Revelation 11:9

And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

Peoples ... tribes ... tongues ... nations ... This is no isolated event in one particular city, but a worldwide phenomenon. It is seen in Houston, New York, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Havana, etc., everywhere. It is simply impossible to refer the scene here to some Passover crowd in the literal Jerusalem, or to any other isolated and specific location and occasion. "Look upon their dead bodies three days and a half ..." Why do they do such a thing? Because unspiritual and apostate Christians take pleasure in the contemplation of the dead relics of what once was true and living faith. Long after churches have literally chiseled the name of the Son of God off the cornerstones of their houses of worship, and after they have denied his holy religion by the rejection of its great essential doctrine, and after they have made "their church" as worldly, unbelieving, and apostate as possible, do they "bury it"? No indeed! It becomes a favorite rendezvous of scoffing unbelievers. This example should not be misunderstood as a fabrication by this writer. Only compassion forbids our naming the mighty "church" near where this writer lived for seventeen years in Gotham, which actually did all that we have suggested. "The citizens of the great city are happy indeed to feast their eyes upon the dead witnesses. They are delighted now to see that the testimony of the Word to the nations will never be heard again."[58] And, as far as a given generation that rejects the word of God is concerned, this is exactly the way it is. However, in reality, neither the Word nor the Church, God's true witnesses, is ever actually destroyed, as indicated by Revelation 11:11.

And suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in the tomb ... Moffatt observed that the climax of pagan malice was "the refusal to let the bodies of the martyrs be buried by their friends."[59] Like many others, Moffatt here made the mistake of limiting the term "witnesses" to only one of its inherent meanings. These particular witnesses are indeed "martyrs," the Incarnate Word himself having died for all people, and the Church herself being entitled to the designation because of her countless sons who were actually martyrs; but here the far more appropriate meaning of "witnesses" is "those who testify to God's truth." We have already noted that a great many expositors seem to have "hung up" on this term as if it could only mean a certain class who gave up their lives for the faith. Moffatt also missed another point here, perhaps the biggest one in the passage, that being not the mere fact of the burial refused, but of the place where the dead were allowed to lie in the middle of the principal street! This absolutely forbids any literal understanding of this passage.

For three days and a half ... This does not mean merely half a week, but symbolizes a much longer period, but still far short of the thousand two hundred and three score days of the whole dispensation. Human nature being what it is, there is no way to imagine that actual dead corpses would be allowed to lie unburied on a literal city's principal street even for a literal three days and a half; not even the corpse of an animal would be allowed to remain in such a place for such a time. What is indicated is the attractiveness and acceptability of the witness of the "dead" churches.

Here is pictured the church accommodating herself to the ways of the world, proclaiming no unpleasant doctrine, demanding no painful sacrifices, and with the world hailing with satisfaction the prospect of an easy yoke and the cheap purchase of both time and eternity.[60]

Only this kind of a dead corpse would be allowed indefinitely a favored location on Broadway. Preachers and commentators indicating by every word they write or speak that they do not believe the Bible to be God's word at all have indeed "killed it" of any significance for those who are deceived by them; but do they "bury it" or even allow it to be buried? Certainly not. They continue to devote their lives to writing and talking about it.

How great is the delusion of the church, when her silver is turned to dross, her wine to water, and when her voice no longer torments them that dwell upon the earth.[61]

Many excellent examples of this phenomenon are visible in those scholarly enemies of the New Testament who deny, absolutely, that it is an inspired, divine revelation from God, but who nevertheless devote their whole lives to writing and lecturing about it. This writer's library is full of books which prove this. On these very verses describing the "great city" and its reaction to God's witnesses, one of those scholars commented that, "Like the monster (Satan), the great city is a myth!"[62] If that is the truth, why should he have favored mankind with a commentary on a myth? The very attention which he gives to the New Testament indicates that he knows that no part of it is a myth.

Inherent in this vision of the unburied dead is the amazing truth that:

Those who spurn the word, never get rid of it. The wicked cannot let it alone. The world cannot dismiss it. Their rejoicing over its silence keeps them busy.[63]

[58] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 345.

[59] James Moffatt, Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 418.

[60] Charles H. Roberson, op. cit., p. 74.

[61] Ibid., p. 75.

[62] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 138.

[63] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 346.