Revelation 11:15-19
The Seventh Trumpet
Scripture reading - Heb. 9:27
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Pray
Introduction
√ The 7th Trumpet - the 3rd woe
This is a transitional section of the Revelation that gives us a preview of the conclusion of God’s work as we look briefly at the…
Judgment at the end of the Tribulation
Judgment at the end of the Millennium
Additionally, there is an important truth for all of us to consider…
We will all be judged!
There's good news, and bad regarding judgment. That is, you get to choose which judgment you will receive!
The 7th Trumpet sounds (vs. 15)
Rev 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
√ The 7th Trumpet sounds
John's attention upon the two witnesses in chapter 11 is now redirected as he hears the sound of a mighty trumpet.
It is the 7th and final Trumpet of God's Judgement.
Constitutes the final outpouring of God's wrath upon the earth in the 7 bowl judgements.
√ Response to the 7th Trumpet
In response to the sound of the 7th Trumpet John records an interesting thing that happens in heaven.
John hears…
"loud voices in heaven” – vs. 15
…the heavenly host - a choir of voices rejoicing as the 7th Trumpet is sounded declaring that God is ready to complete His plan for the Earth.
Read again what they are saying...
"The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
That is, with the sounding of the 7th Trumpet, Jesus stands ready to claim that which is His - the Earth and all who dwell there…
Every kingdom
Every nation
Every Tribe
Every people
…belong to Jesus because He alone in all the universe was found worthy to open the Scroll (Rev. 5 - title deed) to the Earth.
I find it very interesting that Satan had once offered these very same Kingdoms to Jesus!
Do you remember the scene?
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
Mat 4:9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."
You see Satan has captured the kingdoms of Man through the enslavement of sin.
The Bible tells us that Satan is...
"the god of this age" (II Cor. 4:4)
And, that he is…
"the prince of this world" (Eph. 2:2)
No wonder we have so many problems in world politics!
Yet Satan was ready to hand it all to Jesus - if Jesus would worship him.
Why would Satan do that? Why would he give everything that he had obtained in exchange for Jesus' worship?
He understood that Jesus' mission on earth was to reclaim that which belonged to God - the Earth and it's inhabitants (the kingdoms of this world).
He also knew that he was powerless to stop Jesus. Unless he could successfully seduce Jesus to sin as he had done with Adam and Eve.
Why not try? Satan had been successful with every man before Jesus!
Satan was offering Jesus a short cut to claim the kingdoms of the world - if, Jesus would do it Satan's way!
But, If Jesus had taken Satan's short cut He would have
bypassed the Cross! Without the Cross
there would be no redemption for
Therefore, Jesus would have been King - ruling over a kingdom of slaves.
Still enslaved to sin
Still subject to Death
Still dead spiritually
Jesus recognized that was not His Father's plan.
That His Father's plan was to first take care of Man's sin through His perfect sacrifice on the Cross whereby He would first rule in Man's heart …
…then at the appointed time He would return to rule over the whole earth.
So Jesus refused Satan's offer.
Mat 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "
√ Back to Revelation...
With the blowing of the 7th Trumpet Jesus is proclaimed as the new owner of the Kingdoms of the Earth.
Note that He has not yet taken possession - there are still 7 bowl judgements to come.
But, with the breaking of the 7th Seal (7 trumpets and 7 bowls) the legal deed to the Earth is transferred to Jesus.
Now it is just a matter of taking up residence upon the Earth which of course involves dealing with the illegal tenants.
Ap. Remember that the "ends never justify the means".
Do it God's way even if that means it takes longer, or it's harder, it's the only way to please God and to get the results that you really want.
Worship by the elders in heaven (vs. 16 - 18)
Rev 11:16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
Rev 11:17 saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
Rev 11:18 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."
√ Worship by the elders in heaven
We've seen these guys before - 7 times to be exact! Every time John mentions them we find them worshipping God.
Here we find them leaving their own thrones so that the can
worship God - note that they give thanks to God for 3 special blessings:
1) That Jesus reigns supremely - vs. 17 (end of Tribulation)
"because You have taken Your great power and reigned."
Today we live in a time where God has allowed others to have a place of power and authority in the Earth - both Men and Demons.
Ex. Pilate
Joh 19:10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?"
Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."
So we find the elders in heaven, representing all of the saints of God, worshipping Jesus because He's taking power and authority away from every ruler and He alone will reign.
Ap. Think of that - no more corrupt dictators, no more power hungry politicians, only one Righteous King to Whom we must give account.
2) That He judges righteously (His judgements are right) - vs. 18
(end of Millennium)
"The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged,"
One of the great problems that has always confounded those who try to live righteously, is that it seems like evil men get away with their evil deeds.
And, those who try and live for God get a bum deal?
Ex. Psalm 73 - review
Psa 73:17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end.
That is, the only good times evil people will ever see is this side of eternity! And this is the short side!
So the elders rejoice because a time is coming when every
man will get exactly what he deserves because God is a righteous Judge.
√ Now, there are two judgements mentioned in the Bible:
I) The White Throne (just described) - comes at the end of the Millennium and concerns the unbelieving dead -those who refused Jesus.
Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Rev 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Note that the one
criteria that sends a person to eternity in the
Not our works - good or bad
Not our religious activity
…only whether our name has been recorded in the Book of Life.
We get our name written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we accept Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross for our sins.
When a person does that, their sins are judged on the Cross and paid for by Jesus' Blood.
So the White Throne judgement is not for the Christian - our sins already judged and paid for - rather it is for the person who has not accepted Jesus as their savior.
II) The other judgement mentioned in the Bible is for those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and in vs. 18 it's the 3rd reason why the elders are worshipping Jesus.
3) That He rewards graciously - vs. 18 (beginning of His earthly Kingdom)
"...and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great..."
That's not a subject that many Christians talk about. That is, that the Lord is going to reward us for our faithful service here on earth.
Yet, the New Testament speaks often of the rewards that are waiting for us in heaven.
Ex. Hebrews 11:16 it's taken for granted that those who seek God do so in part because they believe He will reward them.
Heb 11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
You might wonder…
When, where and who receive rewards from Jesus?
Paul gives us those answers in his two letters to the Corinthians.
1Co 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
1Co 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
1Co 3:13 each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If
anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If
anyone's work is burned, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
And...
2Co 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
When; at "that Day" referring to the Day that Jesus comes to the earth and sets up His kingdom. At that time He will judge the works of His servants.
Where; at the "judgement seat of Christ" - the Bema seat. Not to be confused with the White Throne of Rev. 20, this seat is Jesus' earthly throne set up after He returns to the earth.
Who; who receives rewards? Only those servants who have been faithful in their service to Jesus. Those things done for Christ will bring reward, those things done for self will suffer lose.
Understand that we are not talking about whether or not we're saved - that is a completed work of Christ on the Cross…
…rather, we are talking about the rewards we will receive for our faithfulness here on earth.
Paul's example of fire is a good illustration.
Ex. Homes in Santa Barbara - wood and shake vs. stucco and tile. Only foundations left!
Wood, hay and straw = works of the flesh
Gold, silver and precious stones = works of the spirit
It's usually pretty easy to tell the two apart - just look at the work and ask yourself, who's getting the glory here?
Man or God?
Ap. Remember, God doesn't owe us anything - He saved us from death and eternal destruction. We owe Him everything - it is only because of His Grace that He also rewards those who faithfully serve Him.
I ask you - are you concerned about the rewards that God has to give? We should be - they are the only rewards that are eternal.
"Fame is vapor.
Popularity an accident.
Riches take wings.
Only one thing endures and that is character."
The only praise which will matter in God's Kingdom, is what God says of you!
The storm's not over (vs. 19)
Rev 11:19 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.
√ The Throne of God
John gets a chance to see into the Holy of Holies - the very throne of God.
On earth he'd never be allowed into the Temple where the Ark of the covenant was.
But here in heaven he is allowed to see the real ark of God of which the other is only a copy.
Note the symbols…
Ark = God's presence
Lightnings = Coming storm
The prophetic symbolism is that even though the Ark in the rebuilt Temple on earth has been polluted by the Antichrist, the true Ark (throne of God) in heaven remains pure and undefiled.
√ The coming storm
The sounds of a continuing storm remind us that there are still 7 judgements that God has yet to pour on the earth.
The symbolism is that with the sounding of the 7th Trumpet and the signs of a coming storm that God is ready to bring to conclusion His Wrath and take possession of the earth.
Close
√ Everyone will be judged by God
It’s your choice whether you get Good News or bad…
Beama Seat – rewards
White Throne – condemnation
Be wise and use this life that is temporary to gain treasure that is eternal!