Revelation 11:15-19--The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19
English Standard Version

The Seventh Trumpet
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.

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If you are familiar with The Hallelujah Chorus, you're recognize this passage as the words “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever" are sung as a call-and-answer between all the different voices that are to represent the chorus of heaven .  The 24 Elders lead the chorus in a new song because the time has come for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to take the throne and for His Kingdom to come.  It starts with Him receiving power and the throne, then with the nations feeling His wrath and raging against Him.  Then, the time will come for the dead to be judged and for His servants--the prophets and the saints and all others who fear His Name, both small and great--to be rewarded.  He will finally destroy those who have been called "the destroyers of the earth."

At the sound of this "priestly" choir, the doors of the heavenly Temple were opened and the Ark of the Covenant (probably a symbolic vision of Jesus Himself as He is the image of the invisible God) came forth.  When this happened, heaven and earth responded with earthquakes and lightning and thunder and heavy hail and the rumblings that have been mentioned before.  This is the beginning of the Third Woe which will be the pouring out of the Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God--the final seven plagues to be poured out on the earth.  Before we get there though, John is going to be given a recap from a different perspective just to remind people that mankind has been given every opportunity, and all men will be without excuse and worthy of the judgment they are about to receive and to show us once more that God is able to rescue His people from the coming judgment (to me, it appears that this happens just before these final judgments are poured out on the earth).  We'll pick up the narrative again in chapter 16, then we'll take another view of things and the near total victory that the Lord has over His enemies before even setting foot on the earth again in chapters 17-18, the consummation of the covenant and the completion of the Lord's Supper with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and then the true Triumphal Entry as Christ rides into Jerusalem on His white horse making war with the nations that would rise up and try to destroy His people and He will once again save His people at what appears to be the last possible moment and all of His enemies will perish, but all of His followers will live and reign with Him.

That sounds like I've summarized everything that is ever going to happen, but there is more.  More rebellion, a final victory, and a final judgment for the living and the dead before there is an end to this creation as we know it and even time itself is done away with or becomes meaningless.  Do not mistake the Millennial Kingdom of this present earth for the final place that Jesus has prepared for us.  He promised us that He was going away to prepare a place for us that where He was (heaven) there we could be also.  The story will end with heaven and earth becoming one once again as it seems they were before the Fall and the Curse of Sin.  So the end is like the beginning, but even better.  As we go through all of this description of wrath and punishment, let's not forget that Christ is doing so in order to save His people from the presence of sin and the Curse of sin and to put all things and all people under subjection to Himself and to make a perfect place (as Genesis says, a "very good" place) for Him to dwell with His people once more and for there to be no more separation between them ever again.  Keep the goal in sight and realize all this is part of the plan to bring that about.