Finally, some equate the great city, where our Lord was crucified, with Jerusalem. But again, it’s symbolic language, not literal. You’ll find this throughout Revelation.
Jerusalem is not Sodom and Egypt. It’s talking about Paris, France at the end of the 1260 days (years).
The French Revolution’s radical factions at the end of the 1700’s embraced libertine excesses, and the moral upheaval (e.g., public executions, societal breakdown) = Sodom’s decadence.
France’s oppression of the church and its replacement of God with Reason mirror Egypt’s enslavement of God’s people and idolatry. The state’s authoritarian control during the Reign of Terror fits this imagery.
Literally, Jesus wasn’t crucified in France. Symbolically however, the rejection of Christianity and the Bible is the “crucifixion” of Christ’s presence and authority.
The witnesses’ bodies lying in the street symbolize the public desecration of scripture and faith during the Reign of Terror. Bibles were burned, and Christian symbols were mocked openly in Paris’s streets.
The “three and a half days” (v. 9) are literal years, not days, corresponding to the roughly 3.5 years from the de-Christianization peak (1793) to the Directory’s moderation (1797).
France, especially Paris, was a “great city” in power and influence. Its revolutionary ideology spread across Europe, resonating with the global spectacle of verse 9 (“people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see”).
The rejoicing over the witnesses’ death (v. 10) reflect the revolutionaries’ celebration of overthrowing religion. The explicit rejection of the Bible and elevation of Reason were a spiritual rebellion akin to Sodom and Egypt.
In 1793, the French Republic aggressively suppressed Christianity. Churches were closed, priests executed or forced to renounce faith, and the Bible was publicly rejected as a relic of superstition.
On November 10, 1793, the Festival of Reason transformed Notre Dame Cathedral into a “Temple of Reason,” with an actual young woman symbolizing Reason enthroned. This marked a terrible shift to secular, rationalist ideology over biblical faith:
The guillotine claimed thousands, including clergy and nobility, reflecting a “war” against traditional religious order, akin to the beast’s attack in Revelation 11:7.
God has given us a physical symbol as well as history that helps show this too. Look at this photo. Now go back to the text – “Spiritually Sodom and EGYPT“. Look at the picture below. Recognize this? What is a Pyramid doing there? And guess where it is – The Louvre – Paris, France – spiritually Sodom and Egypt:
