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From: Revelation 11:4-12

The Death and Resurrection of the Two Witnesses (Continuation)

[4] These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand
before the Lord of the earth. [5] And if any one would harm them, fire
pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm
them, thus he is doomed to be killed. [6] They have power to shut the
sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and
they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite
the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. [7] And when
they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the
bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them,
[8] and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city
which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was
crucified. [9] For three days and a half men from the peoples and
tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to
let them be placed in a tomb, [10] and those who dwell on the earth
will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because
these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.
[11] But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God
entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on
those who saw them. [12] Then they heard a loud voice from heaven
saying to them, "Come up hither!" And in the sight of their foes they
went up to heaven in a cloud.

Commentary:

3-6. The period of tribulation coincides with the length of time the
two witnesses prophesy. They call people to penance (symbolized by
their use of sackcloth). God protects them in a very special way; and
yet he does not spare them death or suffering; in the end, however,
they will be glorified in heaven. In the Apocalypse the identity of
the two witnesses is not given; they are referred to as "olive trees"
--the same language as used of Zerubbabel, a prince of the line of
David, and Joshua, the high priest (cf. Zech 3:3-14). But they are
assigned features of Elijah, who brought about a drought (cf. 1 Kings
17:1-3; 18:1), and Moses, who turned the Nile to blood (cf. Ex 7:14-
16). The enemies of Elijah and Moses were also devoured by fire from
heaven (cf. 2 Kings 1 :10; Num 16:35). However, because the two
witnesses testify to Jesus Christ and die martyrs, tradition
identifies them with St Peter and St Paul, who suffered martyrdom in
Rome, the city which the Book of Revelation later mentions
symbolically. Some early commentators (e.g. Ticonius and St Bede) saw
the two witnesses as standing for the Old and New Testaments; but this
interpretation has had little following. St Jerome ("Epist." 59) says
that they are Elijah and Enoch, and St Gregory the Great and others
give that interpretation ("Moralia", 9, 4).

What St John is doing is using a theme which occurs fairly frequently
in apocalyptic writings where Elijah and Enoch or other combinations
of prominent figures are portrayed as opponents of antichrist. His two
witnesses do have features of Elijah and Moses, both of whom bore
witness to Christ at the Transfiguration (cf. Mt 17:1-8 and par.).
However, the duration of the trial they undergo, and the entire context
of the passage, point rather to them standing for the prophetic witness
of the Church, symbolized by certain more outstanding witnesses, who
were present at the death of Christ, which took place in Jerusalem, and
who were also witnesses of his glorious resurrection. However, it is
the entire Church, right through the course of its history, that has
been given the prophetic role of calling men to repentance in the midst
of harassment and hostility: "The holy People of God shares also in
Christ's prophetic office: it spreads a broad and living witness to
him, especially by a life of faith and love and by offering to God a
sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips praising his name (cf. Heb 13:
15)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 12). "The Church announces the good
tidings of salvation [...] , so that all men may believe the one true
God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and may be converted from their
ways, doing penance (cf. Jn 17:3; Lk 24:27; Acts 2:38)" (Vatican II,
"Sacrosanctum Concilium", 9).

7-10. The prophet Daniel used four beasts to symbolize the empires of
the world as enemies of the people of Israel. In the Apocalypse the
beast stands for the enemy of the Church and the enemy of God. Further on
it will develop this theme and link the beasts to the dragon or Satan (cf.
13:2), and describe their defeat by Christ, the Lamb of God (cf. 14:1;
19:19-21).

The symbol of the beast is brought forward in this passage to show that
there will be a point, or various points, before the End when the
forces of evil will apparently win victory. Martyrdom silences the
voices of the witnesses of Jesus Christ who preach repentance; many
will rejoice over this and even deride those whose words or actions
they find uncomfortable, despite the fact that when a Christian bears
witness to the salvation that comes from Jesus he is motivated purely
by love. "Since Jesus, the Son of God, showed his love by laying down
his life for us, no one has greater love than he who lays down his life
for him and for his brothers (cf. 1 Jn 3:16; Jn 15:13). Some Christians
have been called from the beginning, and will always be called, to give
this greatest testimony of love to all, especially to persecutors.
Martyrdom makes the disciple like his Master, who willingly accepted
death for the salvation of the world, and through it he is conformed to
Him by the shedding of blood. Therefore the Church considers it the
highest gift and supreme test of love. And while it is given to few,
all however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow
him along the way of the cross amidst the persecutions which the Church
never lacks" ("Lumen Gentium", 42).

"The great city", whose name is not given, seems to be Jerusalem, which
in Isaiah 1:10 is called Sodom because it has turned its back on God.
However, when the writer tells us that it is "allegorically called
Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified" (v. 8), we may take
Jerusalem here to stand for any city or even any nation where
perversity holds sway (cf. Wis 19:14-17, which alludes to Sodom and
Egypt) and where Christians are persecuted and hunted down (cf. Acts
9:5). Thus, St Jerome ("Epist." 17) interpreted the names of Sodom and
Egypt as having a mystical or figurative meaning, referring to the
entire world seen as the city of the devil and of evildoers.

Further on, St John will identify the Rome of his time with this "great
city" (cf. 17:9).

Evil will triumph for only a limited period. Its reign is fixed to last
"three days and a half", to show its brevity and temporary character as
compared with the one thousand two hundred and sixty days (three years
and a half) for which the prophetic witness endures (cf. note on 11:
1-2).

11-13. Those who have given their lives to bear witness to Jesus will
also, through the power of the Holy Spirit, share in his resurrection
and ascension into heaven. The writer describes this by various
references to the Old Testament, references rich in meaning. The breath
of life which causes the witnesses to stand up, that is, to be
resurrected, reveals the power of the Spirit of God, which is also
described by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the dry bones which
become living warriors (cf. Ezek 37:1-14). The voice which calls them
up to heaven reminds us of what happened to Elijah at the end of his
life (cf. 2 Kings 2:11), and to certain other Old Testament saints like
Enoch (cf. Gen 5:24; Sir 44:16); according to certain Jewish traditions
(cf. Flavius Josephus, "Jewish Antiquities", IV, 8, 48), all of these
men were carried up into heaven at the end of their days on earth.

The exaltation of the witnesses is in sharp contrast with the
punishment meted out to their enemies, a punishment designed to move
men to conversion. The earthquake indicates that the chastisement is
sudden and unexpected; the number of those who die symbolizes a great
crowd (thousands) embracing all types (seven).

The prophecy of the two witnesses is a call to the Christian to bear
witness to Christ in the midst of persecution, even to the point of
martyrdom. It makes it quite clear that God does not abandon those who
boldly take his side. If the prophets of the Old Testament suffered
martyrdom, the same will happen in the new, only more so: the
messianic times have begun, persecution will grow in strength, but
the end of the world is approaching.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.