Revelation 11:12

 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.”  And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

·        The Lord’s witnesses must wait for their advancement, till God calls them (MH)

·        The earth is not worthy of these two witnesses, so God simply calls them home, and they ascended to heaven in a cloud.  (DG)

2 Kings 2:1  And it came to pass, when the LORD was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.

Isaiah 60:8  Who are these who fly like a cloud, and like doves to their roosts?

Revelation 11:11

 Now after the three-and-a-half-days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.

·        God’s witnesses may be slain, but they shall rise again. (MH)

·        Fear fell – a persecuting spirit, though cruel, is not a courageous, but a cowardly spirit (MH)

Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Psalm 14:5  There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous.

Revelation 11:10

 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

·        Their death was a matter of mirth and joy to the antichristian world. (MH)

·        The Antichristianity of the last days shall probably be under the name of philosophical enlightenment and civilization, but really man's deification of himself. Fanaticism shall lead Antichrist's followers to exult in having at last seemingly silenced in death their Christian rebukers.  (JFB)

Esther 9:22 …..from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.

Psalm 38:16  For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

Revelation 11:9

 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

·        They would not allow them a quiet grave; their bodies were cast out in the open street.  (MH)

·        The idea is also that the world treats these two witnesses in a humiliating manner. “To have his dead body lie in view of all was the worst humiliation a person could suffer from his enemies.” (Johnson)

Psalm 79:2  The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.

Deuteronomy 8:20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

Revelation 11:8

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

·        Antichrist should make war against them with open force and violence; and God would permit His enemies to prevail against His witnesses for a time. (MH)

·        The barbarous usage of these slain witnesses; the malice of their enemies, pursued even their dead bodies.  (MH)

Isaiah 1:9  Unless the LROD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.

Ezekiel 16:49  Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom:  she and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Revelation 11:7

 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

·        To make their testimony more strong, they must seal it with their blood (MH)

·        The time when they should be killed:  when finished with testimony.  They are immortal till their work be done (MH)

Daniel 7:3, 7, 8, 21  …..I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them.

Zechariah 14:2  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished.  Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Revelation 11:6

 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

·        The two witnesses have the power to bring both drought and plague, similar to the power Elijah (James 5:17-18) and Moses (Exodus 7-12) had.  (DG)

·        In the ancient Greek grammar, all the nouns used to speak of the two witnesses in this passage are in the masculine gender. The two witnesses are definitely two men. (DG)

Exodus 7:19-20 ….And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

1 Kings 17:1  And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”