“After 3 1/2 days the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who watched them. The witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, ‘Come up here.’ They went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified. They gave glory to the God of heaven” (Revelation 11:11-13 GW).
Earlier in Revelation 11:9, we discovered that a globally diverse audience will convene to view the lifeless bodies of God’s witnesses and refuse to grant them an honorable burial. Prior to the dawn of the 20th century, a person reading that passage may have assumed that a large international audience had gathered to witness this spectacle in person.
But satellite and high-speed internet technologies now enable us to view global events as they happen. Those options didn’t exist when the book of Revelation was first written. But they exist today, and it’s easy to see how those technologies might enable populations from every tribe, language, and nation to view this exhibition in large screen, high definition color.
So for three and a half days, multitudes will celebrate the demise of these witnesses. Much like a festive holiday, people will exchange gifts “…and throw parties to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them so much…” (Revelation 11:10 TLB). These witnesses served as a painful and irritating reminder of the God they sought to dismiss, and many rejoiced over their deaths.
Then, as now, people are known by what they celebrate, and these joyous crowds were no exception. The witnesses of Revelation 11:3-7 inflicted great distress upon the populations of a world that rejected its Creator. From the perspective of these multitudes, their demise was cause for celebration. But that party will suddenly come to an abrupt end: “After three and a half days a life-giving breath came from God and entered them, and they stood up; and all who saw them were terrified” (Revelation 11:11 GNB).
So, those who held these witnesses in contempt will suddenly realize the enormity of their error. Revelation 11:13 tells us that seven thousand of them will pay for that mistake with their lives by way of an earthquake that destroys ten percent of the city. This event will be the catalyst that subsequently moves these remaining survivors to honor God with the respect and reverence He is rightfully due.