Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 11:7 - 11:10
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_11:7-10
7When 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. 8And 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. 9Those 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. 10And 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.
Rev_11:7 "the beast that comes up out of the abyss" If this is an allusion to Daniel 7, then the beast is a composite figure of all the four beasts mentioned in Daniel 7, which stands for the ultimate Anti-Christ of the end-time (cf. 2Th_2:3).
The "abyss" is the home of the demonic (cf. Rev_9:1; Rev_20:1). This concept of a beast is developed in Revelation 13, 17.
▣ "will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them" This is an allusion to Dan_7:21 which will be more fully explained in Revelation 13. Here, the phrasing may imply that the two witnesses are symbolic of a large number of people (cf. Rev_13:7 i.e., the people of God). Notice that they are not spared persecution and death.
Rev_11:8 "their dead bodies will lie in the street" This humiliation of exposed dead bodies was a way to express contempt (cf. Rev_11:9; Deu_28:26; Psa_79:2; Jer_7:33; Jer_8:2; Jer_16:4; Jer_19:7; Jer_34:20). However, God used their visible bodies in a powerful resurrection manifestation of His power and confirmation of their message.
▣ "this great city" This seems to be a description of Jerusalem; however, the figurative language implies the spiritual struggle between the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom. Here are my reasons.
1. The phrase "that great city" is used of Babylon or Rome (cf. Rev_16:19; Rev_17:18; Rev_18:10; Rev_18:16; Rev_18:18-19; Rev_18:21).
2. Although Jerusalem is called Sodom in Eze_16:46-49 and Isa_1:9-10, she is never called Egypt; Sodom and Egypt seem to be metaphors for sin and bondage.
3. "Where the Lord was crucified" seems to refer to Jerusalem, but it could be another way of talking about the anti-God kingdoms of this world.
4. "The peoples and tribes and tongues and nations" in Rev_11:9 implies
a. a city where the entire world will be present, which fits Rome better than Jerusalem
b. "city" used as a metaphor of rebellious mankind (cf. Gen_4:17; Gen_10:8-10)
5. "Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate" in Rev_11:10 implies that the message of these two witnesses was not simply for the Jews, but for the entire world of unbelievers.
This describes the ongoing battle between the kingdoms of this earth and the Messianic kingdom (cf. Rev_11:15), particularly as in Daniel 2 and Psalms 2.
Rev_11:9 "those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations" See note at Rev_10:11.
▣ "for three days and a half" The time of Rev_11:9 combined with Rev_11:11 equals the number seven, used so often in Revelation. This event was God's perfect timing.
Rev_11:10 "celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another" Some see this as a perverted Feast of Purim (cf. Est_9:19; Est_9:22). It is more likely an allusion to Joh_16:20 ("the world will rejoice"). This rejoining of the unbelieving world reveals the power of the two witnesses' message, but the unbelievers would not repent (cf. Rev_9:20-21; Rev_16:9; Rev_16:11).