The rejoicing of the world was short-lived. After three and a half days breath of life from God entered the witnesses. Note that in Genesis 2:7 God breathed the breath of life into Adam. One key element of all of John's writings (gospel, letters and this) is the fundamental opposition of the world to God. Notions that the world is somehow nice and if only the church was nice enough to the world everyone would believe is plain nonsense.
The witnesses rose up and the world was terrified. The witnesses were then called up to be with the Lord. So the time of "triumph" of the world lasted only for a short time. Now the three and a half days should not be taken literally, rather it signifies a short time of the triumph of evil. However, if you are going through this time then it will seem like forever because it will be so horrific. The situation that Christians (and others) are going through in Syria and Iraq is thankfully unimaginable to most of us. However, it will not last forever.
We should be aware that Revelation was not given by God so that we can indulge in idle speculations, but as a source of strength, wisdom and hope for those going through severe times.
No matter what we do go through, the end result is that we will be taken up to be with the Lord.
As an aside, I guess that the three and a half years mentioned earlier, and verse 12 here are the grounds for mid-tribulation rapture. There is certainly no support for pre-tribulation rapture. After the witnesses had been taken up more terror fell upon the earth. This time the survivors give glory to God.
My approach to interpreting these things is that we are looking largely at events or themes, rather than being given a strict chronological sequence of events. I could be wrong, but for what it is worth that is the line I am taking.
The second woe has now passed.
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