Revelation 11:10

And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.

What a mistake it is to refer this to the rejoicing of the whole world over the two fallen witnesses to some remote event following the alleged triumph of some Antichrist. There could hardly be an age of which these words are a better description than of our own. How is it that Christian people are able to live such comfortable and cozy lives in a society festering in gross sensuality, violence, irreligion, atheism, corruption, drunkenness, and debauchery? Morris answered that question thus:

"Surely it is because we are not true to the word of God."[64] The preaching of God's word with reference to the sins of mankind can never be anything but torment to them that hear it; and there is an urgent need for the tormentors to fulfill their mission in the world today.

How have the witnesses failed? In a spiritual sense, they are "dead," embalmed in socially contented churches that have eliminated from their "gospel" any such things as the wrath of God, the ravages of Satan, the lake of fire and brimstone, and the condemnation of popular sins such as sodomy, adultery, drunkenness, fraud, deception, falsehood, and violence.

The church of our day, in the larger reference, has perverted, changed, or forsaken the great doctrinal foundations upon which her life is constructed. These are listed in Hebrews 6 as: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment. What are the odds, really, that one could hear even one sermon on any one of these fundamentals on a given Sunday morning in any great city in America? Oh to be sure "faith" would be preached, but not in the great New Testament sense of "the obedience of faith."

In such comments, we do not assume any role of a Jeremiah. The prophecy which reveals this regards a time when the witnesses are "dead"; and to the extent that the witnesses are now "alive," our words do not apply; but it is frightening how much of the description seems to speak of current conditions. Are the witnesses truly "dead" today? In some limited context, they are not "dead"; and our prayer is that they may be much more "alive" than might seem to be indicated by the limited information of any single observer.

They that dwell on the earth ... This means everyone except the true and faithful church; that is, it means mankind in general. "This supports the view of the great city as the whole earth."[65]

Rejoice ... make merry . .. send gifts ... "A worldwide rejoicing and celebration occurs wherever the witnesses are silenced."[66] Amazing examples of this are often found in history. There were the celebrations in Paris when the Bible was condemned to death, tied to the tail of an ass ridden by a notorious prostitute, and dragged to the city dump; and again, when Robespierre was inaugurated as the High Priest of the God of Nature, all dressed up in a chartreuse jacket and robin egg blue trousers, in the vaunted Festival of the Supreme Being![67] Another example was that of the Nazis, in our own generation, who burned the Bibles at Nuremberg, launching the celebrations that culminated in the horrors of World War II. The glee felt by wicked men who feel that they have gotten rid of the church and of the word of God is indicated by this verse. Carpenter gave another example of it which took place with the "enthronement of a harlot in the sanctuary of Notre Dame in Paris."[68]

Because these two prophets tormented them ... Inherent in these words is the mission of all true witnesses of the truth of God to sinful people; it is that of being their tormentor, not in a vindictive or gloating sense, of course. The torment should not derive from the attitude of the tormentors, but from the content of their message faithfully delivered. Elijah was called a troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18:17); but the wicked king opposed to him was actually the one who was doing the troubling of God's people.

[64] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 64.

[65] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 227.

[66] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 347.

[67] Stanley Loomis, Paris in the Terror (Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1964), pp. 372,373.

[68] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 588.