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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
July 27, 2025
◘The Seventh Trumpet & the Declaration in Heaven
Revelation 11:14-19
Introduction
In my last sermon on Revelation 11:1-13, I repeated a quote from Henry Alford that Revelation 11 “is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in the whole Apocalypse.” ◘While the first 12 verses concerning the measuring of the temple and the Two Witnesses is not all that difficult for those following the literal grammatical- historical interpretation method, it is difficult for those following allegorical or mystical interpretation methods because there is no foundational basis to determine the truthfulness of anyone’s speculations. The musings of men are just speculative opinions evaluated by who can weave the most plausible sounding tale.
◘Today’s sermon which focuses on verses 14-19 is difficult because it involves concepts of time and jumping around in the sequencing of time which can become very confusing. I will do my best to help make sense of this to you, but before I start into that I want to quickly review the beginning of the chapter to set the context.
◘Review
Revelation 10 & 11 cover an interlude between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpet. The immediate consequences of the sixth trumpet was the death of one third of the earth’s population who were killed by an army of 200 million riders on strange “horses” that had heads “like lions” from which fire, smoke and brimstone proceeded from their mouths, and their tails were like serpents with heads that cause harm. These, like the “locusts” of the fifth trumpet judgment, are strange creatures that John did his best to describe. They are not some form of modern military weapons. (See: The 5th & 6th Trumpets).
◘In Revelation 10, John’s perspective changes to earth where he interacts with a “strong angel” who gives a prophecy that answers the question of the martyrs in the 5th seal (Revelation 6:9-11). There would no longer be a delay in God bringing upon “those who dwell on the earth” His wrath in judgment and avenging their blood after the seventh trumpet was sounded. The little open scroll that the angel gave to John which was sweet to his taste but bitter to his stomach would have been the details of what was to come after the seventh trumpet was sounded which will include the seven bowls of wrath, Jesus’ return and the millennial kingdom, final judgment and the new heavens and new earth. The news of Jesus’ future kingdom and eternity is sweet to those who will be part of it, but the judgment that will fall upon those that do not repent will be bitter for it will include people that we care about. Our consolation is that God will wipe away all of our tears. (See: The Angels & the Little Book).
Revelation 10:11 concludes with John’s re-commissioning to prophetic ministry, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” ◘Revelation 11 begins with John’ first action after having his prophetic ministry reaffirmed. He is given a rod to measure the temple (except its outer court), the altar, and the people worshiping there. This marks out these areas as being within God’s favor with the outer court being left out to show that it and all that is beyond it are outside of God’s favor. That court and all of Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles for forty-two months. While that is negative, the message is actually a positive one for believers for it is an affirmation that God’s plan will be carried out. This particular prophetic revelation given to John matches the prophecy in Daniel 9.
◘The two witnesses prophesy and have authority to carry out their ministry for 1,260 days, which is the same length of time that Jerusalem is trampled by the Gentiles – 42 months. While there is much speculation as to their identity, John ties it prophetically back to Zechariah 3 & 4 and the ministry of Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest in their mission of restoring Israel in the return to the land after the exile. These two witnesses are in a long line of prophets God has sent to warn His people to repent before impending judgment would fall upon them. During their period of ministry, they can kill anyone that wishes to harm them by fire that comes from their mouths. They also can shut up the sky and prevent rain at will in a manner similar to Elijah. At the conclusion of their ministry, they are given over to be killed in Jerusalem by the beast that came from the abyss. However, they will only stay dead for three and a half days before God resurrects them and calls them to ascend to heaven which causes great fear in all who were watching them. This is followed by a great earthquake which destroys a tenth of Jerusalem and kills seven thousand. The rest are “terrified and give glory to the God of heaven,” which in this context, seems to point to repentance and possibly part of the fulfilling of Romans 11 that “all Israel will be saved.” (See: The Two Witnesses)
◘In the midst of the wrath God is pouring out on “those who dwell on the earth,” He also shows mercy and grace as He fulfills all of His promises. There will be many that will be saved during the tribulation period even as the vast majority remain unrepentant and suffer the consequences. This interlude between the 6th and 7th trumpet displays God’s faithfulness which gives hope in the midst of terrible destruction. That must be kept in mind if we are to make sense of the last section of chapter 11 which can be confusing.
◘Revelation 11:14–19 (LSB)
14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel sounded, 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 will 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 You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 “And the nations were enraged, and Your rage came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your slaves—the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great—and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19 And the sanctuary of God which is in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
◘Dealing with Time Issues
The great difficulty in this passage are the time references and trying to figure out where they fit. The confusion comes from what is referred to as the proleptic use of the aorist tense. This grammatical construction uses a past tense to describe a future event because it is that certain. ◘The clearest example of this is in the golden chain of salvation in Romans 8:29–30, 29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers; 30 and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified. The verbs foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified are all aorist active indicatives which normally indicate a past action. Something that has already happened. That is certainly true in reference to foreknew and predestined since those occur before you are born (Ephesians 1:4). Called occurs during a person’s life, and being justified occurs at salvation when a person places their faith in the person and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are all past actions for any current believer, though future for those that have not yet believed. However, for everyone, glorification will not take place until the bodies of our humble state are transformed “into conformity with the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21). That is still future, yet it is stated as a past event because it is that certain. This same grammatical construction occurs here in Revelation 11, so careful attention must be paid to put the time reference in its proper place. I will point those out to you as we go through the text.
◘Another time issue is jumping between different points in the time sequence or merging them together. Going from an event that will occur sometime during the tribulation period to events that will happen at the end or after the tribulation period, or merging events into one extended time period can be very confusing.
◘There is also the issue of conflating similar time length references though they do not necessarily reference the same time period. For example, 42 months equals 1,260 days which equals 3 ½ years, but a reference to one of these does not necessarily mean it is referring to the same time period just because the length of time is the same. The same length of time could refer to the first or second half of the tribulation week, or even to some place in the middle of the week.
◘There are only a few things during the tribulation period that have definite markers in the time sequence. Most references are a little more generalized and could fit in several places in the time sequence over the seven years. Daniel 9:26-27 states that last week of the 70 weeks that are part of that prophecy, which is commonly referred to as the 70th week, the tribulation period, or the time of Jacob’s troubles, begins when the future anti-Christ “will make a firm covenant with the many for one week.” The many being the Jewish people and especially those in Jerusalem. That same passage makes it clear that in the middle of that week, 3 ½ years, the anti-Christ puts an end to the sacrifices and commits the abomination that makes desolate. (See: Understanding the Vision – Daniel 9) ◘ Because Jesus also references this in Matthew 24:15, we know the “beginning of birth pangs” occurs before this and the period of “great tribulation” occurs after it, though the passage does not state the exact length of time of either. ◘From the context of Revelation 11 we place the forty-two months of Jerusalem being trampled by the Gentiles and the 1,260 days of the ministry of the two witnesses in the later part of the tribulation period, but the text does not require both of those to be simultaneous time periods or the last 3 ½ years of the tribulation period. The later would require them to begin on the day the abomination of desolation occurs. My point is simply that while all those time sequences could coordinate with each other, the various scripture texts do not require that, so we should be both gracious with others about these things and not feel badly if it seems confusing because it is confusing.
◘A quick point about how confusing it can be. The two witnesses are resurrected 3 ½ days after they are killed. Are those 3 ½ days included in the 1,260 days of their ministry or do they occur after? Does their resurrection match the end of the seventieth week and therefore the return of Jesus and the defeat and capture of anti-Christ, or does it occur before that? How does their period of ministry coordinate with Armageddon? The general flow of eschatology is not that difficult, but the fine details of it are difficult and confusing. Now we can humbly examine our text for today.
◘The Transition – Revelation 11:14
14 “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.” Verse fourteen marks the transition from the second woe which began with the sixth trumpet to the third woe which begins with the seventh trumpet. These are the woes the eagle in the mid-heaven warns about which John recorded in Revelation 8:13. ◘The actual woeful actions brought on by the sixth trumpet conclude at the end of chapter 9 with chapters 10 and 11 describing things that give hope to believers while warning unrepentant sinners of what is to come. For that reason, it seems out of place for John to include the interlude as part of the second woe. It makes more sense that he is pointing back to the end of chapter 9 as the end of the second woe and referencing it here to transition to the beginning of the third woe which was imminent. Nothing else needed to occur, so the seventh trumpet could be sounded at any moment. It was coming quickly.
◘The Seventh Trumpet & Proclamation – Revelation 11:15
15 “Then the seventh angel sounded, 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 will reign forever and ever.” ◘In contrast to breaking of the seventh seal which brought forth silence in heaven for about a half an hour (Rev. 8:1), the blowing of the seventh trumpet brings about very loud voices. Since those voices, and note that it is plural – many voices, not a single voice – are not specifically identified, they will be a mixture of the various beings in heaven or even possibly the whole of the heavenly host proclaiming the ultimate victory of Christ which will last forever.
◘What they proclaim concerns the change to the kingdom of world. Note first that this is a single kingdom, and second that it is the kingdom of the world and not the church. Attempts to make this a reference to the church is contrary to the both the text and basic logic. If the kingdom of the world” was a reference to the church, it would already be the kingdom of Christ, for Jesus is the head of the church (Col. 1:18). Again, allegorical interpretation often ends up in speculation that can be oblivious and inconsistent even with itself.
While Psalm 2 speaks of the nations being in an uproar and the kings of the earth and rulers counseling together and standing against Yahweh, in reality all of these worldly powers are under the control of one being, and that entity is the usurper, Satan. ◘Among the many names and titles used to reference Satan are those indicating his current position over the world. Paul calls him the “god of this world” in 2 Cor. 4:4, and the “the prince of the power of the air” in Eph. 2:2. Jesus calls him the “the ruler of this world” in John 12:31, 14:30 & 16:11. ◘We know from Ephesians 6:10-17 that Christians must put on the full armor of God in order to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is “against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The tower of Babel was a manifestation of Satan’s singular kingdom in rebellion against God, and though the Lord scattered that kingdom around the world by confusing the languages, Satan still directs his demonic hoard in their influence over nations. A glimpse of that spiritual warfare is seen in Daniel 10 when Michael helps the angel sent in answer to Daniel’s prayer to overcome the demonic “prince of the kingdom of Persia.”
◘We will see in Revelation 13 that the beast from the sea is given power, his throne and great authority by the dragon, Satan. This is a unified kingdom in open rebellion against God. The declaration here is of the victory of God over Satan’s “kingdom of the world” so that it has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” Lord here refers to God the Father, and “His Christ” refers to Jesus, the anointed one, who will “reign forever and ever.” ◘This is a usage of the proleptic aorist I explained earlier. This is a broad declaration of God’s victory over Satan that is so certain that it is spoken of as having already happened at the blowing of the seventh trumpet even though the judgments that come from it that destroy Satan’s kingdom and establish Christ rule on earth are still in the future. ◘Notice also that there is no distinguishing of the phases of Christ’s future rule. Once He begins His reign it will never end even though it will change from His millennial kingdom on earth to the eternal one in the new heavens, new earth, and new Jerusalem (Revelation 20-22).
◘Worship by the 24 Elders – Revelation 11:16-18
After the declaration of the victory over Satan to establish the eternal kingdom of the Lord and His Christ, the twenty-four elders respond in worship and thanksgiving. 16 “And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God.” ◘This is the same action they had earlier in John’s description of the throne room of God and in response to the Lamb taking hold of the seven sealed scroll (4:10; 5:8,14). This time the added description that they fell “on their faces” expresses the depth of their humility in worship of Him at the pronouncement of His victory.
Verse 17 records their worship in thanksgiving, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” This thanksgiving continues on in verse 18 to describe the results of God’s reign, but stop there so we can look at this in more detail. God is referenced six more times in Revelation with this same description. ◘The phrase “Lord God” points back to that same title used so frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures which combines God’s covenant name with Israel, Yahweh, with His title as the creator God, Elohim (Genesis 1). Adding the term, “The Almighty,” emphasizes His sovereignty over all things because the covenant keeping creator of all things is also all powerful and none can thwart Him. This is part of His very nature and character.
◘Another of God’s attributes for which they give thanks is His eternal nature expressed here as “who is and who was” which covers His eternal existence in the past and present. The phrase, “and who is to come,” is added to later manuscripts which show up in some English translations because it occurs in Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8, but it is not needed here because at the moment anticipated in their giving thanks, He has already come as stated in the rest of the verse, “because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” This is another case in which a future event is so certain that it is presented as having already happened. The Lord God Almighty is longsuffering, but He will only tolerate evil for so long, and then ◘He will take hold of His “great power” to overwhelm His enemies and exert His authority to reign. The perfect tense is used here in “you have taken your great power” to show the permanence of His action. Once God has taken hold of His great power to vanquish Satan and establish His kingdom, He will never let go of it. ◘The proleptic aorist is used in “have begun to reign” to demonstrate the certainty of God’s actions. The twenty-four elders give thanks because nothing can thwart God when He takes action. No matter how much Satan strives to usurp God, he does not stand a chance despite his demonic hoard and the people that will follow him.
◘The devil’s kingdom will be destroyed and the kingdom of the Lord God and His Christ will be established forever. That prophecy is repeated throughout the Old Testament and continued into the New. The Song of Moses in Exodus 15 describes the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, then looks at the future fear other nations will have of Yahweh and concludes “Yahweh will reign forever and ever.” Messiah’s defeat of His enemies and future earthy reign are in Psalm 2, Isaiah 2 and Daniel 2 and 7. Messiah will crush His enemies and establish His own indestructible everlasting kingdom. Similar descriptions are given in Micah 4 and Zechariah 14. That is why there is always hope for the righteous no matter what the current situation may be in which evil appears to dominate.
Their thanksgiving continues in verse 18 in describing the response of the nations and God’s actions toward them and all of humanity. “And the nations were enraged, and Your rage came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your slaves the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
◘That is a summary of what will be given in detail in the rest of Revelation. The unrepentant have a deep seated hostility toward God. That is seen in Romans 1-3 as God’s wrath is revealed against the unrighteous. The immoral unrighteous in Romans 1:21-32 descend into greater depravity. The moral unrighteous in Romans 2 become stubborn in their unrepentance storing up great wrath for themselves. The religious unrighteous in Romans 2:17-3:20 double down in pursuit of religious self-righteousness. ◘We already saw this increased animosity toward God following the sixth trumpet in their refusal to repent from their idolatry, murder, sorcery, immorality and theft (Rev. 9:20-21). That defiance becomes worse with the bowl judgments that are part of the third woe culminating in their gathering in Har-Megedon for war against God (Rev. 16:14-16).
◘The word play in the first two phrases are brought out in NASB & LSB by using terms based in the same root in the same way as the Greek. God’s response to the enragement (ojrgivzomai / orgizomai) of the nations is His own rage (ojrghv / orgē) against them. The wrath of man against God cannot match the wrath of God against unrepentant man. This verse points back to the Messianic Psalm 2. 1 Why do the nations rage And the peoples meditate on a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord mocks them. 5 Then He speaks to them in His anger And terrifies them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” The Psalm continues on to describe the shattering of the nations and establishment of Messiah’s kingdom while calling for repentance.
◘God’s wrath will be displayed in the bowl judgments and culminate in the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation 20 in which the unrighteous are condemned and cast into the eternal lake of fire to join the devil, the beast, the false prophet as well as death and Hades. However, the statement here in verse 18 encompasses both rewards and punishment. ◘The time, kairovV / kairos, season, period of time, came for judging the dead. This is a general reference to all future judgments without distinction in time or sequence. The righteous receive reward and the unrighteous receive retribution.
◘Those rewarded are “Your slaves the prophets, and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great.” Though all Christians are slaves of Christ because we have been purchased with His blood, the context here seems to limit this as a special term for the prophets, both Old and New Testament, who served the Lord in such a capacity (Matt. 10:41). ◘The saints are all those God separates to Himself because they fear His name, a phrase pointing to those who believe and follow God, both those who lived before or after Jesus’ death and resurrection. ◘Adding in the phrase, “the small and the great” shows that God rewards all that are His according to their labor for Him just as He has promised (1 Cor. 3:8-15), whether the lowliest slave or the highest imperial rank. The basis of reward is simply faithfulness in service to the Lord and not the particular position or earthly prestige gained as demonstrated in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). ◘All believers are rewarded with being included in Christ’s kingdom in both its millennial and eternal forms, but there are also rewards of crowns to individual believers based on their faith, hope and service (James 1:12; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; 1 Thess. 2:19-20; 2 Tim. 4:5-8; 1 Peter 5:2-4).
◘Those He will destroy are “those who destroy the earth.” Destroy, diafqeivrw / diaphthreirō, can refer to physical destruction, economic ruin, or moral or religious corruption. ◘The sense here is that God will judge and destroy physically those who have caused moral and religious corruption on the earth. In Revelation that would include Satan, the beast, the false prophet, “Babylon,” and all the unrepentant. This occurs during the tribulation period and extends through the Great White Throne judgment.
◘The events described in this verse are a series of proleptic aorists as previously described. These are all actions so certain they are presented as having already happened though they are still future. The same is true for verse 19 describing the events occurring in heaven.
◘The Sanctuary of God in Heaven – Revelation 11:19
19 “And the sanctuary of God which is in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His sanctuary, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”
◘This is the completion of the declaration given in verse 15 for Christ’s eternal reign extends to heaven. The sanctuary or temple (naovV / naos) is the place where God is worshiped. The description here connects back to the initial description in Revelation 4 when John describes the throne in heaven, He who sat on it and the activities surrounding Him. It also connects to the description in Revelation 15:5-8 of the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven being opened and the seven angels that will pour out the bowls of wrath appear. Because the context of verse 18 includes the rewarding of the righteous, an open sanctuary points to the future access redeemed humans will have to God’s presence.
◘The appearance of the ark of the covenant in the sanctuary was especially meaningful to the Jewish Christians for the ark was the place of atonement and symbolized the presence of God. It was made while the children of Israel were at Mount Sinai as described in Exodus 25. It was moved with great solemnity and was kept in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple until it disappeared just before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem. Inside was the jar of manna, Aaron’s rod and the tables of the covenant.◘ Its reappearance signifies God’s covenant people being the central subjects in the visions that follow.
◘This passage closes with a storm theophany similar to that in John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 4:5 in having flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, and that of Revelation 8:5 that occurred just prior to the sounding of the first trumpet judgment in also having an earthquake. This one also includes hail. This is a mighty manifestation of God’s presence.
Conclusions
◘God’s future victory over Satan and all that is evil and the establishment of His eternal kingdom is so certain it can be spoken of as having already been accomplished. ◘These glimpses into the future should encourage all Christians and give them confidence in God’s sovereignty even if present circumstances are bad. God wins! ◘It should give unbelievers great pause to carefully consider their eternal future. If they repent, they will spend eternity in heaven with God with the rewards given to the redeemed. If they do not, they will be among those that God will destroy forever in the lake of fire. If you are not yet ready to meet God, then today is the day to repent and believe. You may not have tomorrow – or even the rest of today.
Sermon Notes – 7/20/2025
The Seventh Trumpet & the Declaration in Heaven –
Revelation 11:14-19
Introduction
The literal grammatical-historical method increases ________________clarity, consistency & confidence
Revelation 11:14-19 is difficult to interpret because of the _________references which can be confusing
Review
Revelation 10 & 11 are the ___________between the sixth and seventh trumpet
Rev. 10 – Strong angel proclaims no more delay after the 7th trumpet. The little scroll, John ______________
Rev. 11:1-2 – John ________the temple, excludes outer court, Jerusalem trampled by Gentiles for 42 months
Rev. 11:3-13 – The ______________, 1,260 day ministry, protection, power, death, resurrection & ascension
God shows __________even in the midst of the pouring out of His wrath on the unrepentant
Revelation 11:14–19
Dealing with Time Issues
Proleptic Aorist – ___________event so certain it is stated as having already occurred
Romans 8:29-30 – God foreknew, predestined, called, justified and glorified – glorification is still ________
Passages in Revelation jump back and forth in the time __________- from during to end or after Tribulation
Conflation of events of same ___________of time as occurring during same __________of time
Daniel 9:26-27. 70th week begins with firm ____________, which is broken at mid-point – 3 ½ years
Matthew 24:15 – beginning of birth pangs ________abomination of desolation – great tribulation ______it
Rev. 11 – Jerusalem trampled by Gentiles & Two Witnesses during ______part of seven years of Tribulation
General flow is understandable, ______are difficult: 1,260 days – include 3 ½ days? End of 70th week? Etc
The Transition – Revelation 11:14
Actions of second woe ended in 9:21. This points back that to ____________from second woe to third woe
The Seventh Trumpet & Proclamation – Revelation 11:15
Sounding of 7th trumpet brings loud ___________ – a mixture of the heavenly host?
They proclaim a change in the _________of the world (singular) to the kingdom of our Lord & of His Christ
Names & titles for Satan include “god of this _____,” “price of the power of the air,” “ruler of this world”
Christians are in a spiritual ________ with Satan & his demonic horde – Eph. 6:10-17
The beast gains his power, throne & authority from the dragon, ________ – a singular kingdom
The victory and kingdom establishment are another proleptic aorist
There is no distinction given here between the different _________ of Christ’s future rule
Worship by the Twenty-four Elders – Revelation 11:16-18
Humble worship before God at the announcement of God’s victory results in proclamations of ___________
Lord God Almighty: Covenant name of God (Yahweh), Creator God (Elohim), who is almighty = ________
He is _________: “Who is and who was” – who is to come not needed here for He is already come
When God takes hold of His great power to defeat Satan & establish His kingdom, it will _______________
Another proleptic aorist – God’s future reign is ___________for nothing can thwart it
Destruction of the devil’s kingdom destroyed & establishment of God’s fulfills multiple OT ____________
Verse 18 is a __________statement – unrighteous man has a deep seated hostility toward God – Romans 1-3
__________toward God increases following God’s judgments culminating in Har-Megedon (Rev. 16:14-16)
Man’s rage / wrath against God results in God’s rage / wrath against unrepentant man – _________. Psalm 2
God’s wrath will culminate in the Great White Throne judgment, but this verse includes ____________
The time / season / period of time came for judging the dead – ______to righteous, retribution to unrighteous
Rewards given to God’s slaves, the ___________- Old & New Testament – Matthew 10:41
_________, even those who fear God – all those who believe & follow God, old & new covenant
Small & great – God rewards all according to their labor (1 Cor. 3:8-15) regardless of ________or prestige
All the redeemed are rewarded with salvation & heaven, but there are also ____________crowns
Destroy, diafqeivrw / diaphthreirō, physical destruction, economic ruin, or moral / religious ___________
God will destroy physically those who have caused moral / religious ______________of the earth
Verse 18 is a series of proleptic aorist verbs – ______events so certain they are presented as already occurred
The Sanctuary of God in Heaven – Revelation 11:19
A proleptic aorist which completes the declaration in verse 14 – Christ’s eternal reign extends to _________
The open sanctuary connects to Rev. 4 & 15 – a reward of the righteous is future ________to God’s presence
The ark of the covenant – the place of _____________ & presence of God
Its reappearance signifies God’s _________ __________are the central subjects in the visions that follow
The passage ends with a __________ theophany – as in Rev. 4:5 & 8:5 – a mighty manifestation of God
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children: Draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – Do one or more of the following:1) Write down all the verses mentioned in the sermon and look them up later. 2) Count how many times the term “aorist” is used. Talk with your parents about God’s promises which will be fulfilled in the future are so certain they can be spoken of as having already happened.
THINK ABOUT IT! – Questions to consider / discuss with others. What is a “proleptic aorist” and why is it especially important in Revelation 11:14-19? What time issues occur in Revelation that make it confusing? Who controls “the kingdom of the world” at the present time? Explain. When will it be replaced by the eternal kingdom of Christ? What is the relationship between Psalm 2 and this passage? For what attributes of God do the 24 elders give thanks? For what actions of God do they give thanks? What are some Old Testament prophecies of God destroying the wicked and establishing His kingdom? How do the unrighteous show their hostility toward God? What rewards are given to the righteous? Who are those that destroy the earth and how does God destroy them? What is the significance of the sanctuary in heaven being opened? When will that occur? What is the importance of the appearing of the ark of the covenant?
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