Revelation 11 and the World’s Lasting Witness

Death and Resurrection of the Two Witnesses in Jerusalem

Death of the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11

My most recent podcasts and newsletters have focused on the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11, who minister in Jerusalem and use the sealing power to protect the city and her Jewish inhabitants during the last 3½ years before the Second Coming (D&C 77:15; Revelation 11:3–6).

The Gentiles gathered against Jerusalem during Armageddon will ultimately kill the Two Witnesses:

“When they shall have finished their testimony.”
Revelation 11:7

Their lifeless bodies will remain unburied to show contempt and dishonor, as explained by Craig Keener:

"Refusing to bury the dead was the greatest cruelty one could offer throughout the ancient world [e.g., Isaiah 5:25] and was usually a mark of grave impiety as well."

— Craig S. Keener, IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2nd ed., p. 750

John states that the dead bodies of the Two Witnesses:

“Shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”
Revelation 11:8

The city is Jerusalem, not ancient Rome or mystical Babylon.

• Sodom metaphorically describes Jerusalem’s wickedness before the Second Coming.
• Egypt describes her oppression, just as ancient Egypt oppressed the Israelites.

Sadly, Jerusalem will once again be the place where the Lord’s prophets are killed. As Bruce R. McConkie observed:

“A great many prophets have ministered in her streets…. [I]n apostate periods, she has slain the living prophets and rejected their teachings, while building the sepulchres of those whom their fathers had rejected and slain [Matt. 23:13-39; Luke 13:33-35]. Indeed, so great is to be the wickedness in latter-day Jerusalem that ‘spiritually’ she ‘is called Sodom and Egypt’ [Rev. 11:8].”

— Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp. 531–532

In a very literal sense, the testimony of the Two Witnesses will continue even in death because the whole world will witness their unburied bodies for the literal period of 3½ days. As Warren Wiersbe noted:

“Even this indecency will be used by God to bear witness to mankind.”

— Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, New Testament, 2nd ed., p. 1062

The Resurrection of the Two Witnesses

When the Two Witnesses are martyred, the wicked world:

“Shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.”
Revelation 11:10

After 3½ days, however, they will be resurrected:

“The Spirit of life from God enter[s] into them.”
Revelation 11:11

These modern prophets will be mortal men who literally die and literally resurrect. The wicked who rejoiced in their death will be shocked and full of fear when the two dead prophets suddenly stand on their feet and ascend into heaven in view of the whole world.

The Two Witnesses will resurrect when they hear the voice of Christ:

“From heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.”
Revelation 11:12

Notice that we hear the voice of Christ but do not see Him. That’s because the resurrection of the Two Witnesses does not coincide with the Second Coming.

With their resurrection at the end of the Second Woe (Revelation 11:14), the morning of the first resurrection will resume for exaltation-worthy saints. The Second Coming does not occur until the physical and spiritual cleansing of the earth is complete at the end of the Third Woe (Revelation 16).

These separate events are close in time—perhaps just days apart—but one event does not describe the other.

Learn More

For more on the chronological connection between the death and resurrection of the Two Witnesses and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, listen to my podcasts from:

🎧 August 17, 2025 – → Listen here

🎧 August 19, 2025 – → Listen here

John Cassinat
Unveiling Jesus Christ