Revelation 11: 15-19
This is the third woe that is coming quickly after the two witnesses are resurrected and raptured up into the clouds.
(15) Then the seventh angel sounded;
This is the only series of trumpet blasts in the whole Bible. I believe that this seventh Trumpet is the "last trumpet" that Paul says will sound when "the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed" (I Corinthians 15: 52).
And Paul says that, "the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thessalonians 4: 16-17).
This looks to me that the two witnesses are among those who are "dead in Christ" who will "rise first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up [raptured] together with them [who had died] in the clouds."
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 will reign forever and ever."
This is when we, who have come together with the Lord in the clouds, will follow Him when He bursts through the clouds for everyone on Earth to see Him coming, and His feet will land on the Mount of Olives to split it in half for those in Jerusalem to escape the armies surrounding them (Zechariah 14: 4-5).
This will begin His setting up His Kingdom on this Earth, to rule the world for a thousand years.
(16) And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
(17) saying, "We give You thinks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
And all the heavenly beings are praising and worshiping both the Father and the Son for designing and planning out the whole story, and bringing it about to be fulfilled. And they have done everything they said they would do, just as they had written for us to put it all together and expect Him.
(18) "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your Name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the Earth."
Now, when all the nations of the world are venting their rage upon God's people, King Jesus returns: it is the time for all judgment to be enacted, and all rewards to be allotted and everyone will receive the consequences for what they have done in this life, whether good or bad.
(19) And the temple of God which is in Heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple,
And the real Temple, the "pattern" that God showed Moses for constructing the Tabernacle, and the earthly temples, is now totally opened, and the "curtain" between the "holy place" and the "most holy place" has been removed; because the throne of our Lord King will be occupied here, on Earth, totally exposed, among us in the world, to rule and to reign over this world-system for a thousand years.
and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
This seems to be the same day as described in the sixth seal that was opened, and also the seventh bowl or vial that we will look at when we come to that part.
There are more chapters, and a lot more going on that we need to be aware of, in addition to these seals, trumpets, and bowls or vials, that have been happening during this time. If John had recorded everything in strict chronological order as it will all happen, it would have looked like total chaos; so John put the 7s in order, and added the rest in, in between.
So as we look at the rest of this book, let us keep in mind that God has put the order into His Creation, and our enemy, the devil, and his demons and their human minions, are the ones who have been released to remove some of God's order resulting in all the chaos we will experience during the time that God has limited to only 7 years, so that "all flesh" would not perish.
I believe that this 7-year period is about to begin very soon. God is gracious and generous, and wants no one to be fooled or deceived, so He has given us a heads-up as to what is coming so that we will be prepared.
Fasten your seat-belt for the rest of this story!
O my Father, thank You so much for Your goodness and greatness and generosity. Thank You for Your wisdom and You cleverness in planning and plotting out the whole story of Mankind on this beautiful Earth You made for us.
Thank You, Father, for Your patience in giving us so many thousands of years to multiply and fill the Earth with so many billions of souls. You wanted Your family to be huge! You will grow Your own family into such immensity that its number will be uncountable!
And, my Father, Your justice and Your mercy will be on display for all eternity for all of Your future creations to admire and praise You for ever an ever more.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
