The 7th Trumpet

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 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. 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.” 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.—Revelation 11:16-19

The sounding of the 7th trumpet indicates that the judgments are about to conclude upon the earth and Jesus is about to descend with His church to set up His kingdom. Remember the 24 elders represents the redeemed of all ages and as the trumpet sounds they are praising God because The Lord is about to establish His kingdom upon the earth. The temple is now opened and the ark of the covenant is seen. This symbolism speaks of the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world. This is the heart of the book—the revelation of The Lord Jesus Christ.

The ark of the covenant is a type and shadow of the redemptive work of The Lord Jesus Christ where judgement toward sin was satisfied. The ark of the covenant was made of gold and wood which represents the humanity and deity of The Lord Jesus. This reveals that only the God-Man Christ Jesus can save the world from sin. The Mercy Seat was a lid of solid gold on the ark where the blood was sprinkled representing atonement through the shed blood of Jesus. (Under the lid of the mercy seat were the Ten Commandments, the pot of Manna and Aaron’s rod that budded of which I don’t have time to explain but they all speak of Jesus!)

Philippians 2:9-11 says that because of Jesus obedience, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! He is coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to judge the Nations. Rejoice that your sins have been judged at the Mercy Seat and that you have been exempt from the coming judgments! Remember, until that time of judgment comes we have a mandate from Heaven! Share the good news that Jesus saves, heals and revives and He is coming soon!