CHAPTER 9

REVELATION 11:15 - 19

THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

SIGNALS THE BEGINNING OF THE END

We return now to the linear action of the Great Tribulation. The second interlude is past and we have arrived at one of the most crucial prophesied points in all of history ... the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. Back in chapter 10, the mighty angel said that after the sounding of the seventh Trumpet there would be no further delay. After the days of the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, the mystery of God (referring to who the Lord Jesus Christ really is) would be complete. It is very important to realize that from the human standpoint those days cover a large segment of time. They include everything that is found in Revelation 11:15 through chapter 20. From the blowing of the seventh Trumpet to the initiation of the New Heavens and the New Earth (some one thousand plus years later), all fall under and are set in motion by this all-important Trumpet. The days of the seventh Trumpet encompass:

1. ..The Seven Bowl Judgments
2. ..The destruction of Antichrist’s capitol as well as his economic, political and religious systems
3. ..The destruction of Antichrist's armies at the battle of Armageddon
4. ..The casting of Antichrist and his False Prophet into the Lake of Fire
5. ..The Second Coming of Christ
6. ..The resurrection and restoration of Israel to their land
7. ..The judgment of the nations
8. ..The 1000 year reign of Christ
9. ..The final battle of Gog and Magog
10. The final consignment of Satan to the Lake of Fire
11. The resurrection and judgment of all the wicked at the Great White Throne

All of Heaven has been holding its breath for the huge event of the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. Its blast will be the sound of ultimate victory! When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, all of Heaven will go wild! His sound signals the beginning of the end for evil and all that is wrong in God's creation. More importantly, it signals an unstoppable and methodical march of God to set things straight for all time as to just who Jesus Christ truly is.

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THE SEVENTH TRUMPET

Rev 11:15 -19

"Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The [NU changes "kingdoms" to the singular here] kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying: ‘We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was [NU omits "and who is to come"] Because you have taken your great power and reigned.’ The nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail."

11:15

When the seventh angel sounded, pandemonium broke out in Heaven. This was the trumpet all of Heaven had been looking for. From this time on, all of God’s created intelligences would be able to see the end. When the seventh angel lifted his trumpet and blew, great jubilation followed. John heard a cacophony of voices, the like of which I suspect, had never before been heard up there. The air of Heaven filled with cries of, "The kingdom of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever". What a celebration, aye!?

The NASV correctly translates the word kingdom here in the singular. It reads, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever". Both of these words, kingdom and is become are singular. Dr. McGee points out that you and I view our world as divided into little territories and nations with new ones being formed and old ones being deleted from time to time. So we draw and redraw our little lines on our maps to distinguish their boundaries. But God sees the world as it truly is, just one dark kingdom ruled over by the Prince of Darkness. In Matthew 4:8-9, we read that Satan took Jesus up on a high mountain and offered him all the kingdoms of the world if he would just fall down and worship him. That was a legitimate offer. They were his to give, you see. If Satan could not have given them, it would not have been a legitimate temptation. Second Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan the god of this world. Sin and selfishness, sickness and savagery, death and spiritual darkness, blindness and rebellion, war and graveyards mark this god’s kingdom. McGee says down here God, "... sees Satan’s slaves plodding like Zombies to fill up the cemeteries". The sounding of the seventh Trumpet is the beginning of the end of all that! From that exact point in time, Satan's kingdom will begin to be systematically dismantled and replaced by the Kingdom of our dear Lord and his Christ. Hallelujah!

11:16-18

The twenty-four elders agree. John heard them say, "We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was because you have taken your great power and reigned.’ The nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth." These words of praise by the leaders of the Church are key in defining the range of the wide scope of the seventh Trumpet. They exclaimed:

1. "We give you thanks" ... "because you have taken your great power and reigned". When the seventh Angel sounds, God and his Christ truly will have exercised their great power. From that exact moment on, Satan's grip on this world will begin to slip and his kingdom unstoppably unravel!

2. "The nations were angry and your wrath has come". The anger of the nations will have been building throughout the Great Tribulation. Now, God's hot wrath will begin to rain down on them by means of the Bowl judgments reaching its apex at the battle of Armageddon. There, all the nations of the Earth will experience first hand the wrath of Almighty God when the Lamb descends to Earth to reign.

3. "And the time of the dead (has come) that they should be judged". The judgment of the dead of all time is now set in motion (though not all at one time nor on the same day). Jesus said...

"Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice (Jesus' voice) and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." John 5:28-29

4. "And that you should reward your servants the prophets and the saints ..." Keep in mind that judgment and rewards are two different issues in the plan of God. Rewards are the result of positive evaluations of godliness. The elders speak here of two groups who are scheduled for rewards during the days of the seventh Trumpet. The Church is not one of them, by the way. She has already been rewarded, as we saw back in 4:4. The folks the elders are referring to here are Old Testament prophets and saints. They will receive their rewards after their resurrection at the end of the Great Tribulation. They include such people as Adam and Eve, Enoch, Jonah, Ruth, Hannah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Elijah, Elisha and John the Baptist, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets (Matthew 11:7-11). Daniel 12:2 is a key scripture here.

"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever."

(Note: Yet another group of saints, Tribulation saints, will also be resurrected and rewarded after the Great Tribulation. Logic dictates that this will be so though it is not specifically mentioned in scripture. It is my opinion that it will occur just before the resurrection of Israel and the Old Testament saints.)

5. "And (you) should destroy those who destroy the earth". In conclusion, the elders testify that during the days of the blowing of the seventh Trumpet, the physical and permanent destruction of the wicked will come. They refer to them as those who destroy the earth. A modern day example of this would be the vast devastation Sadaam Hussein orchestrated when he ordered his troops to torch hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait and dump millions of gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf. The resulting devastation was horrendous and its effects will last for generations. From the beginning of time, wicked men have been destroying God’s beautiful Earth. Their self-centered, reckless and devil-may-care attitude toward the Earth is clearly seen on a daily basis and is well documented in both ancient and modern history.

May we step aside for moment. God placed man over the Earth to keep, manage and preserve it. In Genesis 1:26 (KJV), we read...

"And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

But, when sin entered, man became Earth's destroyer instead of its keeper. Jesus said...

"The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:41-42 ...

For all the destroyers of the Earth, there will be a payday someday. It is scheduled during the days of the blowing of the seventh Trumpet. The elders joyfully confessed that all of this was set in motion when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet. Truly, on that day, the kingdom of this world will have become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. When the seventh trumpet sounds, its a done deal! It will only require a bit of time and process.

11:19

At the end of this great scene, the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was seen". Again, keep in mind that God's temple in Heaven is the real one of which the tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness and the later temples of Solomon, Ezra and Herod and the temple of the Tribulation are mere shadows. Immediately after the blowing of the seventh Trumpet, once again Heaven's temple will be opened. Men will be able to look directly into the Holy of Holies and see the Ark of the Covenant there. The ark is a distinctly Jewish piece of furniture, by thee way. Therefore, I believe this event will be especially aimed at the Jews who are still living on Earth at that time. This will answer the prayer of Psalm 132:8-9...

"Arise, O LORD, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy."

You will remember that the lid of the ark was called the Mercy Seat. It was made of solid gold and had two golden cherubim with their wings extended over it . Inside were the stone tablets written on by the finger of God (Exodus 40:20), Aaron's rod that budded (Numbers 17:8-11), and a bowl of manna from the wilderness wanderings (Exodus 16:33-34). Of all the furniture in the Temple, the ark speaks the loudest of the fact that God is in covenant relationship with the Jews. When it is revealed from Heaven, after the blowing of the seventh Trumpet, time will be running out for those Jews who are still persisting in their unbelief. I believe this showing of the ark in Heaven will be one last appeal to them. In effect, God will be saying, "I haven’t forgotten my covenant with you. Have you forgotten your covenant with me? The Mercy Seat is still open. Won't you come?" God’s great love for this ancient covenant people is incredible. As we have it in Romans 11:28-29...

"As concerning the gospel, they (the Jews) are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance (irrevocable)."

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