Revelation 11:8

8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

A. The church would lie in public view, in the street, dead. While some part of the church would remain visible, it would, in reality, be dead.

B. The true church was taken over by an apostate church. This did not happen suddenly. It was a slow gradual process that took over 400 years. Small changes here and there were made. Things were added to the worship. The church developed a hierarchal system. It corrupted, changed, added, and eliminated many parts of the New Testament church. By 600 AD the church that was visible was NOT the church of first century. There was no resemblance between them.

C. The great city, Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified, was now called Sodom (because it was a city filled with sin) and Egypt (because it rejected Jehovah as Lord). Even today, Jerusalem is not a spiritual city. There is today, fighting in the streets. The location of Solomon’s temple is the site of a mosque of the Islam religion.

D. During a period we call the Dark Ages, the church was non-existent. Through this period the church that was visible (in the street) was a dead hulk of corruption and filth (a dead body).