The season God had allotted to the witnesses to prophesy (the 1,260 days of Revelation 11:3) is over (Revelation 11:7). So the protection the Lord had afforded these witnesses is taken away. The Lord God, then, permits the beast’s victory over these representatives of his church and permits their murder. Their demise stands in stark contrast to the power these witnesses earlier had (Revelation 11:5–6.
7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,