We have concluded our study on the two witnesses. At this point in Revelation they have completed their ministry, died, came back to life, ascended into heaven, and are no longer on the earth. This completed the sixth trumpet judgment. Now we come to the seventh trumpet judgment, which begins in Revelation 11:15-19.
The first thing I want to point out is that, unlike the other trumpet judgments, as the seventh trumpet is sounded there is no immediate judgment associated with it.
In the previous trumpet judgments, when the angels blew their trumpet, immediately following would be some form of judgment occurring. For example, when the first trumpet was blown, hail and fire, mixed with blood reigned upon the earth killing a third of the tree’s. When the second trumpet was blown the sea became blood and a third of the sea creatures died, and a third of the ships on the sea were destroyed. When the third trumpet was sounded, a third of the planet’s freshwater was made bitter and poisonous, thus killing many people. When the fourth trumpet was sounded a third of the sun and a third of the moon was struck, thus making the day and the night a third darker. When the fifth trumpet was blown, the abyss was opened and demonic locusts arised and tormented people who did not have the seal of God for five months. When the sixth angel blew their trumpet four demons were released from the Euphrates river, leading a demonic army of mounted troops numbering two hundred million, and killed a third of mankind.
But that is not the case with the seventh trumpet. When the seventh angel blows the seventh trumpet the first thing John records are voices making a powerful declaration. John writes, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, 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 shall reign forever and ever” Now, that is not to say judgment will not come; it will, but it comes later under this trumpet. But what we are seeing is the scene change from what is taking place on the earth to what’s taking place in heaven.
So now our question becomes this: what are these loud voices declaring? What is the meaning behind their words? And what I want you to see here is that these voices are making three powerful declarations.
First, they are declaring the Second Coming of Jesus.
In verse 15 we read “there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…”Now, when I say the Second Coming of Jesus, I am not talking about the Rapture. The Second Coming and the Rapture are two very separate events that many get confused about. To quote Dr. David Jeremiah here, “At the Rapture, Jesus will return for His saints. At the Second Coming, He will return with His saints. At the Rapture, Jesus will not descend to earth. At the Second Coming, He will descend to the Mount of Olives. At the Rapture, Jesus will bring a blessing for His saints. At the Second Coming He will bring judgment for those who have rejected Him. The Rapture could occur at any moment. The Second Coming will occur seven years later” after the Rapture.
So does the announcement of the Second Coming mean Jesus will make His second coming here? No. This is made evident by the fact that John uses past tense when speaking of this event.
Notice that John writes, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…” John does not say will become or is becoming. He uses the word “become”, even though he is recording all this before even the Rapture has occurred. So John is declaring the Second Coming of Christ Jesus, as though it has already happened, even though it hasn’t.
Why does John do that? Why does John use past tense rather than future tense? The reason is to declare the certainty of the Second Coming of Jesus. In other words, John is saying the Second Coming of Jesus is not a matter of if but a matter of when. He is declaring that the Second Coming of Jesus is going to happen and there is nothing anyone or anything can do to stop Him, not even the Antichrist.
And here’s the interesting part, church. When the Second Coming of Jesus Christ occurs, as I have already made mention, the raptured church will be with Him. If you belong to Christ, when the time comes for Him to rapture His church, you will ascend into heaven to be with Him, and escape the tribulation. But when the tribulation is over, and the time comes for the Second Coming of Jesus, you also will be with Him, as he descends to earth from the eastern sky, which I find pretty amazing.
Not only are they declaring the Second Coming of Christ, they are also declaring the reign of Christ.
Reign meaning, the period of time a ruler occupies their throne. Again John writes, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” By that, John is proclaiming that when Jesus comes again, the world will become His kingdom, and His possession. To quote Dr. Herbert Carter, when Christ makes His second glorious appearance, “All that is now divided will be united into one glorious kingdom. The reign of God will be over the world as a whole…(and) all the kingdoms (will become) His own possession…”
Consider what is being said here. John is saying a day is coming that the world we know will be changed. That when Christ comes to set up His kingdom, this earth will not be the same; there will be a new heaven and new earth. It will be a world where Jesus will dwell with man, and man will dwell with Jesus. A world with no tears. A world with no death. A world with no sorrow or sadness or mourning or crying or pain. A world without sin, wickedness, godlessness, evil, and corruption. When Jesus sets up His kingdom, all that will be gone away with. That is a day I am looking forward to.
Not only are they declaring the Second Coming of Jesus, and not only are they declaring Jesus’ reign over the earth, but they are also declaring the time for which Jesus will reign over the earth.
In verse 15 John writes, “and he shall reign forever and ever.” John is declaring that when Jesus comes again and takes possession of this world, it will be forever. When Jesus comes again and sets up His kingdom, it will be a kingdom without end. When Jesus comes again and sets up His kingdom, it will be endless. When Jesus comes again and sets up His kingdom, it will be eternal. And all those who belong to Him, will be with Him forever and ever.
Now after these loud voices declare things concerning the Second Coming of Christ, the next thing we see upon the seventh trumpet blast is worship. John records in verses 16-18, “And the twenty four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.’ And there are two points I want to make here to help you understand the fullness of what is taking place here.
First, just as a point of clarity, I want you to understand the reason these 24 elders are responding in worship is a result of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ being declared.
Normally, these 24 elders would be sitting on their thrones around the great throne of Almighty God. But when the Second Coming of Jesus is declared these 24 elders, situated around the throne of Almighty God, get off their thrones, bow down with their faces to the ground, and worship Almighty God. This shows us how great this announcement really is. The announcement of the Second Coming of Jesus is so great that the 24 elders would get up off their thrones and praise God.
The reason I want to bring this up is because, according to many of the scholars I have read, these 24 elders represent the church.
They represent a blood-washed and redeemed people who will one day surround the throne God. They represent the entire body of believers past, present, and future. They represent every person who has come and will come to believe in Christ for salvation, whether that be Old Testament saints, New Testament saints, the church age saints, tribulation saints, or the millennial saints. In other words, if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, these 24 elders are a representation of you.
Which means how these 24 elders are responding to this announcement is how we should respond. The fact that Jesus is going to make a second appearance one day and finally overcome evil for good, should cause every blood-bought and Spirit-filled believer to be so overwhelmed with joy and delight and elation and happiness and glee and pleasure and wonder. So much so, it should be the compelling force that makes the Believer want to get up out of their seat and worship God with all of their heart and all of their mind and all of their soul, and live their life in a way that brings glory to God.
But why are the 24 elders so full of worship at the declaration of the Second Coming of Jesus, and why should we be compelled to worship with them? What does the Second Coming of Christ mean for them and us? That’s what we are going to answer now. There are 5 reasons the declaration of Jesus’ Second Coming should compel worship, and those 5 reasons are found in the song of these 24 elders.
The elders respond with worship because they are thankful that God, who is eternal, has begun His reign.
Verse 17 says, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” With the seventh trumpet blast, the last remaining judgments will soon begin, God will be unleashing His full wrath on a world that refuses to believe in Him for salvation, and this will be completed at the end of the Tribulation when the Second Coming of Jesus takes place. So they are worshiping because the seventh trumpet blast is the beginning of the end of the Tribulation period. It is the beginning of God’s reign over the earth. It is the beginning of God triumphing over the evil of this world. It is the beginning of events that will usher in the Second Coming of Christ. And it is evidence that God has been and is working out His divine plan according to His divine will.
The elders respond in worship because the nations were angry.
Verse 18 says, “The nations raged…” The word “nations” means unbelievers. Since the Rapture of the church and the beginning of the tribulation, there has been much anger from the community of unbelievers at the disappearance of their friends and loved ones. But in the last half of the tribulation, as God’s wrath has increased, the anger of unbelievers will be that much greater, especially towards the kingdom of God. Eventually, this will lead to the battle of Armageddon, where the Antichrist and those who follow him, will attempt to oppose Christ and all those who follow Him, when the Second Coming of Jesus takes place. It will be the nations of the world – which will be an army so large no one can fathom the greatness of it – versus the kingdom of Jesus. But according to the Word of God and the will of God, the army of the Antichrist will be completely destroyed by the very breath of Christ. And so, the elders are worshiping that the Antichrist and those who follow him will be defeated.
The elders respond in worship because they recognize the time for God’s wrath has come.
Verse 18 says, “but your wrath came.” When the church is Raptured, many will become angry at the result of their loved ones being gone, and that’s wrath enough in itself. However, as time continues people will continue in their wickedness. They will continue to murder one another. They will continue to steal from one another. They will continue their drug use. They will continue with their sexual immorality and homosexuality. And as they do, God’s wrath will increase on the earth with each passing judgment, and as a result the people will become angrier and angrier, and yet they will continue in their sin.
What they don’t realize is that God is pouring out His wrath to get people to repent of their sins, which is the most loving act God could do. The reason God is pouring out His wrath is because He loves them, and wants them to turn from their sin and put their faith in Him through Jesus Christ. They can’t see that their sin and God’s wrath are correlated. And unfortunately, the Bible tells us, as God continues to pour out His wrath, the people will continue to reject God, and not just God, but the love of God, and continue in their sinfulness.
The elders respond in worship because the day to be judged and awarded is coming.
Verse 18 says, “and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great…” When the tribulation period has ended, and the Second Coming of Jesus has happened, and Satan has been defeated, all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Notice though, this song does not include the dead who are not in Christ, only the dead who are in Christ. Those who die having repented of their sins, have put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, and lived their life in submission to Christ will be rewarded. Ultimately, they will be rewarded with heaven. And as for those who have died outside of Christ, they will be cursed and thrown into the lake of fire.
The elders are worshiping because the time is coming when God will destroy those who have destroyed the earth.
Verse 18 says, “and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Now you may read that and think: who or what is destroying the earth? Is John talking about climate change? No. He is talking about guns? No. The answer to our question is this: the wicked are destroying the earth by their wickedness. The ungodly are destroying the earth by their ungodliness. The evil are destroying the earth by their evil. The corrupt are destroying the earth by their corruption, and so on. And now the time is coming, and has come with the seventh trumpet blast, for God to destroy those who have destroyed the earth by their wickedness, ungodliness, evil, and corruption.
But notice who is not being destroyed – those who know Jesus. Those who have acknowledged they are a sinner, who have confessed those sins to Christ, and repented of their sins will not be destroyed. Those who have come to believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead, will not be destroyed. Those who have been ransomed and redeemed and reconciled unto God by faith in Jesus Christ will not be destroyed.
But for those who have not repented of their sins, who continue to reject and disobey the gospel, who continue to reject Jesus, who continue to not acknowledge God as God, according to 2 Thessalonians 1:9, will “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” And this is the destiny for all who do not repent of their sins and believe in Jesus.
Now as the 24 elders’ song comes to an end, John records something pretty amazing. In verse 19 John writes, “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” As we get ready to close, I want to quickly explain what’s going on here.
In the Old Testament, the ark of the covenant was the most important treasure to the Israelite nation.
There was nothing more important than the ark of the covenant. The reason for that is because it was built to hold the Ten Commandments. It was also the place where a high priest would sprinkle the blood of an animal for the forgiveness of sin once a year. And it was a symbol of God’s covenant with Israel. So, why does it appear here at the blast of the seventh trumpet in the very middle of the Tribulation?
There are two reasons for that. First, according to Dr. Herbert Carter, “it shows the steadfastness and unchangeableness of God.” Secondly, also according to Dr. Herbert Carter, “the ark was a symbol of the continuing presence of God.”
So for John, the revealing of the ark proved that God will steadfastly fulfill His judgment on the wicked during the remainder of the tribulation, hence the flashes of lightning, the rumbling, the peals of thunder, the earthquake, and heavy hail; all that was to show the judgments that are about to come. It also proved that God will be with those who have repented of their sins and believed in the name of Jesus during the tribulation; that He would not forsake them as He continues to pour out His wrath on the unbelieving.