Revelation 11:11, commentary and pictures

The two witnesses are the Scriptures, the Word of God. The verse belongs to the prophecy of the suppression of the Scriptures during papal oppression, foretelling the terrible results of the domination of the man of sin, especially upon France. In its context the forty and two months and the thousand two hundred and threescore days are the same, alike representing the 1260 years of papal supremacy from A.D. 538 to 1798. That period terminated when a French army entered Rome, made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile, after which though a new pope was elected the papal hierarchy never wielded the power it before possessed. The persecution of the church did not continue throughout the entire period, for God in mercy cut short the fiery trial and through the Reformation brought persecution to an end before 1798.

After being slain by the blasphemous power from the bottomless pit, the witnesses lie silent for three days and a half, which are three and a half years from the decrees of the French Assembly in 1793 abolishing the Christian religion and setting aside the Bible to the resolution of the same body three and a half years later rescinding those decrees and granting toleration to the Scriptures. The Spirit of life from God entering into them and their standing upon their feet is God giving them life and the revival of the Bible from silence and apparent defeat into toleration and renewed recognition of its importance. The great fear falling on those who saw them is the world standing aghast at the enormity of guilt, misery, and consequences that resulted from rejecting the Sacred Oracles, recognizing that faith in God and His Word is the foundation of virtue and morality, with the resulting guilt and terror making people glad to return to faith. In that revival God vindicates Himself against those who reproached and blasphemed Him, causing them to know His hand and might and that His name is Jehovah.

The verse is part of the eleventh chapter, which with the eighteenth chapter must be read verse by verse to learn the things yet to take place in the cities. It gives God's special indication of a wonderful display of His power in destruction because of the sins of cities, as shown in a city recently destroyed. It warns those who witnessed that destruction and believe the prophecies not to ignore or make light of it. They are not to flatter themselves about superior future buildings or defiantly rebuild and invest their means as before, lest God exercise His power to counteract their efforts. They are to hear His voice, make amends for wrongs done to fellow men and abuse of privileges, and come out from sin lest they share its plagues.