What is the meaning of Revelation 11:8? Their bodies will lie in the street • “Their” points back to the two witnesses empowered by God (Revelation 11:3, 7). • Public exposure of corpses was a deliberate act of disgrace; Israel’s law condemned leaving a body unburied (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). • The scene underscores worldwide contempt for God’s messengers—people “from every tribe and tongue and nation will gaze on their bodies” (Revelation 11:9). • Similar moments of humiliation precede divine vindication (Psalm 79:2-3; 2 Kings 9:10), and here the stage is set for the witnesses’ resurrection (Revelation 11:11-12). of the great city • Revelation uses “great city” eight times; context distinguishes which city is meant. • Here, the added phrase “where their Lord was also crucified” limits the reference to Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). • Jerusalem is called “great” not only for its past election (Psalm 48:1-2) but also for its future role during the Tribulation, when “the nations will trample the holy city for forty-two months” (Revelation 11:2). • The label alerts us that the city’s destiny intersects both judgment and eventual restoration (Zechariah 14:2-4, 9). figuratively called Sodom and Egypt • John signals a symbolic description—Jerusalem will resemble: – Sodom: notorious for sexual immorality and arrogant sin (Genesis 19:4-5; Isaiah 1:10). – Egypt: emblematic of bondage, idolatry, and hostility toward God’s people (Exodus 1:13-14; Hebrews 11:26). • Prophets often used these names to indict Israel’s spiritual adultery (Ezekiel 16:46-58). • The pairing warns that the city will, at that moment, mirror the worst traits of both places—moral corruption and oppressive unbelief—inviting swift divine intervention (2 Peter 2:6; Jude 7). where their Lord was also crucified • The clause anchors the prophecy to a literal geographical point—Calvary just outside Jerusalem’s walls (John 19:17-20). • Christ is called “their Lord,” linking the witnesses’ suffering to His own (John 15:18-20). • The world thought the cross silenced Jesus; the Antichrist will assume the same about the witnesses, yet both deaths lead to triumph (Luke 24:6-7; Revelation 11:11-13). • The shared location highlights Jerusalem’s critical role in redemptive history: place of rejection, place of coming repentance (Zechariah 12:10). summary Revelation 11:8 reveals a future moment when two divinely empowered witnesses are slain and left unburied in Jerusalem. The city, once holy, will be so morally twisted that God likens it to Sodom and Egypt, yet the reference to the crucifixion grounds the event in literal Jerusalem. The world’s contempt will only magnify God’s power when He raises the witnesses, just as He raised His Son, proving that no display of human rebellion can overturn His sovereign plan. |
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