“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them” (Revelation 11:7).

Truth will triumph! The work of the witnesses will be completed – “when they shall have finished their testimony.”

“Everyone is to hear the last call to the marriage supper of the Lamb. From town to town, from city to city, from country to country, the message of present truth is to be proclaimed, not with outward display, but in the power of the Spirit. As the divine principles that our Saviour came to this world to set forth in word and life, are presented in the simplicity of the gospel, the power of the message will make itself felt.”[1]

“The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers together with God will triumph with it.”[2]

The time allotted to finish their testimony was three and a half years. That is so interesting. God, in His foreknowledge, looked ahead and knew that circumstances surrounding the last call to the world would be completed in that time. This, then, is an appointed or decreed time. The details surrounding this period began to unfold in the book of Daniel over 2500 years ago! God actually said that when all these things would come to pass, everlasting righteousness would be ushered in (Daniel 9:24).

The words “finished their testimony” mean that whatever now follows occurs at the end of earth’s history. The church will have completed its role of bearing witness for Jesus Christ. This may not be apparent to God’s church or His remnant people. This is preceded by a time when Satan is given a brief period to reveal what he does when given a free hand. This coincides with Trumpet five and then six!

“The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of God’s truth. The Lord will not close up the period of probation until the warning message shall be more distinctly proclaimed. The trumpet must give a certain sound. The law of God is to be magnified, its claims must be presented in their true, sacred character; that the people may be brought to decide for or against the truth. Yet the work will be cut short in righteousness. The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the world to the other. This is the glory of God which closes the work of the third angel.”[3]

This is the first time in this Book the word “beast” (therion) is used. It refers to a beast of prey. One that is cunning and acts in a violent and cruel way. This is the same word that is used for the beast that arises out of the sea and is worshiped by the world in Revelation 13. It is the same word used in Revelation 17 on which the harlot rides. Additionally, it is the beast that is part of the false trinity called Babylon, as described in Revelation 16. Networking the descriptions of these images together, it is clear that this terrifying power represents itself as Christ. It is the antichrist.

This beast ascends out of the bottomless pit or abyss. In Luke 8:31 we note that this is the haunt of demons. Satan unlocked (after being given the key) the abyss in Trumpet five. It was then that his minions, represented by locust, were freed. They could not kill or harm God’s people – those who were sealed. “The living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation.”[4] But they were permitted to bring mental anguish and harm into the wicked world.

Our text says that the witnesses’ work was finished. We are told: “This distinctive banner ... [Revelation 14:12 quoted] is to be borne through the world to the close of probation.”[5] This means God’s work has been moving forward and Satan’s last work on the minds of the wicked has been going through its last phases. Now probation closes. This begins what many call the time of Jacob’s Trouble, the great tribulation of Daniel 12:1-2.

Satan’s deceptive miracle-working portrayal as an “angel of light” will continue wielding its power right up until probation closes.[6] That becomes a transition point in redemptive history. Not only does the intercessory work in the heavenly sanctuary cease, the final work of Satan to silence the message or witness of God’s people now comes.

It doesn’t say when the beast came out of the abyss. It only references where it originated from (evidence suggests it is during the fifth Trumpet). Now it makes war against God’s witnesses, “overcomes them” and “kills them.”

“I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues. These plagues enraged the wicked against the righteous; they thought that we had brought the judgments of God upon them, and that if they could rid the earth of us, the plagues would then be stayed. A decree went forth to slay the saints, which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob’s trouble.”[7]

“The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. ‘Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.... All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.’ Jeremiah 30:5-7.”[8]

This war language was used for the little horn (Daniel 7:21), the dragon against the saints (Revelation 12:7) and the beast that arose from the sea (Revelation 13:7). Satan and the antichrist beast have their moment of power. It is at this time that Satan gathers the world’s armies together to fight Armageddon (Revelation 16:14 and 19:19).

What does it mean by “they are killed?” If the witnesses represent the saints, they would all be martyrs. That is not the message of Revelation 7:13-17. There, a multitude that is too numerous to count go through this period and are privileged to stand before God’s throne.

If they, as we’ve alluded to earlier, are God’s church, truth and His Word, the imagery is one of being silenced. The witnessing factor is dead. We know by this time that the gospel work is completed. This ties to the typology of Jesus. When His mission was complete, He was crucified (John 12:23, 13:1, 17:1). His voice was silenced.

The description of the beast “arising from the abyss” to do harm occurs as a final onslaught against the saints preceding its own demise. This is depicted in Revelation 17:8, “... is about to ascend from the abyss and he goes to destruction.”

“God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble.... The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble.”[9]

“I saw the time of trouble, such as never was … it was the time of Jacob’s trouble, and … we [will] … be delivered out of it by the voice of God. Just before we entered it, we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four Angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion.”[10]

“And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our [their] Lord was crucified. 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” (Revelation 11:8-9).

In the original Greek text, their dead bodies actually represent a single entity. The two witnesses are one. They are “dead” symbolically. The voice of truth (wherever it came from – people, the writer’s words or the church) is silent. That was graphically conveyed in the last verse. The work is completed.

But why the words “bodies ... in the street” exposed for everyone to see? For a brief time it will appear that the hostility and violence against God’s people and final work will have succeeded. This was birthed by the terrible misconception that the witnesses were the cause of the accelerating devastation on earth, which dramatically expanded with the Trumpets.

“And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14 – KJV).

Their voices are no longer heard. By the imagery portrayed here, the world gloats over its success. But unknowingly, their probation has ceased. It was a ghastly insult in the Jewish culture to leave a body unburied (Genesis 40:19; I Samuel 17:43-47; II Kings 9:10; Psalm 79:1-5; Isaiah 14:19-20; Jeremiah 8:1-2, 9:22). Using the unburied bodies as hyperbole, John portrays how jubilant and sadistic the apostate world has become.

What is the “great city?” It is puzzling to see so many viewpoints regarding what this city represents. John was given a vision in which he heard a warning angel cry out against Babylon as a fallen “great city” (Revelation 14:8). The Bible interprets itself.

Contextually, it is related to Sodom (the licentious city) and Egypt (the pagan anti-God kingdom). They symbolize all those in sinful rebellion and the wicked world in general. In Jeremiah 50 and 51 and Revelation 14–19 the end-time apostate city is Babylon. It is composed of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet – a false trinity, Satan and all who claim to be Christian. Within the realm of Christendom, claims of successful suppression of the work of God’s people will be heralded. It is interesting that this “great city” is contrasted with the “holy city” in verse 2.

•     The “holy city” is persecuted (God’s people – His chosen)

•     The “great city” persecutes (apostate people – Satan’s church)

This isn’t the first time that apostasy among those who assert loyalty to God is mentioned. He uses an association to Sodom (Isaiah 1:9-10, Jeremiah 23:14, Ezekiel 16:46-49) or Egypt (Hosea 8:13, 9:3; Joel 3:19). It reveals how low the churches have finally fallen.

Why is there the little phrase “where also their Lord was crucified?” This is not a hint at Jerusalem’s geography. It continues the revelator’s metaphoric expressions. It was apostate Jerusalem (the Jewish people) who crucified Jesus. It will be the apostate Babylon (the Christian world) that kills Christ in God’s witnesses at the end. The word “spiritually” reveals the typological freedom that John is inspired to use. Those geographic expressions are to be seen as moral lenses.

Note that it says where “their” Lord was crucified. This possessive word unequivocally ties this end-time force with those who are within the Christian world! This end-time prophecy relates to the apostate Christian world. Babylon is where Jesus is crucified afresh. This is more clearly addressed in Revelation 13 where the false prophet, the earth beast, representing apostate Protestantism in the United States, will lead the world in forming an image or copying the great rebellious work of the beast, the sea beast, typified by the Roman Catholic Church! (This identity is made pointedly clear in Revelation 16 and 17)! Fascinating is the information given in verse 7 – the “beast” out of Satan’s realm is leading in this final anti-Christ move. Who gives power to the beast? The dragon (Revelation 13:4), who is “that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan” (Revelation 12:9).

The persecution and martyrdom of God’s people and the silencing of their work is noticed by the whole world (people, kindreds, tongues and nations). This is amazing. For that to occur, the whole world’s attention has to have already been focused on those witnesses!! This is a powerful declaration as to how effective that last gospel call will be. It is an inditement of the non-Christian world in their hard inattention to a lost opportunity. They too “shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” They permit the mocking and insults against truth to continue.

The three and a half days provokes much opinion from Bible students. Many conclude that this is prophetic time (i.e., three and a half years) to coincide with the 1260 days and 42 months already referred to earlier in the chapter. Since the gospel work is already finished and Daniel 12 shows clearly that this last period of earth will be very brief, it must have a different meaning.

There is a “Messianic model” that is helpful to apply here. Jesus was not crucified until his work on earth was completed (John 12:23, 13:1, 17:1). The witnesses are “killed” only after their prophetic work is done. There is little to be gained now in a prolonged delay. Indeed, we soon will see God’s people ascend to heaven (vss 11-12).

Thus the three and a half days must represent either a partial week, completing a “whole” from another such period or simply an emphatic statement that this mockery will continue only a short time. Since this prophecy is full of hyperbole and since there were specific timing prophecies of three and a half years earlier, one of persecution and martyrdom of God’s people, the weight of evidence suggests it to mean a brief period. It is as if God is saying, “Okay, they had three and a half years to hurt my people. Their work is now done. You’ve silenced their cries. Just watch. That won’t last long. They are heaven-bound.” That really is exciting! The three and a half days are a beautiful “overstatement:” “Your glee will be short lived.”

“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” (Revelation 11:10).

This is a stunning verse. Twice – at its beginning and at its end – John refers to earth-dwellers. He used this language before. Notice the psychodynamic story of guilt it tells.

1.  Hour (period of time) of temptation (suffering and guilt) will come to them – because they disobeyed (3:10).

2.  The earth-dwellers are warned by God’s people of terrible judgments about to come – the three woes (8:13).

3.  They persecute and even kill God’s people – retaliation (6:10).

4.  Warning voices are silenced – they are happy (11:10).

Isn’t that amazing! It really portrays the world’s reaction to the Loud Cry warning of the 144,000. Why is this rejoicing, making merry and even exchanging gifts such an intense celebration? Fascinating are the words “because these two prophets tormented them.”

How has the populace of the earth been tormented (ebasanisan)? They have already experienced terrible devastation from the first four Trumpets. The horrifying anguish from this is depicted in Revelation 18:8-19. By the “earth-dwellers’” imagery noted above, the message that worse devastation is coming, the gospel call with its repentance and life changing invitation, will stir retaliatory guilt. The witnesses will have been silenced. This type of reaction is described in I Kings 18:17, 21:20, with Ahab’s spirit towards Elijah.

How earnest will the 144,000 cry be? “This message [third angel of Revelation 14:9-12] contains the last warning that men on probation will ever receive, as it is followed by the coming of the son of man to reap the harvest of the earth,–to ‘gather the wheat into his garner,’ and to cast the clusters of the vine of the earth into the winepress of the wrath of God. See verses 14-20. It is for this reason that it is given in such strong, such terrible language of threatening. The wrath which it denounces upon the worshipers of the beast and his image is contained in ‘the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.’ Rev. 15:1. Compare chap. 16:1, 2. That wrath ‘is poured out without mixture;’ for then judgment falls upon the incorrigible without mercy, because our saviour will then have finished his priestly work, and he will come, not to offer salvation, but to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel. 2 Thess. 1:6-9.”[11]

Their merry hearts will be short lived. Little do they realize that the task of the prophets is complete. The end is in sight, and what the remnant warned them would happen is now imminent. A similar situation existed in Egypt after the Israelites had begun their journey to the promised land (Psalm 105:38). But that “retaliatory joy” was short lived.

Is this event before, at or after the close of probation? That is not entirely clear to many expositors. Arguing for a period just after Christ’s completion of His priestly ministry is the myriad of things that occur at the brief time of Jacob’s Trouble. As soon as probation closes, the terrible battle of Armageddon and the Seven Last Plagues fall. Here are a few reasons why it appears as though nothing more can be compacted into that time:

1.  Daniel 12 makes it clear that the time of Jacob’s Trouble lasts only 45 days.

     “When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven.”[12]

2.  The fifth Trumpet lasts for five months (Revelation 8:5, 10). Thus it antedates that period of trouble which begins when the general probation closes (see earlier discussion on this fifth Trumpet).

3.  The fifth Trumpet reveals that the saints are already sealed – i.e., the work has been completed. This is before probation closes (Revelation 8:4).

     “The living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation.”[13]

4.  Elsewhere E. G. White separates the work and the close of probation.

     “God has not revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation will have an end.... It is our duty to watch and work and wait, to labor every moment for the souls of men that are ready to perish. We are to keep walking continually in the footsteps of Jesus, working in His lines, dispensing His gifts as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”[14]

5.  The whole world is in confusion right after probation closes when the four winds of strife are let loose.

      “Just before we entered it [the time of trouble], we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion.–7BC 968 (1846).”[15]

Suggesting it is primarily during that brief tribulation are these thoughts: “As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make the high places of the earth their sanctuaries and will thank God for ‘the munitions of rocks.’ Isaiah 33:16. But many of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; no human hand is ready to lend them help.”[16]

“Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal their testimony with their blood as did the martyrs before them. They themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry unto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard: ‘Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed His people?’ But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon Calvary’s cross and the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery: ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him’ (Matthew 27:42). Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease not their earnest intercession.”[17]

The work appears to have been completed. God’s people are sealed. Their voice is silenced.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20).

It is of interest to note that John here calls God’s two witnesses “prophets” for the first time. Jesus had said that John was to “prophesy” again (10:11) before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings – the earth-dwellers. When this verse occurs, that task has been completed.

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