Sermons from the Book of Revelation

The Seventh Trumpet: The King Reigns
Revelation 11:14-19
February 11, 2007

As far back as the Garden of Eden we see the clear evidence of God’s faithful reign over His creation. He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He made man in His own image and after His likeness, giving him authority as vice-regents on earth. The Lord God provided food for the man to eat and “a helper suitable for him” to relieve his loneliness. He also gave man commands so that he might know both what God prescribed for him and what God forbade as one created in the divine image. God’s kingly reign manifested His mercy and justice after man fell by judging sin, removing the sinners from the perfections of the Garden, condemning the serpent, and offering the first glimpse of the gospel. The rest of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation takes us on the human journey of rebellion against the King of Creation, the King’s gracious work of redemption through Christ of those He elected before the foundation of the world, His securing those in His kingdom living through the adversity of human rebellion, and the certainty of the King exercising final judgment upon the world.

The King subdued the heart of Abraham so that he became a faithful follower and loyal subject of the kingdom. Though living among those outside the kingdom, Abraham spread the knowledge of God’s kingly rule by his obedience and faith. Through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. He, the man of faith in God’s promises, became the father of a multitude of nations (Gen. 17:5). But that promise seemed long in fulfillment. Three generations later, the Lord sent Joseph ahead of his family into Egypt to provide for His kingdom people. He raised up Moses as a deliverer to lead His kingdom people out of bondage into the Promised Land. Joshua led the kingdom people in advancing into the land God had given them as a token of His favor and kindness.

But you know the story. All did not go well with the people of Israel through the times of the judges and kings. Up and down they went in their devotion to the King of glory. Yet He demonstrated great patience; for His kingly rule extended far beyond one race of people and one small plot of land. The world under His dominion did not know this or understand His rule. David, in the second Psalm, describes the nations as in an uproar, plotting and scheming to throw off His rule. “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” But the Almighty King never flinched! He laughed and scoffed at such silliness of mere earthly kings denying His eternal rule. Then He assures us that He has installed His King to whom He has given the nations as His inheritance and the ends of the earth as His possession—none other than King Jesus, the Christ, the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Ruler of the kings of the earth, King of kings and Lord of lords—Jesus Christ. All of Scripture points to the sovereign reign of our King. That’s what John unfolds for us in our text. He wants us to see that the kingdom will come in its fullness and what that looks like from the vantage point of heaven. How does John show us that the kingdom that we are part of through Christ will come in all of its fullness and glory?

I. A hymn of triumph
What better way to explain the certainty of the kingdom’s fullness than through singing? We’ve already noted several occasions in Revelation where the language of hymnody expresses great doctrines and great doxologies to our Lord (e.g., chapters 4, 5, and 7). It is a reminder that God has given us the gift of singing and music as an aid to expressing worship toward Him and better comprehending the expansiveness of His eternal glory. We’re not told who the singers are in the hymn of verse 15 but simply, “and there were loud voices in heaven, saying.” They may have been voices of angels or of the redeemed—we’re not told precisely but we are made to understand that the voices expressed the unified sentiment of all those in heaven concerning the kingly reign of our God.

Two woes have already past in John’s snapshots of divine judgment against the world. “Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.” Some scholars debate as to whether or not the 7th trumpet is also the third woe since there’s not a flag raised to identify it. But it seems that what John does in this little phrase is introduce the sounding of the seventh trumpet as the third woe—the finality of divine woes. Just as the seventh seal revealed the end of God’s judgments on the unbelieving world, so also the seventh trumpet does the same. In that sense, it is certainly the great culmination of divine woes toward the rebellion of the world. Here is the climax, the grand crescendo of judgment that we’ve seen foreshadowed throughout the ages but now brought to the focal point of divine wrath poured out. It’s not that John tells us everything about it or fills in many details. He simply states the fact of this divine judgment being completed, and then continues in cyclical fashion filling in the details. So, while we’ll see more details of this judgment in chapters 14-20, in a very short passage, John wants us to grasp that it is a firm reality to come. He does that to encourage perseverance in Christians.

The other trumpets appeared to take place on earth (chapters 8-9). But this one specifically originates in heaven. While the other trumpets announce temporal acts of divine judgment, the 7th trumpet brings to the forefront the reality of eternal judgment that comes from heaven to earth. It differs as well from the other six because it has in it the great pronouncement of the completed answer to the model prayer: “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). While we pray for His kingdom to come on earth in the present, we see glimmers of it in the magnificence of Christ’s rule over those He has saved and His authority triumphing over the foolishness of the world. But we still wait for the day when that kingdom will be unveiled in unrestrained authority and glory on earth, and no voice is raised against His divine rule. That’s what John declares for us in these verses.

1. Two kingdoms
John identifies two kingdoms in verse 15 in the song from the heavenly realm. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” The first kingdom is not the original kingdom. It came about after Adam and Eve fell into sin in the Garden. John calls it “the kingdom of the world.” Jesus told Pilate as he questioned Christ in the Roman Praetorium, “My kingdom is not of this world… My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). While the Jewish opponents of Christ trumped up charges of insurrection against Rome, Pilate tried to understand the authority of Christ. “Are you the King of the Jews?” There might have been some disdain in his question; or there could also have been puzzlement over how a Man that he perceived to be a peasant had turned the whole country upside down with His teaching and miracles. “My kingdom is not of this world… My kingdom is not of this realm.” Pilate thought of seats of power, armies, noble advisors, and the like. His view of kingdom was limited to what the eye could see and battering rams could conquer. He only knew of a few realms in the world—Asia Minor, the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, a little of Central Asia. He didn’t know about the vastness of the earth nor did he comprehend the vastness of Christ’s reign, not only over the earth and its inhabitants, but over the universe. “My kingdom is not of this world… My kingdom is not of this realm.” Pilate thought too small. His vision lay trapped in building projects, treasuries, and armies. He understood nothing of the righteous rule of God’s Regent, His pervasive holiness, His governing the molecules of the universe, His orchestration of the heavenly bodies, nor of His majesty and splendor in eternal glory. No, Pilate thought too small, just as does much of the rest of the world regarding the kingly reign of Jesus Christ.

When the devil tempted our Lord, he “showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (Matt. 4:8). We can only imagine the spectacle of that sight: Rome in its vastness; ancient Ethiopia and its glory; ancient China and its ingenuity; ancient kingdoms in South America and in our own continent. Everywhere that man ruled over others, the devil displayed it to Christ, then said, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:8-9). Leon Morris explains, “It meant that if Jesus was to obtain these kingdoms he would have to accord to the evil one the place that belongs to God alone. Jesus would obtain the mighty empire only by doing what Satan wanted” [The Gospel According to Matthew, 77]. Did He not come to the earth to be King? Would this not be a quick way to rule over the world without the cross and all its suffering? Our Lord quickly dismissed the devil’s offer. “Go Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’.”

“The kingdom of the world” implies dominions submitted to the evil one and his rebellion against the King of Heaven. The singular “kingdom” indicates the world united in rebellion against God’s rule following the deception of the “prince of this world.” Jesus’ kingdom rule not only subdues evil but conquers it and ultimately vanquishes it. The declaration of this kingdom hymn “means that Satan, who tempted Jesus by offering him the kingdoms of the world, no longer possesses them” [Simon Kistemaker, NTC: Revelation, 342]. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” No longer will Satan have dominion. No sin will be permitted in that fullness of the kingdom. No temptation will threaten the righteousness and holiness of that realm. No rebellion will be raised against the wise authority of the eternal King.

2. One rule
The hymn tells us that it is “the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” The joint rule of God the Father and God the Son is echoed in the refrain, “and He will reign forever and ever.” The language is unmistakable. The heavenly singers did not say, ‘they will reign forever,’ as though some potential for disunity in the Godhead existed or that there might be two Gods upon the divine throne. “He will reign forever” points to the co-regency of Father and Son, so united in purpose and power, so alike in majesty and glory, so one in the Godhead that only the singular pronoun will suffice to explain it. So, does the Lord God the Father or God the Son—Jesus Christ rule? Yes! That’s what the hymn tells us.

The Trinitarian language has already become foundational in our study of Revelation. The doxology that opens the book offers the same praise and glory to the Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus is declared “the ruler of the kings of the earth,” so that “to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (1:5-6). The Father is called “Him who is and who was and who is to come,” in 1:4 and in 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega… who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” In 1:17, Jesus says, “I am the first and the last,” which is the same language as the Alpha and the Omega. In 22:13, Jesus declares, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” so that there is no mistaking the implications. There’s no division in the Godhead; there’s no partitioning in the Godhead; there’s no greater God and lesser God in the Godhead. There is one God revealed in three distinct Persons, yet with no division or disunity. “The rule of Christ and God is the same because God rules his kingdom through his Son” [Kistemaker, 432].

This one God “will reign forever and ever.” That message also permeates Revelation. In the midst of a people that faced the cruelties and hardships of the ungodly reign of Emperor Domitian of Rome, they needed to regain their perspective. Domitian’s reign would not last long; nor would the reign of any other emperor or ruler. But the reign of our God lasts forever and ever. No power can overthrow His rule. When life seems unsettling and the difficulties hard to bear, think about this: “He will reign forever and ever.” The evil and trials of this life will not last under His eternal reign.

II. A hymn of thanksgiving
Now it is clear who sings the next hymn from the vantage point of heaven. “And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God.” The twenty-four elders embody and represent the church through the ages. Sitting on the thrones before God, they foreshadow the reigning with Christ already promised (3:21; 5:10). Their nearness to the throne speaks of the intimacy and glory that the redeemed will know with our God forever. The twenty-four elders serve as worship leaders, again reminding us of the occupation of heaven’s citizens as eternal worshipers of our great God and Savior. The declaration of the kingdom’s triumph spurs them to fall on their faces in worship, just as we’ve seen before (5:8, 14). In the midst of contemplating Christ’s eternal rule, let us not forget that we’re now preparing to occupy places of worship before His throne. The twenty-four elders give us clues of our heavenly activity. The thanks that the elders offer, redounds to God’s omnipotence and justice.

1. To the Almighty One
Notice the language: “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” The thanksgiving is aimed at the Father in particular. They extol Him for His role in conquering Satan and his evil rule, and subduing the kingdom of the world into His kingdom. What is the basis for this kingdom rule? The Father sent the Son so that He was “slain, and purchased for God with [His] blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. [He has] made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (5:9-10). The thanks to the Father redounds in gratitude for the Son who declared as He went to the cross, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:31-32). Through Christ’s redemptive work, the power of God conquered the ruler of this world through the righteous satisfaction of God’s law and the just payment of the debt of our sins.

God is declared to be “the Almighty,” the One who has all power and might. Yet in the exercise of divine power He never contradicted His righteous character. Earlier in Revelation 1:4, God is called “Him who is and who was and who is to come.” Now, in light of the culmination of divine judgment and the fullness of His kingdom reign displayed, He is called, “the Almighty, who are and who were.” At the beginning of John’s vision the apostle waits for God to come and display His power by securing the kingdom forever. Now, in this vision, it is done. “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” The use of the perfect tense to explain, “You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign,” shows that nothing can ever overturn His power. It is secured by the certainty of His divine power. One writer explained, this “is not the normal exercise of Divine power, but that final and overwhelming display to which all prophecy points” [H. B. Sweete, quoted by Kistemaker, 344].

2. To the Just One
But what happens when the kingdom comes in its fullness and God’s reign eclipses the dominion of all earthy and heavenly powers? John explains in verse 18. “And the nations were enraged,” think about the second Psalm’s description of the nations raging, “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.” God is thanked for His justice, both in dealing out wrath to those rejecting His Son and rewarding out of His grace those who fear His name. The “time” that John speaks of is not chronological time but rather the event, the precise moment purposed by God before the foundation of the world for judgment to take place. We’re reminded once again of the certainty of divine judgment. There is “the time” for the dead to be judged and God’s people to receive the promised rewards. None of us knows the time; but we must be assured of its certainty. Just as God is the God who created the universe, He is also the Judge of creation. He can fail to judge only if His righteousness fails, for judgment is the proper extension of His infinite righteousness. We dare not presume upon the patience of the Judge by thinking there’s no hurry to get serious about our relationship to God. The “time” will come for judgment. Only those who fear the name of the Lord will find God’s judgment to have been borne by Christ at the cross so that His kind rewards are granted.

Our Welsh friend Geoff Thomas told of a friend who took his sons with him to visit a farmer where they purchased straw for their gardening. As he and the farmer talked, Geoff’s friend spoke to him about his soul. The farmer admitted that he was not a Christian and that he didn’t think that the time had come for him to seriously consider his spiritual life. They shook hands, parting amicably. Yet in a few days his friend found out that the farmer had been trampled to death by his own cattle, and had been thrust into eternity. The farmer didn’t think much of eternity that day of the discussion regarding his need for Christ but he did not know his own time or the time of God’s judgment. Have you taken seriously your own need for the Savior?

Those receiving this two-fold action of God—judgment and rewards—at the end of this era, are identified. “The time 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.” In this particular case, “the dead” can be either believer or unbeliever. Unbelievers face God’s wrath; here they are further identified as “those who destroy the earth,” indicating the negative effects of sin in their lives upon the world. Believers receive the rewards (as an aspect of judgment) He has planned for them. John further breaks down the look at believers: “the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great.” It seems that the second “and” is epexegetical, that is, it explains what is meant by the two parties joined by the first conjunction. The prophets and the saints are those who fear the Lord’s name; they are numbered as the small and the great but the wonderful thing is that they all know the Lord’s favor in judgment because Christ has borne the eternal judgment on their behalf. Notice that familiar title for believers—“saints,” or holy ones; that’s what a Christian is—a holy one made holy through Christ.

III. Response to the hymns
John had earlier measured the temple of God, which we determined was metaphorical for the church (11:1-2). Now a different temple is in view since John specifies it is the temple which is in heaven. Using symbolic language, he helps us to understand the certainty of God’s faithfulness and strength of His presence for God’s people, as well as the certainty of judgment against unbelievers. “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.”

Robert Mounce explains the two-fold images in this vision: “The ark of the covenant corresponds to the rewarding of the faithful, and the cosmic disturbances to the outpouring of God’s wrath” [NICNT: Revelation, 233]. In the Old Testament, the temple was the dwelling place of God; the ark of the covenant contained His law covered with the mercy seat where God promised to meet with Israel (Ex. 25:22). Only the priests could enter the holy place of the temple, and only the high priest could enter the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant dwelled. The high priest approached the mercy seat and the ark with blood to propitiate God with reference to their sins. But now, in John’s vision, all is open. No more blood is needed to cover the mercy seat. God’s faithfulness to His new covenant promises is sure. William Hendriksen explained, “That the ark of the covenant is the symbol of the superlatively real, intimate, and perfect fellowship between God and His people—a fellowship based on the atonement” [More than Conquerors, 133]. John’s vision calls for assurance that God is faithful, that the way into His presence is open and secured through Christ. “Hence, when this ark is now seen, that is, fully revealed, the covenant of grace (Gn. 17:7) in all its sweetness is realized in the hearts and lives of God’s children” [Hendriksen, 133].

At the same time that Christians find assurance of God’s presence, those who are unbelieving, find the certainty of God’s wrath. The “flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm” combine language of judgment to show that what gives comfort to Christians assures wrath for those who are not. God’s law has been broken. Those outside of Christ have nothing to propitiate God with reference to their sins. His righteousness demands justice. Through His sacrificial death, Christ has satisfied God’s righteousness for all that believe. But for those who do not trust in God’s gracious provision through Christ, then the storm of divine wrath is sure.

Conclusion
The King reigns! His kingdom will one day come in all of its fullness bringing with it the rewards promised for those believing, from the least to the greatest. And His kingdom rule demands that all rebels face His wrath.

Take heart, you believers who are fearful or discouraged over the difficulties of life. The King reigns, and the day of His kingdom coming in full measure will reveal His faithfulness to you even in the trials of life. Trust yourself to the King.

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by South Woods Baptist Church.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy:

Copyright South Woods Baptist Church. Website: www.southwoodsbc.org. Used by permission as granted on web site. Questions, comments, and suggestions about our site can be sent here.