraordinary witnesses will be able to defend themselves against anyone who desires to kill them, God will withdraw this ability when their assignment comes to an end (“when they finish their testimony”). John describes this moment as the result of a threefold progression in which a powerful figure will (1) fight against them, (2) defeat them, (3) and then kill them. This extended campaign indicates that they will not go down without a fight, so their defeat will be the result of a drawn-out affair. Yet they will be killed in the end.
Who is this powerful figure that will defeat them? John describes him as “the beast which ascends out of the bottomless pit.” The word beast portrays a carnivorous animal, like a lion or panther, that stalks its prey and kills it violently. The primary account of him appears in Rev 13 and he appears prominently after that until his climactic end (Rev 20:10).
- Some suggest that John is referring to Satan, but this is unlikely since he portrays Satan as a dragon instead (Rev 12:3, 9).
- A more likely answer is that this beast refers to the antichrist, a powerful world ruler who will take international leadership during the Tribulation. He himself will suffer a life-threatening, physical wound (Rev 13:2, 9). It’s also instructive to know that the Old Testament (OT) prophetic book of Daniel also uses the word beast world empires and rulers who oppose God’s people and plan (cf., Dan 7:17-18, 23-27).
Buist Fanning gives a helpful explanation of what “ascending from the bottomless pit” conveys.[1] He says:
This human figure is said to ‘come up from the bottomless pit’ because his rise to prominence and exercise of power is under Satan’s control.
Buist Fanning
So his ascent is a reference to his rise to prominence rather than his personal origins. He will be a human being and a powerful world ruler whose rise to power and political initiatives will be empowered by Satan and guided by the deepest counsels of hell.
When the antichrist succeeds at killing the two witnesses, he will humiliate them by leaving their dead bodies to lie exposed in the street, denying them a proper burial. In Middle Eastern culture, treating a dead body this way is a great (perhaps the greatest) insult against a person’s reputation. In this case, it demonstrates the antichrist’s deep-seated contempt and repudiation of not only these two men but of their message and the God who sent them.
John also tells us that their demise will occur in a “great city” which is “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.”From this, we recognize that this will be a prominent city, not an obscure location. We also see that though the names Sodom and Egypt are given, these are not the actual names of the city. By using the word spiritually, John wants us to understand how God has viewed the spiritual character of this city, despite its greatness.
- The OT prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah accused the people of Jerusalem in particular and Israel at large (Jerusalem was the cultural, political, and religious center of Israel) of being like Sodom, an ancient city known for its immoral behavior (Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer 23:14).
- Then the OT prophet Ezekiel accused the people of Israel of resembling Egypt by worshiping other gods (Ezek 20:7-8; 23:27).
So, with these two figurative allusions, John reminds us that this great city, both ancient and modern, have been idolatrous and immoral. Then he pinpoints this city with one more historical reference, “where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8). This is none other than the city of Jerusalem.
John expands his perspective in Rev 11:9-10 from how the antichrist will treat these two witnesses when they die to how the people of the world will treat them. That “peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days” indicates that the world will be paying close attention to the events in Jerusalem at this time. When the antichrist kills the two witnesses, the moment will make immediate headline news and receive close, worldwide attention. Yet despite this widespread attention, no one will attempt to alleviate their shame by burying them. In fact, people will celebrate their deaths as a worldwide holiday and even exchange gifts with one another like at Christmas.
This childish, twisted response will reveal the fallen, rebellious condition of mankind’s heart. They’ll view God’s messengers as enemies and refuse to repent. This will not even be an ambivalent response that’s unwilling to commit to one side or another. It will be a response that willfully and wholeheartedly disregards God and his message to the world.
God will resurrect these two men. (Rev 11:11-13)
This celebration will be short-lived because God will restore these two men to life again after three-and-a-half days. This particular timeframe will bear a striking resemblance to the death and resurrection of Christ, making their association with Christ unmistakable.
John tells us that when these men return to life and stand up, the people who are watching them will swing quickly from jubilant celebration to “great fear,” which may be described as feelings of horror, panic, and terror.
However, after they resurrect there will be an audible voice from heaven calling them upward. After this voice is heard, the two men will ascend into the clouds similar to how Christ ascended following his resurrection and people will see this happen (Acts 1:9).
What happens next will be both tragic and triumphant. Regarding tragedy, a powerful, local earthquake will occur in Jerusalem, destroying one-tenth of the city’s infrastructure and killing seven-thousand residents.
On the flip side of things, triumphant results will also occur as what appears to be the remainder of the city’s residents will turn from fear to God in faith, as John says they “gave glory to the God of heaven” (Rev 11:13).
- “Giving glory to God” is a positive, genuine thing that angels do towards God in the heavenly throne room (Rev 4:9).
- In later Tribulation judgments, John equates “giving glory to God” with genuine repentance (Rev 16:9).
- John also uses “giving glory to God” to describe how believing people respond to God’s final, ultimate deliverance from evil (Rev 19:7).
Furthermore, this response of “giving glory to God” stands in stark contrast to how people will have responded to God’s judgments previously in the Tribulation, as when they refused to repent following the sixth trumpet judgment (Rev 9:20-21). This turning-point moment may even refer to that future day when all Israel will finally turn to Christ as Messiah (cf. Rom 11:26).
Following this encouraging development, John resumes his description of the seven trumpet judgments (and the three woes), as he will now describe the final trumpet judgment and woe in the verses that follow (Rev 11:14).
Key Takeaways
What can we learn from this preview of future events?
Even God’s faithful witnesses may suffer and die.
After all, if these two faithful witnesses at such an extraordinary time, with such extraordinary abilities that prevent them from dying, will die after three-and-a-half years of service, should we expect any better?
Christ’s forerunner at his first coming was no different. Though he had fulfilled his role faithfully, announcing the coming of Christ and calling for repentance and faith, he was eventually beheaded by the wicked king Herod (Mark 6:27-28).
And let’s not forget the most extraordinary example of all time, whose suffering and death John specifically mentions in this passage, keeping us true to our Christ-centered interpretation of Revelation. The Lord himself who holds the power of life and death in his hands, the Lion of Judah, willingly died as our sacrificial Lamb in the very city where the two witnesses will be killed. If Christ himself suffered and died, we should expect no better.
Though we don’t possess the supernatural, superhuman abilities that God will give to his two leading Tribulation witnesses, we can rest assured that we hold two things in common.
- One, we should expect to receive persecution just as they also did if we live as godly, faithful followers of Christ (2 Tim 3:12).
- Two, we will die when God chooses, no matter who we are and whatever we may suffer.
George Whitfield, the well-known preacher of the Great Awakening in America during the early to mid-1700s, said, “We are immortal until our work on earth is done.” He was right, and we don’t need to call down fire from heaven for this to be so. We must only live as faithful followers of Christ and witnesses for the gospel.
We are immortal until our work on earth is done.
George Whitfield
Our comfort and hope is not in avoiding death but in our resurrection.
Like Christ himself, who has already risen from the grave, and like the two witnesses in the Tribulation, we too look forward to our own future resurrection. We should not waste our lives hiding from death but should go forward with courage and peace knowing that if we die in our service for Christ, we will be resurrected with our Savior forever with a body that will never again suffer or die.
With this confidence, we can embrace whatever challenges we may face in the year ahead as followers of Christ in an antagonistic world, knowing that death has no power over us – even if we die (1 Cor 15:54-58).
[1] Buist M. Fanning, Revelation, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 334.
