The Beast From The bottomless Pit
“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. And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who live on the earth. And 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.” – Revelation 11:7-11
The great city here is contrasted with the holy city in v2. This is the first mention of the concept. Later in the book, the great city is equated with Babylon, the “great city that rules over the world” (Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21) although “great city” can also appear by itself again in 17:18 and 18:16. The contrast between the great city and the holy city here anticipates the strong spiritual interaction between Jerusalem and Babylon in the latter part of the book. The great city represents the power of evil in opposition to God, particularly at the very end of time.
So, there are a pair of contrasts implied in this verse. The beast is in opposition and contrast to the two witnesses of verses 3-6 while the great city is in opposition and contrast to the holy city of v2.
Sodom is an ancient city renowned for self-indulgence, luxury, adultery, lies, neglect of poverty, and unnatural sexual behaviour (see Genesis 18 and 19; Jer 23:14; Ezek 16:46-58; 2 Pet 2:7-8; Jude 7). Interestingly, while the story of Genesis 19 can be read as describing homosexual behaviour, this is not emphasized in the biblical summaries of Sodom’s sin.
Egypt was an ancient power in opposition to God and His people. It was not only known for its immorality, luxury and anti-law behaviour but in the Bible also for its self-sufficiency and atheism (Exod 5:2). The Egyptians felt self-sufficient because they depended on the Nile River, not rainfall, for their crops. The river overflows and waters the land that would otherwise be bone dry. It almost never rains in Egypt, yet it is easy to grow crops there because of the abundant water that flows in from further south in Africa.
The anti-God aspect of Exodus 5:2 is heightened when one realizes that the fifth trumpet (which also mentions Abyss), portrays the kind of secularism the world has experienced in the last century, as well as allusions to the plagues of Egypt, particularly locusts and darkness.
In the Greek, “their bodies” is actually “the body of them”– singular. But in verse 9 the plural is used (in verse 5 the two witnesses also have just one mouth between them). This surprising shift indicates that the two witnesses are not to be thought of as a pair of individuals. They are never separated, instead they function together like a single entity, symbolizing either the Scriptures or the church as a whole.
The two witnesses were to testify in sackcloth for 1260 years. This time came to an end in 1798. After this time a beast would arise to kill them. With what amazing accuracy has God foretold this period. As a result of the abuse of the people by the lords and barons, and the clergy keeping the people in ignorance, the time was ripe for rebellion against conditions prevalent of the age.
Across Europe, and particularly in France, there arose a cry for “The Age of Reason.” God was denounced and the Bible burned, while many lost their lives. The beast of atheism had arisen and killed the two witnesses.
The concept of “testimony” has two basic meanings in the Book of Revelation. Firstly, Sharing your faith to the world or secondly martyrdom for Christ as a result. In a crisis, people become martyrs because living without Jesus is more to be feared than dying with Him. The martyrs so cherished what Jesus had done in their lives that they could not conceive of living out of relationship with Him. When forced to make the choice, therefore, they chose death rather than deny him. And “the blood of martyrs became seed.” No witness to Christ is greater than that of one who calmly goes to death instead of denying Him.
After the close of the 1260 years, there is a final message to a dying world. The Abyss is the home of demons, the place where they are confined (Luke 8:31). So, the beast from the Abyss is either Satan or some civil power controlled by Satan. Around the time of the French Revolution, many people saw the events of their day forecast in this text. They believed that the attack on the two witnesses represented the atheist attacks on the Bible in the context of the Revolution.
Rejection is painful, especially when you care deeply about those who reject you. In ancient times it was considered the ultimate rejection to be refused burial (1 Kings 21:24; Jer. 8:1-2 and 14:16; Ps 79:2-3) after one’s death. And not only were the two witnesses left lying in the street, the wicked celebrated their humiliation by sending each other gifts like the Jews did after their deliverance in the time of Esther (Esth 9:19, 22).
But God reverses this rejection by breathing the breath of life into the two witnesses. Their resurrection fills their enemies with great fear. One of the consequences of the atheistic French Revolution was a great revival of interest in the Bible. The great Bible Societies were founded in the following decades. So, while the greatest attack against the Bible was in the 1790s; the 1800s saw the Word spread more widely than at any time in history. Missionaries began to cross the globe carry God’s word and translating it into the language of the people of all nations.
Thank so much Ross,
I am learning so much about revelation that I didn’t understand before.
Eg. sodom and Egypt , the two witness came alive in verse 11.
And so on.
Blessings
Elliette
Thank you for your feed back Elliette
PTL