Sodom and Egypt

"And I will grant My two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. And if any one would harm them, fire pours out from their mouth and consumes their foes; if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed. 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. 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, 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. 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, 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." (Revelation 11:3-10 RSV)

Jesus Christ Was Crucified In Jerusalem

Jesus Christ was plainly, absolutely-for-certain as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, and by His own testimony, crucified in Jerusalem. Anyone who denies that fact denies that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, the true and only Messiah:

"And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way He said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised on the third day." (Matthew 20:17-19 RSV)

We therefore know with certainty that Christ's true two witnesses will also be killed in Jerusalem:

"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." (Revelation 11:8 RSV)

Why is Jerusalem "allegorically called Sodom and Egypt"?

Sodom is an obvious symbol of sinful humanity and the blazing fate that awaits the defiant unrepentant (see Planet On Fire!), but again, specifically by the Messiah's own testimony, Sodom is also a symbolic example of how God's people should escape the coming wrath at The Return Of Jesus Christ. The Messiah plainly and specifically used Sodom in reference only to Jerusalem in warning His people to hastily get out of the city on that day, just like Lot did from the literal Sodom, when a specific event is witnessed. Jesus Christ when speaking (Revelation 1:1) in Revelation 11:8 was quoting Himself from Luke 17:29-32 regarding Sodom:

"So when you see the desolating sacrilege [see The Abomination of Desolation] spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea [Jerusalem is in Judea] flee to the mountains; let him [i.e. who is in Jerusalem] who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his mantle." (Matthew 24:15-18 RSV)
"on the day when Lot went out from Sodom fire and sulphur rained from heaven and destroyed them all - so will it be on the day when the Son of man is revealed. On that day, let him [i.e. who is in Jerusalem] who is on the housetop [a repetition by Luke of what Matthew recorded above], with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away; and likewise let him who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:29-32 RSV)

Egypt was the place where the Israelites were held in physical captivity before they were physically liberated by their deliverer. The entire world today is in a spiritual Egypt, a captivity by the "god of this world," Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3, see Who Still Rules The World Today?). Both physical Egypt and spiritual Egypt involve a Deliverer.

"that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9 RSV)
"the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4 RSV)
"I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:23-25 RSV)
"The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob" (Romans 11:26-27 RSV)

In the last days, according to the Word of God, Jerusalem will be the prime focus of the world's spiritual captivity and blindness (the last Pope will have moved, or be spending most of his time there with The Antichrist by then - and they will be directly responsible for the killing of the two witnesses after God withdraws His protective power from them at the appointed time of their martyrdom i.e. Revelation 11:3-13), where the nations will actually attempt to fight Jesus Christ at His return:

"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it; for these are days of vengeance, to fulfil all that is written." (Luke 21:20-22 RSV)
"These are of one mind and give over their power and authority to the beast; they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." (Revelation 17:13-14 RSV)

Fact Finder: On the day of the Return of Jesus Christ, will the first place that His feet touch the ground be the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem?
Zechariah 14:3-4 and see The Mount Of Olives

Daily Bible Study Library
Thousands of Studies!
Jesus Christ
Bible History
Prophecy
Christian Living
Encouragement

Eternal Life
By The Book
Bible Places
Curiosities
The Spirit World

editionDBSx201702et