Pastor Jeremy M. Thomas
Fredericksburg Bible Church
107 East Austin
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624
830-997-8834      jthomas@fbgbible.org
A0606 – February 5, 2006 – Rev 11:15-19 – The Seventh Trumpet: 3rd Woe!

When I began to look at this passage I thought “I’ll just skim these verses so we can get into chapter 12.” But then I began translating them from the Greek and what you see here in the English is like the first black and white television compared to the most advanced High Definition color picture available today. What I originally considered skim milk became, at once, one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. This passage proclaims the immeasurable power of God in the face of terrifying opposition and the consummation of God’s plan for the ages in His kingdom. I will be reading from my translation

Revelation 11:15-19 And the seventh angel sounded (aorist); and there came great voices in the heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world Has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and His Christ, and He (singular, both God and Christ) will reign forever and ever. 16 And the twenty-four elders in the presence of God sitting down (middle voice) around His throne fell down (aorist) on their faces and worshipped God 17 saying, "We thank you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and was, that you have taken (perfect active) your great power and have become king (aorist of basileuo, the sense is 'seize the rule'). 18 And the nations were furious (enraged aorist passive), and your wrath came and the time of the dead to be judged (aorist passive infinitive) and to give (aorist active infinitive) the rewards to your slaves the prophets and the saints and the ones fearing your name, the small and the great, and to destroy (aorist active) the ones destroying (present active) the earth. 19 And He opened the temple of God that is in the heaven and the ark of His covenant in His temple appeared, and there came lightnings and voices and thunders and shaking and great hail. (reminds me of Indiana Jones "The Raiders of the Lost Ark")

We come to the 7th Trumpet, the 3rd Woe! The consummation of God’s judgments contained herein and how horrible it will be when this judgment cometh upon the whole world. We do not yet know what the 7th Trumpet contains for their contents are not revealed until the 16th chapter. Before they are revealed a large section intervenes, beginning in 12:1 and ending in 14:20. This section will recount the “initial rebellion of Satan and” move “forward to show the continuous impact of that rebellion throughout human history,” including in particular how Satan’s rebellion will manifest itself in the 2nd half of the Tribulation leading up to the triumphant return of Christ to earth. After this is presented then we will discover that the 7th Trumpet contains seven bowls. They bowls are the finality of God’s wrath. They come like hammer blows one after another upon the earth dwellers; compound judgments, with the intent of destroying all who refuse to believe and be saved.

The Pronouncement of Certainty (11:15)

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded (aorist); and there came great voices in the heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world Has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and His Christ, and He (singular, both God and Christ) will reign forever and ever.

And the seventh angel sounded yet no judgment immediately follows. This is because the 7th Trumpet is the seven bowls. In real time the seven bowls of Rev 16 will immediately follow but in the revelation there is an intermission in 12:1-14:20 to trace rebellion on the earth and its final form under Satan, Antichrist, and the religious-political-economic city of Babylon (Rev 17-18). In the meantime let’s review the brilliant structure of the Apocalypse. It is arranged telescopically such that the 7th Seal contains the seven trumpets and the 7th Trumpet contains the seven bowls.

						       7th Seal

				     			    7th Trumpet
				
	  1   2   3   4   5   6	1   2   3   4   5   6	1   2   3   4   5   6   7
	     	Seals		    Trumpets		          Bowls

Many have confused the 7th Trumpet with the last trumpet in 1 Cor 15:51-52 which has to do with the rapture. Because of this they claim that the church will not be raptured until the middle of the Tribulation. They argue that the 7th Trumpet is the last trumpet of the series and therefore corresponds with the last trump of 1 Cor 15:52. However, as you can see from the structure of Revelation the 7th Trumpet does not happen in an instant like the “last trump” in 1 Cor 15. Instead the 7th Trumpet sounds for “days” as Rev 10:7 shows. These days will constitute around a year to two years. That can hardly fit with the instantaneous “last trump” of 1 Cor 15. So, a mid-trib Rapture view fails in light of this and many other considerations.

As the seventh angel sounded…great voices in heaven make a startling proclamation. It is interesting that after the 7th Seal there was silence in heaven for 30 minutes (8:1-2) but after the 7th Trumpet it is loud in heaven (apparently the women are now in heaven (Joke)). The loud proclamation throughout heaven is that "The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and His Christ, and He (singular, both God and Christ) will reign forever and ever.”  The world is a kingdom. But it is not presently God’s kingdom during the Church Age. At present the world is Satan’s kingdom and he rules it through human Gentile kings (e.g. Ezek 28:12ff; Dan 10:13). He even offered “all the kingdoms of the world” to Christ during the wilderness temptations.

Luke 4:5-6  And he [Satan] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

So, the world is a kingdom and in the future Tribulation at this time a great multitude of voices in heaven will proclaim that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. But we are not through the remaining judgments. How can such a proclamation be made at this juncture? Because it is certain to be accomplished! The proclamation acts as if the end has already been accomplished. The point is that God has planned it and the world has reached the point of no return. In effect, the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. 

Lord refers to God the Father here and Christ, of course, to Jesus. So, the kingdom of the world will belong to both of them, and He will reign forever and ever. How long is the reign? forever and ever. Thus, His rule extends beyond the Millennium into the New Heavens and New Earth. Who will reign forever and ever? Well, the He is singular but refers to both the Lord and Christ. Both will rule forever and ever. The details of the rule of the kingdom are explained in 1 Cor 15:24, 27-28. The essential teaching is that Christ will rule in His humanity on earth for the 1,000 years and after the final rebellion is put down Christ will hand this kingdom over to the Father for all eternity so that God may be all in all.

       Rap

	     Trib	  Christ’s Kingdom			Father’s Kingdom

		         1,000 Years		      New Heavens & New Earth

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.  25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.  26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.  27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.  28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

This verse is packed with tremendous and far-reaching truths. Once His kingdom it will never again return to Gentile hands. He will reign in His kingdom forever. He has title deed to the world even now but He has not returned to take possession of it. At this point in the Tribulation He is returning. The usurpation of Satan and the earth-dwellers is finished. There is no turning the tide.  The King is victorious and the world has come under His dominion.

Daniel 2:44 "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Daniel 7:14 "And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
Luke 1:33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

Maybe you can see now why I am so attracted to these verses. They are powerful and victorious.

Response of the 24 Elders: Worship (11:16-17)

Revelation 11:16 And the twenty-four elders in the presence of God sitting down (middle voice) around His throne fell down (aorist) on their faces and worshipped God 17 saying, "We thank you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and was, that you have taken (perfect active) your great power and have become king (aorist of basileuo, the sense is 'seize the rule').

This is the heavenly response to such a tremendous take-over. The twenty-four elders in the presence of God are the one’s who worship. If you recall, the twenty-four elders are redeemed men who represent all redeemed humanity. They sit around the throne on “twenty-four thrones” and they are “clothed in white garments” and they wear “golden crowns on their heads” (Rev 4:4). At the blowing of the seventh trumpet (which is in the 2nd half of the Tribulation) they will fall down on their faces as servants of the King and worship God. Their worship consists of “thanksgiving”. They thank Him because He has answered the martyr’s prayer with the Trumpet judgments, which demonstrated the fact that He took His great power and used it to seize the rule of the world. Even though the prayer was answered in stages it is always proper to thank God when He answers our prayers. He answers in His time and His time is always the perfect time. But we should always remember that God doesn’t answer prayers that we don’t offer. Prayer plays a vital part in the consummation of God’s plan. 

He is the Lord God Almighty. The word Almighty points to His omnipotence that none can overcome. He is the One who is and was, points to His eternal nature in the past. It normally also says “and who is to come” but since He is already come in His rule in these verses it is not fitting. What do they thank him for? that He has taken His great power and has become king. The words have taken are perfect voice meaning He has already begun to reign and He will always continue to reign. His reign is interminable. The last words of this verse read have begun to reign but I prefer to translate them have become king. The leading Greek Lexicon agrees and shows a similar use of this phrase in 1 Cor 4:8 (BDAG). The tense of this phrase shows that God seized the rule of the world system through the trumpet judgments. He took it by force, dismantling the political, economic, and religious world system and replacing it with His own. There is no chance for the world system to turn the tables. He has used His great power to accomplish this. No one can stay His hand. He has purposed it surely He will do it. It is seen here as already done.

Response of the Nations: Fury (11:18)

Revelation 11:18 And the nations were furious (enraged aorist passive), and your wrath came and the time of the dead to be judged (aorist passive infinitive) and to give (aorist active infinitive) the rewards to your slaves the prophets and the saints and the ones fearing your name, the small and the great, and to destroy (aorist active) the ones destroying (present active) the earth.

The nations response is noted by the twenty-four elders. the nations were furious or enraged about God using His power to seize rule of the world and make it His kingdom. The nations want the world for themselves. They consider it their eternal abode and wish it to be a place where God does not interfere. But God created the world and designed it to be ruled by Adam and his descendants according to God’s will. However, Adam failed at the fall Adam and handed the world system over to Satan who has ruled it ever since. One of the reasons Christ died on the cross was to redeem the world. After He made the payment on the cross He ascended to heaven and did not claim His possession. When He returns and finds that the world He paid for has been usurped by Satan and unbelievers He will take it by force since they refuse to leave. This enrages the nations. God’s grace is still there and there is a little time to be saved but the end has come for these individuals and His wrath is evident. This word for wrath refers to God’s boiling, impulsive rage. It is carefully calculated to concentrate on those who reject His only begotten Son. This verse has strong allusions to Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:1-12 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?  2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,  3 "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!"  4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.  5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,  6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."  7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.  8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.  9 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'"  10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.  11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.  12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Not only had the time of His wrath come but also the time of the dead to be judged (aorist passive infinitive). Since the time here is all looked at as one event it is simply saying that future judgment will take place. Later we will find out the order and timing of the judgments. Also, the time to give (aorist active infinitive) rewards to your slaves the prophets and the saints even the ones fearing your name, the small and the great. This refers to the time to give rewards to OT prophets, Tribulation Saints, and OT Saints, even the Gentiles who feared His name and were born again during the OT. The Church has already been rewarded by this time. It matters not whether these saints were small or great men in this world. Those things will be set aside and rewards will be given based on what they did with the spiritual, physical and mental possessions that the Lord gave them.

Lastly, the time has come to destroy (aorist active) the ones destroying (present active) the earth. This terrible description is a beautiful expression in the Greek. God destroys because He is enraged about sin and the refusal of men to repent. These men persist in sin and revel in sin and it is sin that destroys the earth. Sin has been the fundamental problem ever since the fall of man. Since sin is a spiritual issue then the world’s problems can only be answered by a spiritual solution. Since Christ provided that spiritual solution at the cross and in so doing purchased the earth it is His to manage and that means cleansing it from sin which destroys it. The primary destroyers at this time are Satan, the Antichrist, the false prophet, and their headquarters in the re-built city of Babylon; all must be destroyed at the proper time in preparation for Christ’s kingdom. Again, elements in this verse are very similar to Psalm 2 and look forward to Armageddon and the final assembling of the world’s armies to oppose God. 

Psalm 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
Psalm 2:5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, 
Psalm 110:5 He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
Revelation 16:6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it."

Storm Theophany #3 (11:19)

Revelation 11:19 And He opened the temple of God that is in the heaven and the ark of His covenant in His temple appeared, and there came lightnings and voices and thunders and shaking and great hail. (reminds me of Indiana Jones "The Raiders of the Lost Ark")

In the final verse we get a sneak preview into the heavenly temple of God where we see the ark of His covenant which rests in the Holy of Holies. The picture here reminds me of the closing scenes in the Indiana Jones movie, “The Raiders of the Lost Ark”. The ark of the covenant has a long history. It symbolized God’s presence and the place of atonement on the mercy seat. It was in Solomon’s Temple but is lost today. There are five possible locations:

1.	Burned in the Solomonic Temple when Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple (2 Kgs 25:9; Jer 3:16)
2.	Taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar took the vessels of the house of God (Dan 1:1-2)
3.	Taken by Shishak to Tanis (1 Kgs 14:26)
4.	Taken by Manasseh (2 Chron 33:7)
5.	Hidden by Jeremiah in a cave on Mt Sinai (2 Macc 2:4-8)

Here the real ark from which the earthly ark was designed is seen and reminds us of His covenants with Israel which are about to be fulfilled. 

The chapter concludes with the 3rd Storm Theophany in Revelation. Storm Theophanies summarize the Tribulation judgments and bring them to a close. If the totality of tribulation judgments could be described in one verse this would be it. Let’s review the four storm theophanies (God showing up in a storm). 

Revelation 4:5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder (the source of the tribulation judgments is God)
Revelation 8:5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (the location of the tribulation judgments is earth) 
Revelation 11:19 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. (the source of the tribulation judgments is heaven)
Revelation 16:18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. (the location of the tribulation judgments is earth)

	Rev 8:5	Rev 11:19	Rev 16:18	
Peals of thunder				
Flashes of lightning				
Sounds				
Earthquake				
Hailstorm				

•	Storm Theophany 1: After the 7th Seal 
•	Storm Theophany 2: After the 7th Trumpet
•	Storm Theophany 3: After the 7th Bowl

These storm theophanies located after the 7th Seal, 7th Trumpet, and 7th Bowl all end at the same time! And that time is the end of the Great Tribulation! If we compare this with our telescopic arrangement we find this fits perfectly. 

      7th Seal

				     			    7th Trumpet
				
	  1   2   3   4   5   6	1   2   3   4   5   6	1   2   3   4   5   6   7
	     	Seals		    Trumpets		          Bowls

You may have noticed on the chart that this is the only Storm Theophany to include “hail”. There is no doubt that this hail refers to the great hail that will fall in Rev 16:21.

Conclusion

Today we have seen a marvelous proclamation that is made in heaven when the 7th angel sounds his trumpet. The proclamation is made that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. The takeover of the world is finished in the 7th trumpet because the 7th trumpet contains the seven bowls. The opposition can do nothing to turn the tide. The kingdom will be ruled by Jesus Christ for 1,000 years and then He will hand it over to His Father for all eternity. As a result the 24 elders in heaven begin to worship God and thank Him that He has exercised His great power and has seized the rule of the earth. The world will be enraged at this and they will prepare to make a stand against God. This will ultimately take place when the armies of the world gather at Armageddon. But God’s victory is certainly victorious and so are the judgments as well as the time to reward the small and the great from the OT and Tribulation. Finally, we get a sneak preview into the heavenly temple of God where the ark of the covenant remains and this reminds us that Israel’s covenants are about to be fulfilled. Lastly, a great storm theophany is described reminding us of the horror of the tribulation judgments and that they are coming from heaven against sin.