Christ Jesus had instructed his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations because he had been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18–19). The disciples had begun to do so, and over the centuries of church history the church has continued to do so (e.g., the witnesses of Revelation 11:3). But everywhere on the face of the earth the church meets resistance; there is no people or tribe or language or nation that is attracted to the gospel. On the contrary, from every corner of the globe people make their pilgrimage to gaze at the bodies of the two dead witnesses.
9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,