Revelation 11:7-8; And Kill Them

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

Revelation 11:7-8 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

The beast will overcome and kill them. In his discourse on the end time, Jesus encourages the believers by saying, “Matthew 24:21-22 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” The beast’s primary attack is on the message and secondarily on the messengers; he kills the messengers to silence the message. When at the end of time unbelievers reject the message, God withdraws both message and messengers, permitting the Antichrist to kill the saints. “It is not a literal prediction that every faithful Christian will in fact be put to death. But it does require that every faithful Christian must be prepared to die.”

 Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, p. 333). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

During the years of the martyrs Christians fled into the underground caverns outside Rome in almost 600 miles of molelike tunnels.

Ten generations of Christians were buried in the catacombs during approximately 300 years of suppression. No one knows the exact number, but archaeologists estimate between 1,750,000 and 4,000,000 Christians were interred in the dark tunnels.

Inscriptions of Scripture can still be seen on the catacomb walls. One of the most frequent inscriptions is the sign of the fish. But the inscription which best describes their faith says: “The Word of God is not bound.”

There were two sets of expressions found in the Catacombs which indicated the most cherished beliefs of the early Christians regarding the state of their loved ones in the hereafter. The first “In peace” or “In sleep,” was repeated in almost every epitaph. The second set of expressions which usually occurred after the mention of “peace” referred to the life which follows sleep. The terms used were “Live in God,” or “Thou livest in God.”

—James Burns

 Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 785). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed arethe dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 

Amen.