Revelation 11:18

The seventh trumpet is the last of the series that began in Revelation 8. The first six brought judgments that grew heavier as they went, falling on creation, on people, and through demonic forces. Before the seventh, John saw the two witnesses killed, raised and taken up to heaven, and an earthquake that closed the second woe (Revelation 11:14). Now the seventh angel sounds, and heaven answers with a shout of victory. This trumpet also brings the third woe that verse 14 said would come quickly, and it opens the way to the bowl judgments and the final working out of God’s purposes. Earlier in the book John was told that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7).

The “great voices in heaven” are loud and many. John leaves them unnamed, and they are most likely the angels, the twenty-four elders, and perhaps the redeemed as well, the same great company that praises the Lamb in Revelation 5:11–14. They speak openly before all heaven, and what they say is an announcement of something done.

The four and twenty elders “sat before God on their seats”. The Greek word behind “seats” is thrónos, a throne or seat of authority. The New Testament uses it of God and Christ, and also of the apostles and the elders, and even of Satan and the beast, so it names a seat of authority whoever holds it. These elders hold honour and authority in heaven’s court, and as soon as heaven announces the reign of God and his Christ they come down from their thrones and fall on their faces (píptō epí prósōpon). They do the same in Revelation 4:10–11, where they cast their crowns before the throne. Every authority in heaven bows before his.

They “worshipped God”. The verb proskynéō means to prostrate oneself in homage, to do reverence, and it describes worship given with the body as well as the heart. Falling on the face was a familiar sign of reverence and submission in Israel, before a king or before God, and the psalmist calls on the people to exalt the LORD and worship at his footstool (Psalm 99:5). The elders worship gladly and at once, in joyful answer to the news of God’s victory. What they do in heaven, all creation will one day do, as Paul writes: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11). For John’s first readers, pressed to worship the emperor, this was a picture of the one throne that deserves worship.

The elders’ worship turns to words: “We give thee thanks”. They call God “Lord God Almighty”. “Lord” speaks of his authority and “God” of his divine nature, and “Almighty” is pantokrátōr, made from the Greek words for “all” and “might”, the all-ruling one. The New Testament uses it only of God, and it comes often in Revelation (Revelation 1:8). He is sovereign over all creation, all history and every destiny, and the elders now see that rule carried out in full.

“Which art, and wast, and art to come” is a title Revelation gives God more than once (Revelation 1:4, 4:8). The Greek, ho ōn kaí ho ēn kaí ho erchómenos, joins “the one who is”, “the one who was” and “the one who is coming”. God exists now, has always existed and will always exist, present and at work in every age of history. His reign rests on who he is, and so it endures.

The elders’ thanks goes on to name what God’s reign brings. The verse reads like an outline of the judgments and the kingdom that the later chapters describe in detail.

“And the nations were angry.” The word éthnos means a nation or people, and in an extended sense the Gentiles. Here it is the peoples of the world and their rulers set against God and his people. The verb for their anger is orgízō. Even after heaven has announced God’s kingdom, the world rages against it, as the nations rage against the LORD and his anointed in Psalm 2:1–5, while God in heaven laughs at them. Their anger shows hearts that refuse to repent, and it lasts until the very end.

“And thy wrath is come.” The word orgḗ is anger as a strong passion, a just abhorrence of evil, and by implication the punishment that follows it. God’s wrath is his righteous anger against sin, arriving at the time he has set as the just answer to the nations’ rebellion. Revelation later pictures it as a winepress (Revelation 19:15).

“And the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” The word for time is kairós, a season or set time. God has appointed a time for the dead to be raised and judged, as Daniel foretold a rising of the dead to life and to judgment (Daniel 12:2–3). God holds authority over life and death, and he will do justice to all who have ever lived.

After the worship, John sees into heaven itself. “The temple of God was opened in heaven.” The word naós means a temple or shrine, and at Jerusalem it named the temple building proper, the sanctuary, as distinct from the whole enclosure, the hierón. The earthly tabernacle and temple were copies and shadows of this heavenly one (Hebrews 8:5). Its opening unveils God’s presence and his purposes, and it shows that he is about to act directly and decisively in history.

“There was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” The word diathḗkē means a disposition, covenant or will, and here it is the covenant, so this is the ark of the covenant. It was the most sacred object in Israel, made at God’s command (Exodus 25:10–22), and it stood for his throne, his presence among his people and the promises he had bound himself to keep. Hebrews describes the earthly sanctuary where the ark stood and the limits of its worship (Hebrews 9:1–10). To see the ark in heaven is to see that God keeps his covenant. His promises to bless and to judge stand firm, and his plan is reaching its end.

The whole passage centres on Jesus Christ, who is named as the one who reigns. The prophets foretold a Messiah who would set up an everlasting kingdom (Isaiah 9:6–7). Jesus began that kingdom at his first coming, preaching that it was at hand (Mark 1:15) and showing its power over sin, sickness and death. Raised and ascended, he sits at the Father’s right hand above every power (Ephesians 1:20–22), with all authority in heaven and on earth given to him (Matthew 28:18). He is already “the prince of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), and “he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). The seventh trumpet looks ahead to the day that reign is complete, when he returns in glory and God brings in the new heaven and new earth where he wipes away every tear (Revelation 21:1–4). The Lamb who was slain is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing (Revelation 5:5–13).

Christ also stands at the centre of the wrath and the judgment of verse 18. The wrath that comes on the nations is the wrath he bore on the cross, so that we who believe are saved from wrath through him (Romans 5:9). He is the judge of the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), because the Father has committed all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), and he is the one who gives the reward.

The temple and the ark of verse 19 point to him as well. Jesus called his own body the temple (John 2:19–21), and by his death and resurrection he opened the way into the holiest, which the veiled holy of holies of the earthly temple only pictured (Hebrews 10:19–20). The ark held the old covenant, and Jesus gave the cup of the new testament in his blood (Luke 22:20), so that he is the mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6–13). God’s covenant faithfulness, his holy presence and his final judgment all meet in his Son.

These verses let us hear the end of history before we reach it. Whatever the kingdoms of this world do, heaven has already announced to whom they belong, and the reign that follows lasts for ever and ever. The first readers heard this under the pressure of Rome, and it gave them hope. It gives the church the same hope in every age, because the true King is on his throne.

The elders show the fitting answer to that news. The highest seats in heaven are emptied as their holders fall on their faces and give thanks to the God who is, and was, and is to come. God’s justice is sure, and so is his kindness to those who serve him. The reward reaches the small as well as the great, and their faithfulness is remembered. Above it all stands the ark in the opened temple, the sign of a God who keeps his covenant, the covenant he has sealed for us in the blood of his Son.