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Chap 22

4. The seventh trumpet, the third Woe! (11:15)

Rev 11:15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

11:16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying:

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

11:19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.

v15 - The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." - This is the third and worst Woe for the world, Christ has come to judge the world, it is the end of history, the time for repentance is past and it is now time for judgement to begin. Now that the witness of the church is complete (Rev 11:7) the seventh trumpet can be sounded which ushers in the end of the age, Mat 24:31. The seventh trumpet announces the fulfilment of God's mystery as indicated by the mighty angel in 10:7, and the reign of Christ, (God's anointed one) Dan 7:14, Luke 1:33, 1 Cor 15:24. The mystery of God is Christ (Col 2:2) this mystery is accomplished when Christ returns and establishes his kingdom and reign (Dan 7:27). The dead in Christ will be raised, 'then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power', 1 Cor 15:24. The seventh trumpet is a reference to the last trumpet which announces the coming of Christ and his holy angels, and the dead in Christ will arise, Mat 24:31, 1 Cor 15:52, 1 Thess 4:16. The kingdom that once belonged to devil now belongs to God, Luke 4:5, and He will reign for ever and ever, Exo 15:18.

v16 - And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. - God is now worshipped as the One who is and who was and not as the one who is to come because he has now already come and he has taken his great power and begun to reign. Notice that God is the only proper person of worship. This is the end of human history.

v18 - The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth." - Walvoord points out that the same Greek word (Gr. verb form of orge) is used for angry and wrath, the wrath of men is wicked, the wrath of God is holy. 'The nations were angry' is once more a reference to that messianic psalm 2, therefore his wrath has come, Isa 34:2. This is the climactic third woe, this also hints at the battles later in Revelation (16:14, 19:19). The time has come for judging the dead, that is, the judgement, here we have a preview of the judgement of Rev 20:12. We see here a distinction between God's servants the prophets, and saints (see also Rev 16:6, 18:20, 18:24), in the NT the prophet is ministry of the church and is probably emphasised in Revelation because it is a prophetic book and John was a prophet.

The time for rewarding God's servants has come; this idea of rewards is present throughout the scripture (Ps 115:13, Jer 17:10, Dan 12:13, Mat 5:12, Rev 22:12). Those who were persecuted now receive their allotted reward, Mat 5:12. In contrast to the rewards is retribution (i.e. destruction) on those who destroy the earth, the punishment fits the crime. Caird sees those who destroy the earth as a reference to the angel of the abyss whose name is Destroyer, the beast and Babylon (destroyer of the whole earth, Jer 51:25). Hailey points out that the word destroy (diaphtheiro) means to corrupt which makes the most sense, cf. Gen 6:11-13 in which God also destroyed those who corrupted the earth by sending a flood on them, mankind ruins the earth and brings ruin upon himself.

The prophets and saints are described as those who reverence God's name, compare with those who cursed God's name as the result of the forth, fifth and seventh bowls, Rev 16:9, 11, 21. Also the Devil and the beast out of the sea blasphemed God, 13:1, 13:5, 17:3. It is worth noting that there is no mention here of the millennial reign which is ushered in at the second coming.

v19a - Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. - The covenant with his people has been fulfilled. The ark of the covenant contain the stone tablets which were given to Moses at Sinai with the law on them, Heb 9:4. The ark was in the Holy of Holies and signified God's presence, 1 Chr 13:6, Heb 9:3-4. Some see this as introducing a new heavenly perspective for the next section about the woman and dragon (Wilcock). In connection with the previous verse its significance has probably more to do with the judgement of mankind according to the law of God. God's temple is opened manifesting the arc containing his law. The judgement scene is found in its fullness in 20:11 ff.

In Heb 9:3 we find that the altar of incense was in the most holy place next to the ark of the covenant, in 8:5 it is this same altar that the angel took the fire from to hurl to the earth. In Josh 6:8 there are seven priests with seven trumpets encircling Jericho with the arc of the covenant following them. They marched around the city for six days and on the seventh day they marched around it seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. As the priests blew long blasts on their trumpets the walls fell down and everyone was slaughtered except for Rahab the harlot. The march seven times around the walls with trumpets blowing warns of destruction for those within the city, which on the long blast it is destroyed. In 1 Chr 15:24 seven priests were to blow trumpets before the arc as it was brought into Jerusalem. The seven trumpets therefore announce the coming presence of God along with destruction. Arc of the covenant speaks of his presence and indicates that these judgement came from God.

v19b - And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. - Hail, lightening and an earthquake are common manifestations of God's presence and of the end. See the prelude to the seven trumpets, Rev 8:5, and the seventh bowl, Rev 16:21, in which God's wrath was finished and the cities of the nations collapsed. Some of these manifestations also appeared when God gave the law at Sinai see Exo 19:16.