Revelation 11:8-14

Verse 8 "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."

Once killed, the bodies of the two witnesses will be left in the streets of Jerusalem for people to look at, spit upon, and desecrate. That it is Jerusalem that is being referred to, as spiritually being Sodom and Egypt, is confirmed by the reference that it is where the Lord was crucified.

Verse 9 "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves."

Just as the Lord was three days and nights in the grave, so these two witnesses will be dead for three and a half days. The people will not even allow their bodies to be removed, as everyone hates them so. They do not want these bodies treated with any respect or reverence. The fact that kindreds, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies indicates that, unbelievably, there will still be television coverage. Even after the meteor showers, asteroid, and star, apparently some of the satellites are still in existence and functioning. Not to mention that places have electricity. It is hard to believe that this could still be possible, but it apparently is, or the whole world would not be able to see them, and clearly this is the case.

Verse 10 "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."

It is a new holiday. People will be partying worldwide. This will resemble movies like Independence Day, after they defeat the aliens. People will think it is all over. They will think that they have won against the alien threat and be euphoric with relief and happiness. They will believe that all of their troubles are now behind them. They will think that it will just be a matter of rebuilding where devastation has hit, as the two people that they believe have been causing all of these horrors, are dead. They will have no clue as to what is about to hit them (God's wrath).

Verse 11 "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them."

After all this partying, all of this relief, all of this joy going on for three days, can you even imagine the terror that strikes into the hearts of people when the enemy which caused so much torment, and whom they thought defeated suddenly are resurrected? What does one do when such a terrifying enemy with such power cannot be really killed? They will wonder if it is all about to begin again. And indeed it is. Only much worse this time. It is hard to think it could get worse, but it does.

Verse 12 "And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

Just as Christ ascended into a cloud, and at the rapture the saints that are left will ascend into the clouds, so the witnesses will ascend. The voice from heaven, either God or Christ, will tell them to come up. Everyone will hear the voice, which should shake them up quite a bit, and everyone will see them ascend. This has got to make them think that something really bad is coming, if these two are alive, yet leaving the scene. And that a voice can be heard from the heavens telling them to get out of there has got to be an extremely frightening thing for people. It will make them realize that there is somebody much bigger and powerful than they are is out there.

Verse 13 "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."

There is a massive earthquake in Jerusalem. One tenth of the city is completely demolished, and seven thousand are slain. As many Muslims live in Jerusalem, one has to wonder if it is a Muslim section that will be destroyed. The result is that the remnant, which one assumes is the Jewish population, are scared to death and give God the glory. They are realizing who is in charge, even if the rest of the world does not. In fact, might it not be that this is the Second Coming? Let us look at what occurs. Two men are resurrected and rise into the clouds when called to come up. Everybody hears the voice that calls them up and every eye sees them go. The remnant (Jewish) are afraid and what do they do? They give the glory to God. When they see him whom they have pierced, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, then all Israel will be saved. There is evidence here that may indicate that the Second Coming is occurring. We know that the 1260 days are over. We know that the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled when the forty-two months are over. We know that Israel will be saved when the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. We know that Israel will be saved when they see Him whom their have pierced, or the Second Coming of the Lord. But would that not then tell us the day, and we are not to know the day or the hour? I have given this some thought, and realized that this book was written at least six decades after Christ died. When Christ was speaking to the disciples, no one did know the day or the hour, because God had not revealed anything about it. But then six decades later He gave the revelation about the end times to John. At that time He revealed the mystery of God. So is it not possible that while Christ was with the disciples, the day and hour was not known, but here He is revealing to us, if not the hour, possibly the day that the Second Coming occurs? The description of the two witnesses resurrection fits with the description of the resurrection/rapture event. As we will see shortly, the rapture does occur between the sixth and seventh trumpet judgments, which is where we are in the timeline at this moment. The only thing we cannot be sure of is whether the two witnesses begin their 1260 day ministry on the exact day of the abomination of desolation or not, however that is the most probable scenario as God seems to like to keep to an exact timeline. Their resurrection occurs 1263 days after they begin, so whether it is 1263 days to the day after the abomination or not, we know that their resurrection occurs at the same basic time as the resurrection of all the dead will occur. Therefore, it is very probable that the Second Coming and their resurrection occur at the same time.


Verse 14 "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."

Now we see the importance of taking note of everything in scripture. Remembering that the fifth trumpet was called the first woe, and the sixth trumpet is called the second woe, we have verification that what we said in the first couple of verses is true. The 1260 days of these two witnesses take place in the second half of the 70th week. Their 1260 days end the same time that the sixth trumpet judgment ends. This also shows us that indeed, God is going back and detailing events during that time frame of the seals and trumpet judgments, and not just continuing on in the chronology. If they end at the same time, they had to be ongoing together all of this time also. So we have confirmation that we are on the second string of the guitar, as it were, and not seeing the events of a period of 1260 days after the trumpets ended. This also tells us that the third woe, or the seventh trumpet (bowl or vial judgments) takes place in the period of time after the 1260 days. Now we can go back to Daniel and see why he was told that the end of all of this does not come until the 1290th day. The seventh trumpet judgments or wrath of God takes place in the thirty day period after the 1260th day ends. God's judgment is always swift and sure. He does not mess around and take his time. He is another confirmation that the Second Coming is at this time. It is at the Second Coming when the Lord pours out His wrath, and now is the time when that will happen.