Revelation 11:11-14 meaning

The witnesses sent to prophesy have been killed and mocked for a set period of time. But as we are constantly reminded throughout Revelation, God is in control. And while He may allow Satan to win for a time, that time is limited and God will ultimately prevail.

We see that there are three and a half days when the dead bodies of the two witnesses are laid out and allowed to be mocked by the entire world. Then, after the three and a half days, the two witnesses will be resurrected and ascend into heaven:

But 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. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them (vs. 11-12).

We’ve seen before that God has the power to raise people from the dead (Luke 8:49-56, John 11:43-44). We have also seen where God has brought someone up to heaven without dying (Genesis 5:24, 2 Kings 2:15). After three and a half days, the two witnesses rise again. The breath of life from God came into them. This is the same basic description used in Genesis 2:7 to describe the first man, Adam, being given the breath of life. Clearly, God is the author and giver of life.

After the two witnesses are given new life, which causes great fear to fall on those who were watching them, we get an indication in verse 9 that the entire earth is looking on. We can presume that they are filled with great fear because they expect even greater plagues to come upon them. This will be the case, but it will not be plagues pronounced by the two witnesses.

Then a loud voice from heaven says “Come up here.” In the past, God’s voice spoken from heaven has connected God with Jesus, His faithful witness (Matthew 3:17, 17:5). In this case it would seem God seeks to create a testimony to the earth that these are His witnesses who have been faithful, even as Jesus was faithful.

They now ascend up into heaven in the cloud. In Acts 1:9, we learn that when Jesus ascended, “a cloud received Him out of their sight.” This appears to be the same basic picture of ascension into heaven. It would seem God desires the people of earth to know that these witnesses faithfully testified on His behalf. But this event alone does not seem to sway the people of earth, whose hearts are hardened.

First God rescues His faithful witnesses and brings them to be with Him, but then He brings destruction on those who did not listen to the two prophets and scorned them:

And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly (vs. 13-14).

The earlier plagues were not enough to motivate the people to repent (Revelation 9:20-21), but this, the second woe, has brought those who remain alive to their knees. They were terrified, and rightly so, by the power that God displayed, and gave glory to the God of heaven. 

Glory is something being recognized for what it is. So the people giving God glory means that they recognize that He is in control and is Lord over everything. They recognize that these plagues are coming from Him. Perhaps that means some of them repent and turn to God.

The last two chapters have been an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet’s sounding. The fifth and sixth trumpets are the first and second of three “woes” (Revelation 8:13). Now the second woe is past, meaning the sixth trumpet judgment is completed. This leaves only the third woe, which is coming quickly. The third woe will be the seventh and final trumpet judgment.