Revelation 11:8; Sodom and Egypt
Revelation 11:8 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.
In civilized cultures, the burial of the dead is a solemn rite performed with dignity and respect. To leave corpses unburied and in public view is the height of indignity and shame. Here we are told the bodies of the two witnesses are left unburied on the main street of the great city as objects of contempt. [Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, p. 333). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House]
After their deaths, their dead bodies will be contemptuously left to lie as rotting corpses in the street of the great city where they ministered and where they were killed. In the ancient world, exposing an enemy’s dead body was the ultimate way of dishonoring and desecrating them. God forbade the Israelites to engage in that practice (Deut. 21:22–23).
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
The great city is Jerusalem, mystically (or better “spiritually”) called Sodom and Egypt due to its wickedness. Tragically, the city of Jerusalem that was once God’s city will be so overrun with evil that it will be like the wicked city of Sodom and the evil nation of Egypt. The description of Jerusalem as no better than Sodom and Egypt was to show that the once holy city had become no better than places which were known for their hatred of the true God and His Word. The footnote that the two witnesses will be killed in the city where also their Lord was crucified makes the identification of Jerusalem unmistakably clear. That the two witnesses will die in the same city as their Lord suggests that, as it was for Him, that city will be the focal point of their preaching. It also appears that Jerusalem will be the seat of Antichrist’s rule (cf. 2 Thess. 2:3–4).
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1999). Revelation 1–11 (pp. 303–304). Chicago: Moody Press.