Revelation 11:7

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

A. Just when the church is reaching into the entire world and exercising great power and influence, it will seemingly lose a war with Satan. It will seem that Satan has defeated the church.

B. The church will be (almost) non-existent on the earth. It will be invisible. If there are any still faithful, they will be in hiding.

C. The church will not have any power or influence in the world. As far as the world is concerned, the church has been dealt a fatal blow.

D. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, we have here a brief history of the church. It grew to great power. It was sent into the wilderness, in hiding, and seemed to be dead.

E. The beast that kills the two witnesses is the same beast discussed in 17:8 as a beast rising out of the bottomless pit. This is a clear statement that the source of the death of the church is Satan and his angels. (A full discussion of these beasts will be found in chapter 13.)