Chapter 13 of Revelation Revealed.
Revelation 10 begins with imagery of an angel spanning Heaven and earth. As the angel proclaims the Word God, seven thunders “uttered their voices.” John was about to write down what they said. He was told to keep it secret. What was the secret about?
This angel proclaims that “in the days when the seventh angel begins to blow the trumpet, that time should be no more and that the mystery of God should be finished. (Rev 10:7)” What is this mystery? This mystery is the church. It is written in Ephesians 3:1-9 that…
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Ephesians 3:1-9 |
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For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:… |
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Ephesians 3:1-9 |
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…Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: |
If the church is the great mystery of God, then the fulfillment of this mystery means that God completes the work He has ordained to do through the church. The implication here is that the church is finally ready to be raptured. This is set to happen at the beginning of the blowing of the trumpet. The text implies that the trumpet will be blown over a period of time. In 1 Corinthians 15, we are instructed that the rapture of those who are alive in Christ and the resurrection of the dead in Christ would occur “at the last trump.” The seventh trumpet is the “last trump.”
The Beginning of the Seventh Trumpet
The beginning of the seventh trumpet is the rapture of the church. The first sounding of the trumpet would precede the bowls of God’s wrath. This is because we have been saved from God’s wrath. Seals and trumpets are both judgments from God, but executed indirectly by means of natural causes or intelligent, free-will agents. Many times, the actions of non-divine free will agents were either agnostic or hostile God, in the manner of a master strategist, would turn these things into ways to accomplish His purposes. In these judgments, God is ultimately in control of these events; the events themselves have as immediate causesother created free-will agents. The bowls, however, are actions that came directly from God, who directly ordained the substance of the bowls and commanded the angels to pour them out at the appointed time. The scripture teaches that we are spared from the wrath of God if we have a relationship with Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10). The rapture that happens at the seventh trumpet must occur during the early part of the blowing and before these bowls. As I wrote previously, the rapture is on the seventh trumpet. In fact, every passage in scripture that proclaims the reality of the rapture and the resurrection of the saints asserts that this occurs in connection with a trumpet blast, with 1 Corinthians referring to “The Last Trump (Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
The seventh trumpet signals the end of the age of man and the start of God’s New World Order.
The seventh trumpet marks the end of one age and the beginning of a new age. It is the end of the age where humanistic tyranny rules – ending man’s New World Order – and inaugurates a new age where God lives with and rules humanity. He does this as the God-Man – The One who is both Almighty God and the perfect Man
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Revelation 11:15-18 |
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And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. |
Four issues are driving the blowing of the seventh trumpet and the subsequent actions of God, relieving the earth of the control of incurably evil governments. They are:
1. God deserves to reign(11:16-17).
Because God is self-existent, He has the right to rule. The attribute of self-existence implies that God is absolute truth; this means all of God’s ways – His moral notions are true and right in whatever scope He defines them. The attribute of God being the Creator means that the history of the earth is His story; He has the right to do whatever He wants in the story. He gave humanity free will so that we could embrace a love relationship with Him. GOD DELAYED His judgment because He does not want anyone to perish. Once the optimum number of people from all nations embrace reconciliation with God through Christ, God will take this world in judgment.
2. The incurable madness of the human governments that will be extant in this time(11:18).
Isaiah 59 describes the condition of the world at the end of time. People are mostly self-centered monsters who have no use for truth, but live by spinning and scheming. Governments from the highest level on down are built on schemes, spin, and lies. Truth, reason, and justice have no meaning for such a group of people who cannot be reasoned or wooed into righteousness or reconciliation with God. There is only one way to deal with people who increasingly devote every breath to opposing God, truth, and genuine reason* – judgment.
3. It is time for the dead to be judged and the faithful to be rewarded(11:18).
The rapture and resurrection of the saints precede the judgments that give reward. This is yet another context clue that the rapture and resurrection of the saints occur at the beginning of the blowing of the seventh trumpet.
4. It is time for God to destroy those who destroy the earth(11:18).
This issue anticipates the scale of the influence of modern man upon the environment. Ancient people could not have anticipated the reach of modern technology and its global ecological consequences on the environment. God in His wisdom foresaw the present time.
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Revelation 11:16-18 |
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(16) And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, (17) Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned..
…(18) And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. |
The End of the Seventh Trumpet
The final event of the seventh trumpet is the opening up of the temple in heaven that resulted in great hail falling. This hail coincides with the hail of the seventh bowl. The seventh vial or bowl also results in hail from heaven. The seventh ends just before Christ comes in the clouds
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Revelation 11:19 |
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And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. |
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Revelation 16:1 |
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And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. |
The seventh trumpet completes the preparations for Christ’s coming in the clouds. At the beginning of the blowing of the trumpet, the resurrection and rapture of the saints occur, and by the end of the blowing of the seventh trumpet, the bowls have transpired.