The Seventh Trumpet (Revelation 11:15-19)
▶ What are you most thankful for?
EXPLORE IT
▶ What did John observe? (Revelation 11:15)
| ▶ What did John hear? (Revelation 11:15) |
▶ What did the voices say about the reign of Christ? (Revelation 11:15)
▶ What group of people in addition to John head the heavenly voices? (Revelation 11:16)
| ▶ Where were the twenty-four elders seated? (Revelation 11:16) ▶ How did the twenty-four elders respond in the wake of the message of the heavenly voices? (Revelation 11:16) ▶ How did the elders describe “the Lord God Almighty”? (Revelation 11:17) |
▶ Why were the elders thankful to God? (Revelation 11:17)
▶ How did the elders describe the nations of the world? (Revelation 11:18)
▶ In the elder’s prayer what “time has come”? (Revelation 11:18)
▶ Who did the elders describe as deserving a reward? (Revelation 11:18)
▶ Who did the elders describe as deserving destruction? (Revelation 11:18)
▶ What happened in the heavenly temple of God after the prayer of the elders? (Revelation 11:19)
▶ What spectacular phenomena accompanied the opening of the temple? (Revelation 11:19)
GET IT
▶ How is the promise that God will reign over the earth significant to you?
▶ For what do we have to be thankful to God?
APPLY IT
▶ For what spiritual and material blessings will you spend some time today thanking God? How?
Commentary
INTRODUCTION: The sounding of the seventh trumpet marks a significant milestone in the book of Revelation. It sets in motion the final events leading up to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the establishment of His earthly millennial kingdom. Revelation 10:7 expresses the finality of the seventh trumpet: “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.” That mystery is the full revelation of the consummation of God’s plan. It was prophesied by the Old Testament preachers, but its fullness was never revealed until the book of Revelation. That the seven bowl judgments, which represent the final outpouring of God’s wrath, are included within the seventh trumpet is evident from 15:1: “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.” Those “seven plagues” that finish God’s wrath are the seven bowl judgments: “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’” (16:1). Since both, the seventh trumpet and the seven bowls are said to finish God’s wrath, the bowls must be part of the seventh trumpet judgment.
The last three of the seven trumpet judgments are so horrific that they are referred to as woes. In 8:13 John “heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!’” After the sounding of the fifth trumpet John wrote, “The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things” (9:12). Before the sounding of the seventh trumpet he added, “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly”(11:14).
The seventh trumpet sets in motion the final consummation of God’s redemptive plan for the present universe. During its tenure will come the final fury of the Day of the Lord judgments (16:1-21), the final harvest of judgment on earth (11:18; 16:19), and the Lamb’s defeat of the kings of the earth (17:12-18), culminating in the final, climactic triumph of Christ at Armageddon (19:11-21). The sounding of the seventh trumpet signals God’s answer to the prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). That answer sweeps through chapters 12-22 as God finishes His mighty work of reclaiming creation from the usurper, Satan.
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. (11:15-17)
Though its effects on earth were delayed (as with the seventh seal; 8:2-5), there was an immediate response in heaven when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet. Expressing exhilaration at what was about to take place, there came loud voices in heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” That dramatic proclamation is obviously connected to the effects of the seventh trumpet. There is unrestrained joy that the power of Satan is to be forever broken, and Jesus Christ is to reign supreme as King of kings and Lord of lords. With the defeat of the usurper, the question of sovereignty over the world will be forever settled. What Jesus refused to take on Satan’s terms (Luke 4:5-8) He will take on His own terms. Heaven rejoices that the long rebellion of the world against God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is about to end. The setting up of Christ’s long-awaited kingdom is the apex of redemptive history.
All of the world’s diverse national, political, social, cultural, linguistic, and religious groups are in reality one kingdom under one king. That king is known in Scripture by many names and titles, including the accuser (Rev. 12:10), the adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), Beelzebul (Matt. 12:24), Belial (2 Cor. 6:15), the dragon (Rev. 12:3, 7, 9), the “evil one”(John 17:15), the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), the roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8), the ruler of the demons (Mark 3:22), the ruler of this world (John 12:31), the serpent of old (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), the tempter (1 Thess. 3:5), and, most commonly, the devil (Matt. 4:1) and Satan (1 Tim. 5:15). Though God scattered this kingdom at the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9), Satan still rules over the pieces of the once united kingdom. As he did at Babel, Satan will rule in the future over a united fallen mankind in one visible kingdom under Antichrist’s (the Beast of 13:1-4) leadership.
Satan will not relinquish his kingdom without a struggle. In a desperate and doomed effort to maintain control of the world, God will allow him to overrun it with hordes of demons during the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments (9:1-19). But his efforts will not keep the true King from returning and establishing His earthly kingdom (19:11-21; 20:1-3, 10). Jesus Christ will return to sit on the throne of His father David (2 Sam. 7:12-16) and take over the whole world from the satanically controlled people who now possess it. This is really the theme of Revelation-the triumph of God over Satan as evil is purged from the world and Christ becomes its holy ruler.
Zeroing in on one particular group in heaven offering praise, John notes that the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces (5:8, 14; 7:11; 19:4) and worshiped God. As representatives of the glorified, raptured church (see the discussion in chapter 11 of this volume), these elders had been eagerly waiting for Christ to take back the earth from the usurper. Their joyous cry of praise is filled with gratitude: “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign” and reflects their exhilaration that their prayers for the kingdom to come (Matt. 6:10) have been answered.
And the nations were enraged (11:18a) The seventh trumpet vision reveals that, no longer afraid (6:15-17), the impenitent nations were defiant and enraged at the prospect of Christ’s kingdom being established over the whole earth. The verb translated were enraged suggests a deep-seated, ongoing hostility. This was not just a momentary emotional fit of temper but a settled burning resentment against God. Eventually, they will assemble armies to fight God (16:14, 16; 20:8-9). With no desire to repent of sin, angry resentment, and hostility against heaven (16:11) will drive the nations to gather for their destruction at Armageddon (Ps. 2:1, 5, 12; Acts 4:24-29).
And Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth. (11:18b)
The coming of God’s wrath, like the coming of Christ’s kingdom (v. 15), is so certain that it can be spoken of as if it had already happened. Those who think that a loving God will not pour out His wrath on them cling to a false and dangerous hope.
The sounding of the seventh trumpet marks the fulfillment of the great judgment event that the prophets foresaw, and saints of all ages have longed for (Ps. 3:7; 7:6; 35:1-8; 44:26; 68:1-2). It will be the time when God pours out His wrath on His enemies. Not only will the seventh trumpet signal the outpouring of God’s wrath on earth, it will also indicate that the time has come for the dead to be judged.
The judgment will first be the time for God to reward His bondservants the prophets and the saints and those who fear His name, the small and the great. Though the power to serve God in a way worthy of reward is a gift of God’s grace, still all through the New Testament believers are encouraged to work in view of those promised rewards. In 22:12 Jesus declared, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” To the Corinthians Paul wrote, “Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor” (1 Cor. 3:8; Matt. 5:12; 10:41-42; Mark 9:41; Col. 3:24; 2 John 8). The reward promised believers is that they will inherit the kingdom, in both its millennial (Matt. 25:34-40; Mark 10:29-31) and eternal (Rev. 21:7) phases.
Believers are also promised crowns, including the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), the crown of life (James 1:12; Rev. 2:10), and the crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4).
Another group to be rewarded is the saints, further defined as those who fear Your name (Ps. 34:9; 85:9; 103:11; 115:13; 147:11; Eccl. 8:12; Luke 1:50). Saints is a common biblical description for the redeemed in both the Old and New Testaments (e. g. 5:8; 8:3-4; Ps. 16:3; 34:9; Dan. 7:18; Matt. 27:52; Acts 9:13; 26:10; Rom. 1:7; 8:27; 12:13; 1 Cor. 6:1-2; 14:33; 16:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; 8:4; Eph. 1:15; 2:19; 6:18; Phil. 4:21-22; Col. 1:2, 4, 12; 1 Thess. 3:13; 2 Thess. 1:10; 1 Tim. 5:10; Philem. 5, 7; Heb. 6:10; Jude 3). All of God’s saints, from the small to the great (an all-inclusive term; 13:16; 19:5, 18; 20:12; Deut. 1:17; 2 Kings 23:2; Job 3:19; Ps. 115:13; Jer. 16:6; Acts 26:22), will receive rewards.
The judgment will also destroy those who destroy the earth. That is not a reference to those who pollute the environment, but to those who pollute the earth with their sin. That includes all unbelievers, especially in the context of Revelation the false economic and religious system called Babylon (19:2), Antichrist and his followers, and Satan himself, the ultimate destroyer. The apostle Paul wrote that the “mystery of lawlessness”(2 Thess. 2:7) is already at work in the church age, but during the Tribulation period it will reach its pinnacle of destructive activity, shredding the very fabric of society in every evil way. Given stewardship and dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28), man instead fell into sin and throughout his history has continually corrupted the earth (Rom. 8:19-21). When that corrupting reaches its apex, God will destroy the earth and create a new one (21:1; Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:12-13).
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. (11:19) Bound up in the seventh trumpet is the promise to believers of unbroken fellowship with God forever. That fellowship is symbolized by the imagery of verse 19. The opening of the temple of God which is in heaven revealed the ark of His covenant. The ark symbolizes that the covenant God has promised to men is now available in its fullness. The ark symbolizes God’s communion with the redeemed because it was there that blood sacrifices were offered to atone for men’s sins (Lev. 16:2-16; Heb. 9:3-7). But along with the ark in the heavenly temple there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Similar events are associated with God’s majestic, glorious heavenly throne in 4:5. In 8:5 and 16:17-18 they are associated with judgment.
THINK ABOUT THIS: Judgment day is coming. The kingdoms of this world are living on borrowed time, and Christ will return to reclaim His world from the wicked. This is the great hope of His people. The Lord Jesus will not forget their service to Him but will reward His faithful servants richly in His everlasting kingdom. Be encouraged, dear believer; serve the Lord with zeal, and begin the business of heaven now by worshiping God with holy fear.
Comments
Post a Comment