The Seventh Trumpet, Revelation Chapter 11
Verses 15-19 (NASB)
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And the SEVENTH angel sounded;
This is the last "trumpet" judgment (Revelation
8:2,6). It coincides
with the third
woe (verse 14) and
contains the portion
(Revelation
11:16 - Revelation 19:11) with the seven bowls.
and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying,
Not clear if these are angelic or saintly or both. There is no context
here other than the previous announcements (Revelation
10:1,3) were by a
strong angel with a
loud voice.
"The KINGDOM OF THE WORLD has become THE KINGDOM OF OUR
LORD,
and of HIS CHRIST;
Kingdom(s) are what Satan offered Jesus at temptation time (Luke
4:1-13). Satan even admitted 'they were handed over to him' so he
got them from somoone else. Now that SOMEONE has acquired the 'Kingdom
of the World' again. The world has to be reacquired from the devil such
that he will not have any authority there when he is kicked out of
heaven (Revelation 12:9).
and He will reign FOREVER AND EVER."
There will not be a possibility that another "fallen angel" will
acquire the Kingdom of the World. This is a FINAL solution; the end of
Satan's rule. The interpretation of Daniel to a worldly king's dream (Daniel
2:36-44-45) indicates after this king there would be other
kingdoms, and then a FOREVER kingdom. Psalm
2:1-6, Psalm
45:6-9, and Revelation
19:6 talk
about this 'FOREVER and EVER' kingdom.
And the twenty-four ELDERS, who sit on their thrones
BEFORE GOD,
Immediately after John's invitation into heaven (Revelation
4:1), we see the THRONES and
ELDERS (Revelation 4:4).
At that time
before the 'seal judgments', they had fallen down and worshiped (Revelation 5:8).
This is the last reference in the Revelation to the 24
THRONES. They
have been made unnecessary by the establishment of the kingdom of our
Lord. Later, in Revelation
19:4, we see
the ELDERS falling down and worshipping God again, but there is no
mention of the THRONES.
Notice that the focus of attention is BEFORE GOD. This is what
God
demands: that we do all BEFORE HIM!
fell on their faces and worshiped God,
This is the whole consuming activity of 'redeemed
men' as represented by the 24 ELDERS. The apostile Paul refers to
'redeemed' as the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God
and glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians
3:3). On earth, we have the Holy Spirit and the glory of Christ; in
heaven, we worship GOD!
Notice that the tense of the verb in Revelation
4:10 is "will worship"; here, it is "worshiped" (past active)
meaning it started in the past and is ongoing.
Lastly, the act of worship here in the Revelation is face downward
in complete subjection and humility. This is the opposite of the way
many Pentacostal churches today conduct "Praise and Worship" with hands
raised and faces looking upward. This may be the difference of how it
is in the 'kingdom of the world' in which we are now and the 'kingdom
of the Lord' in the future. It is curious that we don't practice
worship today as it will be done in the 'kingdom of our Lord'.
saying
"We give Thee Thanks,
All our worship of God should begin with THANKS.
O Lord God, the Almighty,
This is the fullest, most majestic title of God. There is no doubt to
WHOM this thanksgiving is directed. Recall that Satan wanted Jesus to
WORSHIP him in
Luke 4:7. In return, Satan would give Jesus the kingdoms of the
earth (now belongs to Christ, verse 15).
How wrong
Satan was!
King James Version adds 'who art to come'. BUT He has come and
because Thou hast taken Thy great POWER
This is the same POWER that was promised to us in Acts
1:6-11.
There is a time (we are living in it now), where Satan is permitted to
REIGN or be ruler over the earth. During this period, Jesus' wish is
that none should perish (2
Peter
3:9), but with the seventh trumpet (third woe), the time for
repentence is over. Christ has begun to REIGN.
The STONE of Daniel
2:31-35 and Daniel
2:40-44-45 is in the process of crushing kingdoms. It takes GREAT
POWER to accomplish this (Luke
12:5). Jesus prayed that this POWER to REIGN would be given to His
disciples, John
17:6-18-19.
"And the NATIONS were enraged,
The devil knows by the time the seventh trumpet is sounded that he only
has a short time to subvert the world (NATIONS). Inasmuch the NATIONS
are enraged, it shows the effectiveness of the devil. But this should
be no surprise. Even the psalmist writes of the uproar of the nations, Psalm
2:1-3.
This is judgment time:
There are three 'times' now:
- the time came for the dead to be judged, and
Daniel sees this in Daniel
12:2-3.
- the time to give their REWARD
This "reward giving" is probably different than translated believers (Revelation 4:1), who are
investigated (Revelation 4:2),
coronated (Revelation 4:4)
and then returned the crowns
to Jesus' feet (Revelation
4:10-11). Note who
receives this reward:
- and {the time came} to DESTROY those
who
destroy the earth."
Remember that the earth is the Lord's, Genesis
1:1 and Exodus
9:29. Yet mankind in our sinful state has systemically destroyed
God's creation. Even so called Christians often don't respect what God
made. They litter, use chemicals, and misuse water sources.
From a figurative view, it is deception which is
destroying the
earth. It is carried out by the beast, dragon, and false prophets who
perform signs to confirm their deception (Revelation
19:20, Revelation
20:1ff, and Revelation
16:13ff)
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened;
The Revelation of Jesus Christ is an "opening" book:
What has been hidden from us and the earth in the spiritual realm is
slowly revealed. With the revelation comes an awareness of God's purity
and holiness. The result of the encounter with purity and holiness is
judgment against sin and the devil (Revelation chapters 12-16).
Since the temple is the place of worship, this encounter is a
worshipful experience. John saw parts of this temple previously: throne
and sea of glass (Revelation
4:6); and
altar (Revelation 6:9, Revelation
8:3-5);
and service by tribulation saints (Revelation
7:15).
Isaiah saw the throne and temple in Isaiah
6:1. Paul indicates this temple is where Christ now is ministering
as High Priest (Hebrews
8:1-7). Recall, Christ as the untimate sacrifice is able to be this
High Priest, Hebrews
9:23-26.
and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple;
The ark with its mercy seat (Exodus
37:1-9) speaks to atonement for sin. Thus this typifies Christ; the
law, manna, and Aaron's rod contained therein show man's
dependence/imperfection with respect to God.
In the Old Testament, the last reference to the ark occurs in 2
Chronicles
8:11. Later, Solomon with his involvment with Pharoah's
daughter, Queen Sheba (Ethiopian), gave "all her desire (2
Chronicles
9:12) including perhaps the Ark. Ethiopian history
claims the Ark is guarded in a church in Aksum, Ethiopia.
Isaiah has a prophesy in Isaiah
18:1-7 which may indicate the return of the ark. The 'standard' in
verse 3 (nes in Hebrew) could be translated as 'ark'. Likewise, the
'gift' (nes, again) in verse 7 is returned 'to the place of the name of
the Lord of hosts'.
and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals
of
thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Compare this to events at the temple at Christ's death, Matthew
27:51.
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"Scripture taken from the NEW
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Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975,
1977, 1995 Used by permission."
References to the Revelation of Jesus
Christ are in bold italics. All other references are in bold
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