SEVEN TRUMPETS (6-4) | 2ND WOE - THE TWO WITNESSES KILLED (REVELATION 11:7-14)

1. Revelation  

a) John wrote Revelation while a prisoner on the Island of Patmos, approximately 85-95 A.D. Its purpose is to give encouragement and hope for all Christians to continue watching for the return and triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also is to warn of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure on that Last Day.

b) John wrote that Revelation is special because,“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).

c) A brief view of the Book of Revelation. It gives you some basic understanding of the book of Revelation. 

2. The Sixth Trumpet (2nd Woe - The Two Witnesses Killed)

Revelation 11:7-14 
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

3. The Two Witnesses Die 

Revelation 11:7

a) Beast will make war 

i) In coming visions, John is told, a beast will come up out of the abyss to make war (cf Revelation 11:7, 17:8, 19:19.) When John later saw this beast, he wrote that it "had horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon" (Revelation 13:11-12). This beast represents false priesthood and false doctrine, and is identified as "the false prophet" (Revelation 16:13). He opposes the priesthood and testimony of Christ.

ii) When this beast makes war, he kills the two witnesses (Revelation 11:7). This signifies that whilst Satan cannot stop the gospel being preached, he can spread false religion and for a short time of tribulation overcome the word of God with apostasy.

iii) APOSTASY is a definite falling away from the true faith, a turning to the teaching and practice of error, trampling God’s Son underfoot (Hebrews 10:26-31). Not a stumbling, from which one repents and recovers with the help of Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16).

4. A Macabre Celebration 

Revelation 11:8-10

a) Earth will rejoice 

i) The two dead witnesses lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem. Wicked people from many nations look upon the corpses with joy. They celebrate and send gifts to one another, glad to be no longer tormented by the two witnesses who preached the truth of Christ's testimony.

b) Where their Lord was crucified 

i) The great city John saw, where the dead witnesses lay in the street, is Jerusalem because that is "where our Lord was crucified" (Revelation 11:8) It is "spiritually called Sodom and Egypt" (Revelation 11:8) because they were cities of perversion and false religion. There is a variant reading in the older manuscripts, "where their Lord was crucified". That is a poignant expression reflecting the tragedy of people rejecting the testimony and refusing to recognize their true Lord and Christ and Savior.

c) Three and a half days 

i) The wicked celebration lasts but "three and a half days" (Revelation 11:9). "Days" to show the shortness of the time. "Three and a half" to indicate tribulation (as discussed in a separate lesson entitled Three and a Half.

5. Resurrection And Ascension 

Revelation 11:11-13

a) After  

i) So far in this vision (Revelation 11:1-10) John has been writing not what he is seeing but rather what "someone said" he would be seeing (Revelation 11:1). That is why he says the witnesses "will prophesy" (Revelation 11:3) and the beast "will make war" (Revelation 11:7) and people "will send gifts" (Revelation 11:10). John has not seen these things yet, but he will see them anon. At this point however (Revelation 1:11), the vision catches up and passes, and John is writing of what he has seen

b) Breath of life 

i) The two dead witnesses are raised to life, bringing fear on the wicked who were looking at the corpses (Revelation 11:11). The witnesses live again, but they prophesy no more because they had finished their testimony before they were killed (Revelation 11:7)

c) Come up here! 

i) A loud voice called them from heaven saying, "Come up here!" (Revelation 11:12). The two witnesses went up into heaven in a cloud observed by their enemies. There followed destruction in the city and people were frightened into giving praise to God (Revelation 11:12-13).

ii) All persecuted Christians can take courage from this, because though they be killed and scorned, they will rise again when Jesus shouts the upward call, and they like the two witnesses will ascend to glory (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). 

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