Good morning and welcome to today's edition of the 5 Minute Challenge. For those of you that might just be joining, we are neck deep in a study of the great book of Revelation. Revelation is an amazing book as it wraps up the entire story of the Bible and we finally see Jesus claim the Earth as His. We are currently halfway through, being in chapter 11 out of 22 chapters total. We started chapter 11 yesterday and looked at the 2 great preachers that Jesus will send to Earth in one more tremendous effort to allow all to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today we will be finishing out chapter 11 by hearing the blowing of the final trumpet, the 7th. If you have missed any of the studies, you can easily back up and catch them all at The5MC.com. Once you visit the site, just select the search tab and enter “Revelation” and all previous studies will be right there for you!
The blowing of the 7th trumpet is quite the important milestone in Revelation. It sets in motion the final events leading up to the return of Jesus and the establishment of His earthly millennial kingdom. Although this morning we will see the 7th trumpet actually blown, we will not see the judgements associated with it until chapter 15. Today, in the last part of chapter 11, we will see the events that unfold because of the last trumpet being sounded. In a nutshell, the message of the seventh trumpet is that Jesus Christ is the sovereign king. He will take rule of the Earth away from satan and all human rulers. When He returns, He will bring covenant blessings to the saved, but judgement to the wicked that reject Him.
Let’s dig right in:
15“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.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 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.18 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.” 19 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.”
11:15 – “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.”
Recall that when the 7th seal was opened there was 30 minutes of absolute silence in Heaven (Rev 8:1) The silence was to reflect on the judgement, destruction, and death that was to be unleashed upon the Earth. But here we see just the opposite. When the 7th trumpet is blown we hear “loud voices in Heaven.” And what do the voices say? “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” What a glorious message! This is a pivotal moment in history (and the book of Revelation) as Jesus is finally moving to reclaim the Earth from satan. The blowing of this trumpets sets the wheels in motion.
11:16-17 – “And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 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 24 elders represent the leaders of the church that was raptured before the great tribulation began. (Rev 4:4) At the sound of the 7th trumpet, they fall on their faces before God and praise Him. They praise Him and give Him thanks for who He is and that He has great power and is about to reign as only He can. This is an amazing scene in Heaven. After the sound of the trumpet quiets, all know what is about to take place and they simply fall before God and worship Him in the moment. The evil of satan, his armies, the antichrist, and the debauchery of the world is near its end.
11:18 – “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.”
The nations raged. As the trumpet blew, we see that the nations on Earth were as defiant as ever. Rage is defined as "uncontrolled anger." Have you ever been that mad? That you just scream to the skies in an outburst? I have and it is truly just that…uncontrollable. You would think at this point after the death, war, famine, great natural disasters, and torture from satan’s demonic armies, that even the resistant would fall to repentance in Christ, but not so. Not even close. Those that are left are in utter defiance and uncontrollable anger towards God. They are literally shaking their fist at God in their anger towards His righteousness. Eventually we will see them assemble armies to fight God. (Rev 16:14, 16:16, 20:8-9) With absolutely no desire or will to repent of their sinful lifestyles and hostility towards God, they will assemble together for their final destruction as they wage war against God and lose at the battle of Armageddon. (Psalm 2:1, 2:5, Acts 4:24-29) The hearts of men without Jesus are dark places indeed.
Two things are about to happen next. All dead will be judged, and rewards will be given. For those that have called upon Jesus Christ as their Savior "your servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear your name", they will stand before Christ to receive a reward for their service to Him. Did you know that if you have been saved by Christ you will receive a reward in Heaven? Everyone that calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved but after you were saved how did you serve Jesus? How did you help to further the kingdom of God? Did you serve the body of Christ faithfully wherever He called you to on this planet? Or did you barely drag yourself to church every few months? You will receive a reward in heaven commensurate with how you have served Jesus here on this planet. And as far as the evil unbelieving that raged against God? They will be destroyed just as they tried to destroy the earth. They will be cast into an eternity in hell, separated from the love of God forever.
11:19 - “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.”
This is a promise to believers of unbroken fellowship with God forever. God opens the temple in Heaven revealing the ark of the covenant. In the OT, the ark represented the very presence of God. As Moses lead the Israelites through the desert, they ark was kept in the very center of the camp with all 12 tribes camped concentrically around it, three to each of the 4 sides. Inside the ark was three things, the tablets containing the ten commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a jar of manna. In the OT, only the high priest was allowed by God to enter the Holy of Holies once a year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat of the ark. (Heb 9:7) By opening the temple and allowing all to see the ark, God is in essence showing Himself to any and all that believe in His Son.
As this happened there were flashes of lightning, thunder, and yet another earthquake with heavy hail. Friends, this world and all that is in it, belongs to God. He designed it, He created it, and He controls it. We can drone on and on about global warming but folks, this is God’s planet, and nothing happens to it without His knowledge and permission. We pridefully give ourselves way too much credit by thinking that we hold the power to destroy God’s created planet. Here, He once again displays His power over His creation by unleashing another great earthquake joined by heavy hail.
Throughout the Bible whether it be in the OT or the NT we see a myriad of examples of God using His control over His planet to either deal out swift justice to the wicked or to save His people from evil. If you can get anything from this lesson today, walk away focusing on the limitless power God has over this planet. Look at the way He uses His creation to move His divine plans to fruition. We serve a mighty God that can move mountains, darken the skies, flood the Earth, part seas, and hold back rivers. We serve a God that can bring forth and hold back rain, cause famines, and destroy 185,000 soldiers with one angel. We serve a God that can bring water from a rock, rain bread from Heaven, and feed 5,000 men with a few fishes and loaves. We serve a God that can destroy city walls with nothing, bring plagues upon entire nations, and turn water into wine.
But most importantly, we serve a God that can save a man’s soul. A God that loves us enough that He sent His perfect, sinless Son here to die for us. A death on a cross that will cover the darkness of sin in our lives that was destined to doom us to be separated from Him for eternity. God made a way. That death became alive again as Jesus rose from that tomb 3 days later. We serve a mighty God indeed...a God that saves sinners.
May God bless you in your journey to draw nearer to Him each hour of this day.
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