Call to Praise God s Sovereignty! !

Revelation 11:14-17

Call to Praise God’s Sovereignty!

Revelation 11:14-19, The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed ¹⁵ Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” ¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders who sat before

God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. ¹⁸ The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” ¹⁹ Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

This text marks the end of the first half of the book of Revelation. This text the introduction of the second half of the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:1-11:14 is the first half.

Revelation 11:14-22 is the second half.

Revelation 11:1-14 we studied the two witnesses who will preach the gospel right up until the end of the time of the tribulation. Their preaching is instrumental in the final conversion of the people of Israel.

Revelation 11:13, In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

These two witnesses were killed after their preaching was over by 3 ½ years. Their bodies were left to lie in the street for three and a half days. The street of the city of Jerusalem called Sodom and Egypt where our Lord was crucified. Their resurrection marked a monumental moment, as they had their own private rapture and were taken into heaven.

V 14, The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Revelation 8:13, And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

The three final woes constitute the fifth, sixth and seventh trumpets.

Revelation 8:1-2, When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ² And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 7th Seal broken half an hour silence.

Then 7 Trumpets judgements begin. The seventh seal comes near the end of the time of tribulation with only months to go until the return of Christ in glory. As the seventh seal is opened, it reveals seven trumpets to be blown, each of them announcing a judgment.

The first four are explained and then the final three are called woes. The first Woe.

Revelation 9:1, Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

The first woe is the releasing of demon groups. These demons are released and sent all over the earth to torture people. They don’t kill them, but they torture them. The second Woe. The second woe is the sixth trumpet.

Revelation 9:13-14, Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴ saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” Two hundred million demons who have been bound at the river Euphrates, these demons come, and they do bring death.

The third woe. The third woe is the 7th, Trumpet.

Revelation 11:14, The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

The third woe encompasses the final completion of the whole plan of God for the present universe, this is the culmination of God’s judgment.

Revelation 10:7, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

The seventh trumpet marks the finishing of the mystery of God. This trumpet signals the answer to the prayer, “Your kingdom come.” This announces the action that brings the completion. When the seventh trumpet is blown it extends all the way through the rest of the book of Revelation 20, right up to the establishment of the kingdom.

So, this seventh trumpet has a long tenure. Seven bowls judgements are incorporated into the seventh trumpet. We come to a very important moment. We are in the seventh seal which comes at the end of the tribulation time.

We are in this seventh trumpet blows the final judgment which stretches all the way through and includes all the judgment to come. The seventh trumpet will encompass five pairs of visions, both on earth and in heaven that will lead us all the way to the end when Christ establishes His kingdom.

A very momentous point in the book of Revelation. This section then embraces everything involved in the final completion of the whole redemptive plan of God for the present universe. Includes ➢ The final harvest of judgment on the earth, ➢ The final fury of the day of the Lord, ➢ The outpouring of final wrath, ➢ The seven bowls of terror dumped out on the world, ➢ The final world battle at Armageddon, ➢ The return of Jesus Christ in glory and His fierce judgment on the ungodly, ➢ The establishment of the millennial kingdom.

All of that is going to flow out of this blowing of the seventh trumpet. From here on, we move into the final phases of judgment right on through into chapter 20 where the kingdom is established.

Chapters 21 and 22, the final new heavens and the new earth. Here comes the final agony of earth as it is devastated by the fury of God. All within the seventh trumpet, which is within the seventh seal, and which encompasses the seven bowls.

Revelation 15:1, Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

Revelation 16:1, Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. Those seven bowls which are the final wrath are included in the seventh trumpet.

We have seven seals. Out of the seventh seal come the seven trumpets. Out of the seventh trumpet come the seven bowl judgments. The culmination of the seventh seal, seventh trumpet, and seventh bowl all happens actually at the same time.

Some people get that confused by very important statement is made by the apostle Paul.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Paul here talking about the rapture of the church. That is a different event than the final judgment of the ungodly.

The last trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15 is the trumpet that calls for the rapture of the church. The seventh trumpet calls for the judgment of the ungodly. Seventh trumpet is not parallel not to the last trump of 1 Corinthians.

But it is parallel to the trumpet blown back in the prophecy of Joel chapter 2.

Joel 2:1, Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand:

Joel 2:1-11, describes the Lords Day judgement upon the earth.

• A day of darkness and gloom is described, symbolizing divine judgment.
• Unstoppable force as either a locust plague or an invading army.

• Fire consumes everything in its path, leaving devastation behind.
• The sight of this army causes anguish, and people’s faces grow pale.
• The army moves with precision, obeying divine orders.
• The heavens shake, and celestial bodies darken, emphasizing the severity of the event.

This is the kind of trumpet of which Joel speaks in judgment, not the trumpet that calls for the gathering together of the church. It is not only a judgment trumpet, but it is a coronation. In the Old Testament we find that trumpets marked those great coronation events.

2 Samuel 15:10, Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’

1 Kings 1:39, Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

The trumpet is associated with the coronation of a king. We could then conclude that the seventh trumpet is not only a judgment trumpet, but it is a coronation to coronation of King Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom.

Finally, after going through seven seals, and six trumpets, we come to the end. As we move through this period and these events to the end,

we will see the events from two sides

➢ Earth and ➢ Heaven. There are five pairs of visions looking at these events from heaven and earth. We will see ❖ Judgment on the one hand and Jubilation on the other. ❖ Rage on the one hand and Rejoicing on the other, ❖ Cursing on the one hand and Crowning on the other, ❖ Woe on the one hand and Worship on the other, ❖ Threats on the one hand and Thanks on the other.

We look at these same events from the standpoint of humanity on earth and the standpoint of the glorified in heaven. V 14, The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. In each case of the series of sevens there is always an interlude between six and seven.

• We have the seven seals, but there’s an interlude between the sixth and the seventh.
• We have the seven trumpets, but there is an interlude between the six and the seven.
• We will see the seven bowls, and there will be an interlude between the six and the seventh of those.

In each case the Spirit of God stops to comfort believers, because in the accumulated fearsomeness of these judgments, believers might find themselves greatly discouraged. The Lord stops with comforting words. In chapter 10 even though there was bitterness in the judgment, there was also sweetness, because the Lord would reign. John was told to write down the prophecies.

In chapter 11 we saw that even though there is judgment there will be two witnesses who will have a tremendous impact on the world in preaching the gospel. Ultimately God will use them to bring about a great salvation in the city of Jerusalem.

We have already been through six trumpets, woe one and woe two. We have been through the interlude of comfort in

Revelation 10:1-11:14.

The final woe, the third woe, the seventh trumpet, a trumpet of judgment and coronation.

The purpose of the book of Revelation is the unveiling of the glory of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

The book of Revelation is always intended to reveal Christ, and we will see His glory shining through this text. 1. Praise for sovereignty.

• a) Heaven’s Viewpoint.

As the trumpet is about to be blown it is obvious that heaven is exhilarated at what is about to happen.

V 15, Then the seventh angel sounded

All the trumpets came at the breaking of the seventh seal. The first six released fearsome judgments on the world. They happen in the last few months of the time of the tribulation. But this last woe and this seventh trumpet is much broader than the other two.

The first two woe take up a portion of the Revelation 9th chapter. The third woe is going to sweeping through the great portion of the remainder of this marvellous book. V 18, The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Time came for judgment. The time came for wrath. The time came to destroy those who destroy the earth. The seventh trumpet is a trumpet of destruction and judgment. However, it will be more explicitly described clear.

Revelation 16:19, Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.

Revelation 17:12-14, “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of

kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Revelation 18:19-20, “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ ²⁰ “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” Further described in Revelation 19:11-16, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Faithful and True, who comes on a white horse, with eyes as a flame of fire, et cetera. So, the seventh trumpet sweeps through the remaining events of the history in this eschatological hour. Seventh trumpet also encompasses the judgments known as the bowl judgments in Revelation 16. Before the actual sounding of the trumpet, which will be done in chapter 15, we have three chapters – chapter 12, ¹³ and 14.

These three chapters gives us a brief detour. These chapters take us back into the early part of the tribulation.

• We have already come through the tribulation in the chronology of the book of Revelation to this point.

• We have been through the seven seals that sweep us through.
• We already passed the midpoint, the abomination of desolations.
• We have gone all the way down the line of the trumpets which come in the last few months.
• We are already at the brink of the blowing of the seventh trumpet.

But now in chapters 12, 13 and 14, we are going to go back to the very beginning again. We are going to go all the way back and be carried through the great tribulation again. We are going to be brought right back to the very same point, when the angel is about to blow.

But we are not going to get back to that point until we hit

Revelation 15:1. Why are we going back and going through this chronology again? Simply, because we are going to track back through the tribulation and the great tribulation following the career of the Antichrist.

This is what is going to happen in chapters 12, 13 and 14. We went through on God’s chronology. We went through flowing with the seals and the trumpets.

Now we are going to go back and pick up the career of Antichrist. Ultimately, by the time we come to the end of chapter 14, we will be right back where we are, ready for the angel to sound and the bowls of wrath to be poured out.

So, as we come into chapter 12, we are going to look at the tribulation not from God’s side, but from Satan’s side. We are going to look at it not from the side of the conquering Christ, but from the side of the Antichrist.

A very important move back, so we can collect all the data about Antichrist before we come to the final blast of the trumpet and the ultimate final judgments. V 15 we have the angel sounding. But the sounding here effects judgment which is not yet described to us until we get to chapter 15.

All we hear here is when the angel sounded heaven starts to praise. We don’t have any description of what the judgment was until we hit chapter 15. The angel sounds, but the description of it is held off until we can get what is here and what is in chapters 12-14 about the career of Antichrist.

But when the angel sounds, we don’t yet know what happens on earth, we do know what happens in heaven.

There arose loud voices in heaven. There is tremendous commotion in heaven from every living being there, be they angels or glorified saints. The exuberant voices of heaven are saying this. V 15, Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

The seventh trumpet sounds, the power of Satan is broken forever, the issue of sovereignty is revealed and forever sealed. The supplanter is devastated. Christ is supreme. What Christians have prayed as they were taught by Jesus through the centuries, “Your kingdom come,” is now reality.

Luke chapter 4 Satan took Jesus into a high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and said he would give them to Him. Jesus didn’t want them on Satan’s terms. Now He gets them on His own terms. V 15, The kingdoms of this world

Not the kingdoms, the kingdom, it is singular. That is a very important note and one that is given us with great precision by the Holy Spirit, because the world, though it is divided into many different nations and people and languages is really one kingdom under one king.

The god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of darkness. God hacked up this kingdom at the tower of Babel to make it more difficult for Satan to accomplish his purposes. But Satan is still king over all the pieces of the once unified kingdom. In the end it is going to be reunited again under the power of Antichrist. The world is really one kingdom with one monarch, namely Satan himself.

When Jesus cast the demons out, they accused Him of casting out demons by Satan.

Matthew 12:26, If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? Satan kingdom stands because it is an undivided kingdom. We look at the world and we see it divided into all kinds of nations.

It is politically, socially, linguistically, traditions, customs, and geography. But it is one kingdom under one king, being ruled by Satan and his demonic hosts.

John 12:31, Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Jesus is talking about Satan. Jesus recognizes that the world has one ruler. It is one kingdom with one ruler, that ruler being Satan.

John 14:30, I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

John 16:11, of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Satan is called the ruler of the world for the third time. So, heaven rejoices at the blowing of the seventh trumpet, because the singular kingdom of the world that has been under the power of Satan has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Government, though designed and ordered by God.

Romans 13:1-4, Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from

the same. ⁴ For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. God has ordained government and puts it in place, but people within those governments and even the leaders are not submissive to God. His sovereignty is not recognized.

There are no Christian nations, there have never been any Christian nations.

Acts 4:26, The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’

They always have their will. The long rebellion of the world’s kingdoms against God and against Christ will end here. Genesis 6 will come to pass again wherein God said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man.” Then dominion over the world does not become Christ’s and God’s until after the final judgments. The blowing of the trumpet, the pouring out of the bowl judgments. The great triumph and victory at Armageddon, that’s when Christ takes over and becomes King of the world.

Behind the diverse kingdoms that have existed in history is this single power of Satan pulling it all together. Satan is not going to relinquish these kingdoms without a struggle. Look at what’s going to happen at the end of the tribulation, just in the fifth trumpet and the sixth trumpet. We have got the Antichrist already in power.

• We have got the demons that have been bound in the pit all belched out of the pit and overrunning the earth and maiming everybody.
• We have got 200 million demons that have been bound at the Euphrates River released. They are moving across the earth killing everybody.
• We have got the people who are following the Antichrist, and they are all combining to assist Satan in keeping his world.

It is not going to be easy. Only Christ, obviously, with His great sovereign power could conquer this formidable army under the control of Satan. But it’s going to happen. Because it’s going to happen, we see the praises of heaven there in verse 15.

Very important moment in redemptive history.

This is the culmination of all the promise of God throughout Old and New Testaments. The kingdom is finally Christ’s. This is the apex of redemptive history. V 15, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Very important way to express something. It is what has been called proleptic aorist it means something in the future is so sure that it can be spoken of as if it has already happened. We know the kingdom of the world has not come to an end until

Revelation 20:5.

But when the trumpet blows the final kingdom is established it’s as good as done. A wonderful capability the Greek must use, the verb that speaks of something as so certain that it can be spoken of as if it has already happened.

When the trumpet blows, immediately heaven rejoices as if all that’s going to come out of that trumpet has already been completed.

Although then we could say it doesn’t take place at this point, it is only initiated and anticipated, it is as good as done. This is why that particular form is used.

Luke 1:31-33, And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord

God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” From the very outset the prophecy by the angel given to Mary indicated that this one who came would ultimately be the great King.

So, the anticipated moment at the birth of Christ, the Old Testament which spoke of a Messiah who would come and establish the kingdom. ➢ The promises of Jesus that He would come in glory which were dramatically illustrated in the transfiguration as well as in His miracles while He was in the world.

➢ All the covenants promise to the nation Israel, all the promise to believers that they will reign with Christ comes to pass.

➢ The promise to the disciples that they would sit on twelve thrones reigning over the twelve tribes of Israel in the kingdom of Messiah, ➢ The promise of the times of restitution, ➢ The times of restoration, ➢ The promise that the Davidic kingdom would come in its full glory with Messiah on His throne, All of it now comes to pass.

It is so imminent and so near that it can be spoken of as if it has already taken place. Here V 15-18 have very strong similarity to Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:7-9, “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. ⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

What was promised in Psalm 2 is now anticipated as imminent. The time has come for everything to happen. John is not distinguishing here between the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom. John is just saying the kingdom, both in its millennial sense, and its eternal new heaven and new earth has come. He doesn’t

make a break. He is not just talking about the millennium, because he says He will reign forever and ever. John is not just talking about the eternal kingdom. He must also include the millennial kingdom which is the very imminent part of it.

When Christ returns, He sets up an earthly kingdom for a thousand years, at the end of which there is a new heaven and a new earth, which becomes the eternal state going on forever and ever. The end of Satan’s power has come. The establishment of the sovereign kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ in all the universe.

We will see it in chapter 12, 17, 19, and 20. His final dominion will take place there as we noted in the 20th chapter when He establishes His millennial kingdom and binds Satan for the thousand years of the duration of the kingdom. At the end He casts him into the bottomless pit to burn forever, and sets up the new heaven and the new earth.

In Revelation 15, as the last of the seven bowls is about to be dumped in the last days and few weeks of the tribulation, the day of the Lord.

Revelation 15:2-3, And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the

beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. ³ They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvellous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!

They were singing a very old song out of the Pentateuch, the original books of the Old Testament law. The song of Moses. They are singing from Exodus 15. They are singing it at the pouring out of the final bowls of judgment at the end of human history.

What does the song say? The very song of Moses in Exodus 15 anticipated the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ became King of the world.

Isaiah 2:1-3, The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ² Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. ³ Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah is anticipating the time when the Lord Himself establishes His sovereign rule. His mountain is higher than the mountain. His authority and His kingdom is higher than the authority and the kingdom of any other nation or monarch in human history.

Even Isaiah anticipated this great time when the Lord became King.

Daniel 2:34, You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. A reference to the Messiah, the Lord is the stone cut without hands.

The final form of human world power represented by the image, its legs and feet.

Daniel 2:35, Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. All the great empires of the history of the world are shattered and turned to dust and blown away. The Messiah establishes His universal kingdom.

Daniel 2:44-45, And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. ⁴⁵ Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”

This was a message to King Nebuchadnezzar, and to all of us, about the fact that in the end. Jesus Christ is going to smash all human power and establish His own kingdom. This was the hope of Isaiah, Daniel, and even Moses.

Daniel 7:13-14, “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. ¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. Daniel sees the image of the great, glorious, final kingdom of Christ.

Daniel 7:18, But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.’

Daniel 7:21, “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, Daniel is given a vision far into the future to see the glorious events described under the seventh trumpet, when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Daniel 7:27, Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

This is the repeated promise that the Messiah will rule the whole world.

Malachi 4:1-2, “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

Establishing a kingdom of righteousness. Zechariah repeatedly predicted the coming glory of the kingdom.

Zechariah 14:9, And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— “The Lord is one,” And His name one. V 15, Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

This is the final righteous government of Christ. Jesus was being tried in the mock trial before Pilate.

John 18:36, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

The kingdom that He came to bring the first time was a spiritual kingdom. ✓ The final one will be a sovereign, political, social, and worldwide rulership. We will find reference to Psalm 2 in chapter 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19.

The flavour of Psalm 2 finds its way into the remainder of this part of the book of Revelation. It will have its final fulfilment, Psalm 2, at the battle of Armageddon when the King triumphs over all wicked hosts who have gathered against Him to fight.

Now the prophets repeatedly in the Old Testament said that all rule will finally go to God. Not only to Christ the Messiah, but to God. V 15, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

We don’t want to exclude God, because God is also going to be involved. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says ultimately God will be all in all. Even the kingdom of Christ He will give to God, so that God can be all in all. God will be exalted in the end time.

Ezekiel and Daniel said it repeatedly.

Daniel 4:3, 6:26, 7:14, 26:27 – that God will also be exalted.

We are at a crossroads here in the revelation of the book of Revelation in its disclosure, its unveiling, and its apocalypse of Christ.

We are at the point of transference where the universe is to be rested out of the control of Satan and handed over to the control of the Lord Himself. This is a monumental moment in redemptive history. At that point when He takes the kingdom, He will hand it over the Father, and both of them will share in its glory.

2. 24 Elders. V 16, And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, We have noted all the way through that the twenty-four elders are the representative of the glorified church.

We saw them in chapter 4 and 5. The twenty-four elders representing the glorified church, already raptured and glorified in heaven, sitting on their thrones. Never in any of Scripture do we find angels on thrones seated.

They fell on their faces and worshiped God, something they did a lot of.

Revelation 5:14, Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped [i]Him who lives forever and ever.

But here they fall on their faces, they worship God. This is the moment they have waited for.

Revelation 19:4, And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”

The reason they are so exhilarated is because this is their moment for the fulfilment of the prayer, “Your kingdom come.” V 17, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

It is a time of thanksgiving. It is a time for them to express their gratitude for God answering the prayers of the saints. All the prophecies predicting this event are now fulfilled. All the anticipations and hopes of God’s people are to be fulfilled, and thanks is the proper response.

V 17, O Lord God Almighty,

The word “almighty,” Pantokratōr, a very important word. It means “the ultimately powerful one,” “the absolutely sovereign one.” That is why He can take over. We thank You, O Lord God, because You are able to do this. You are the all-powerful one.

You are the one who is able to fulfil the promises of the prophets. Because Your power surpasses the power of Satan, the power of anybody else. It has the sense of God exercising His all-encompassing, all- embracing will by His unbelievably mighty power, against which no one can stand.

They also identify God not only as the Pantokratór, or the one with almighty power, but they identify Him as the One who is, who was, and who is to come.

Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Past, Present and Future!

Revelation 4:8, The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or

night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” The twenty-four elders join in all the rest of the voices in heaven is another indication that they are different than the angels who are described in V15 who are praising God.

Why? V 17, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The reign has begun. Again, it’s the same kind of usage of the verb to say something is about to happen that is so sure we can speak of it as if it has already taken place.

Psalm 24:1, The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

This is now true and realized. Christ begins to reign, not just in redemption through grace over an invisible kingdom, but now in power and authority over the visible kingdom of the world. Heaven rejoices. We see the praise for sovereignty in this great moment of future redemptive history.