I love epic victory scenes in movies. One of my favorites is the scene where the
ring of power is destroyed in J.R. Tolkien’s, “The Return of the King.” It
is without a doubt the most epic scene in the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, where the evil Sauron is destroyed and
the forces of evil defeated once and for all.
What I find particularly stirring is the responses of joy and
celebration by those who have fought for good throughout the story. In the novel, the news of Sauron’s defeat
also causes great joy and celebration when it reaches Minas Tirith:
“And so they stood on the walls of
the city of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and
golden, streamed out mingling in the air.
And the Shadow departed, and the Sun was unveiled, and light leaped
forth; and the waters of Anduin shone like silver, and in all the houses of the
City men sang for joy that welled up in their hearts from what source they
could not tell.
And before the sun had fallen far
from the noon out of the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore
tidings beyond hope from the Lords of the West, crying:
Sing now, ye people
of the Tower of Anor,
for the Realm of
Sauron is ended for ever,
and the
Dark Tower is thrown down.
Sing and rejoice, ye
people of the Tower of Guard,
for your watch hath
not been in vain,
and the Black Gate
is broken,
and your King hath
passed through,
and he is
victorious.
Sing and be glad,
all ye children of the West,
for your King shall
come again,
and he
shall dwell among you all the days of your life.
And the Tree that
was withered shall be renewed,
and he shall plant
it in the high places,
and the
City shall be blessed.
Sing all ye people!
And the people sang in all the ways of the City.”[1]
I want to point out the response to this epic
moment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy
because today we are going to read about the most epic event in history in Revelation 11:15-19. Here, John recorded the events of the seventh
trumpet to encourage believers with
the certainty that God’s Kingdom will come.
Believers today should also find their greatest encouragement in the certainty that God’s kingdom will
come. Maybe it’s because we have become
so at home in this world, but I find that the news of God’s coming kingdom
normally does little to stir us like
it should. It doesn’t stir us like the
characters in Tolkien’s novels. How do
we cultivate hearts that long for God’s kingdom to come, hearts that fall out
of love with this world and long for the world to come? I want to share three ways that we can begin
to do so, one from the Bible as a whole and two from this passage.
[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. (Revelation 11:15-19 ESV)
- Consider
What the Coming of God’s Kingdom Means to the Overall Story of the Bible
The coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness is the
event that the entire Bible has
anticipated. Outside of the cross, it is
the most epic event in Scripture. The
cross only surpasses this event because the cross is the crushing blow and
crowning victory that seals up with certainty that God’s kingdom will be
established.
The story of the Bible, which is a story of how
God is redeeming a people for His glory, centers
on the coming kingdom of God. We
first see this kingdom in its seed form, when the first man and woman were told
to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) The original blue print
was a kingdom of worshippers that filled the earth. But by the time you come to Genesis 3, mankind has rebelled against
their Creator and King and as a result can now only fill up the earth with a
race of rebels. God did not, however,
abandon His plan to have a kingdom when we abandoned Him. He promised an offspring to redeem a kingdom
of people for Himself (Genesis 3:15,
12:1-3; Galatians 3:8,16). The
anticipation of this Messiah and His messianic kingdom is the mega theme of the
Old Testament. God progressively
revealed that this Messiah (Christ) would come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-10), specifically from
the lineage of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13),
and that His kingdom would be a kingdom of priests who had been redeemed and
given new hearts (Exodus 19:6; Jeremiah
31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27). Also,
the Messiah’s dominion would be eternal and His kingdom would encompass all
other earthly kingdoms (Daniel 2:44-45;
7:13-14). He will literally rule the
whole world.
Jesus begins His ministry in the New Testament
with this message: “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel”
(Mark 1:15). The kingdom of God was “at hand” because the King had come, and with His life, death,
burial, and resurrection, God’s long awaited kingdom came in part. I say in part because the New Testament
teaches that God’s kingdom has both already
come in one sense (Colossians
1:13-14; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Revelation 1:5-6; 5:9-10) and in another sense has
not yet come. Theologians like to use this language: that
the New Testament witnesses the inauguration
of God’s kingdom, but not the consummation
of it. The New Testament ends with
the eager expectation of the “Return of the King,” King Jesus and with Him His
kingdom in its fullness.
I believe what is being described in Revelation 11:15-19 is the consummation of God’s Kingdom. The seventh trumpet signals the establishment
of God’s kingdom, that “the kingdom of
the world HAS BECOME the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall REIGN
FOREVER” (15). Notice how the
description of God is modified from
what we have seen so far in Revelation.
Rather than being described as the God “who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4), He is simply described as the God “who is and who was” (17).
Why? The description is modified
because He can no longer be said to be the God who is to come; He is the God
who now has come, “for” He has taken His “great power and begun to reign.” This is the day that the entire Bible has
been anticipating! Meditate Upon these
passages so that God can use them to cultivate in you a heart that longs for
His kingdom to come.
- Consider
What the Coming of God’s Kingdom will Mean for the World (15)
The coming of God’s kingdom will mean the full and
forever rule of God over the entire world.
The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of God and will come
under His rule forever (15). Friend,
this is an infinitely good thing! Satan
will no longer be “the god of this world”
(2 Corinthians 4:4). Since the fall, Satan has enjoyed a measure of dominion (a dominion subject
to God, but a measure of dominion nonetheless).
He has been allowed to “deceive
the nations” for a time (Revelation
20:3). This will all end when the
last trumpet sounds. No longer will the
one who lives only to steal, kill, and destroy be allowed to touch this
world.
Not only will the world enjoy liberation from
Satan, it will also enjoy liberation from the curse. Creation was cursed when Adam and Eve fell (Genesis 3:17-19). Paul says now that all creation groans to be
liberated from it. [18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [19] For
the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
[20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but
because of him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself
will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the
glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation has
been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. [23] And not
only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies. (Romans 8:18-23 ESV) When the King returns, the world will
enjoy liberation from Satan’s dominion and sin’s curse.
There is more!
The world will also enjoy the all knowing, all powerful, infinitely
wise, good, loving, merciful, gracious, immutable, just, and righteous reign of
God. What king, emperor, president,
prime minister, or any other earthly ruler has ever fit that description?
Imagine a King who does not play politics, who never lies, who always
knows how to handle any issue in the best and wisest way possible, who doesn’t
need a cabinet or counselors, and who would humble Himself in order to suffer,
bleed and die for His people.
What kind of leader would you die for? In the innumerable
battles of history, there have been leaders who stood back and sent the troops
in and there have been leaders who dressed for battle and stood on the front
lines, ready to risk their lives along with their troops. I’m not arguing for or against the merits of
either, but I can only imagine the statement that it made when a king would put
on his armor and charge the enemy along with his troops. I don’t know about you but I’d be willing to
bleed alongside a king like that. I
don’t know what kind of leader you would die for, but I can tell you what kind
of leader is going to rule the world one day: one who has died for you. Jesus is a
King who did not take the easy road when Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the
world (Matthew 4:8-9); He chose the
Calvary road so that an innumerable multitude from those kingdoms could be
saved and become part of a better kingdom.
- Consider
What the Coming of God’s Kingdom will Mean for the Peoples of the World (16-19)
At the pronouncement that “the kingdom of the world” has become the kingdom of God, the twenty-four
elders fall on their faces again and sing a song describing what the coming of
God’s kingdom will mean for the peoples of the world. It will basically mean two things: judgment for some and reward for others. The consummation of God’s kingdom will mean eternal judgment for the enemies of God. No more will the nations rage (Psalm 2) because God will put an end
to all the rebellion that gone on since Genesis
3. It will be a time for “the dead to be judged” and for “destroying the destroyers of the earth” (18). This time of judgment is further elaborated
on in Revelation 18-20 (especially
chapter 20), but for now simply notice that the coming of God’s kingdom will necessarily require the final judgment
and destruction of God’s enemies. This
is why this trumpet is also called the “third
woe” (8:13, 11:14). The “dead” can refer to either the
unbelieving “dead” or the believing “dead” in Revelation, but here it seems
to be describing lost, rebellious humanity.
The “destroyers of the earth”
not only includes people who did not take care of God’s world, but also people
who would be considered “destroyers”
on the earth, i.e. those who have persecuted the people of God. Also, notice that judgment is implied in the
cataclysmic events of verse 19 in the “flashes
of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and earthquake, and heavy hail.” These are events that accompany the second
coming and are seen at the end of each of the septets.
The consummation of God’s kingdom will also mean eternal reward for the people of God. It will also be a time for “rewarding” God’s servants, “the prophets and saints, and those who fear
your name, both small and great” (18).
I’m not sure what it will all look like, but the New Testament teaches
that believers will be rewarded according to what they have done (1 Corinthians 3:8-15). The greatest reward seen in this passage,
however, for the people of God will be the presence
of God Himself. That is what is
ultimately signified by God’s temple being “opened”
in verse 19 and the “ark of his covenant”
being made visible. The ark symbolized “God’s gracious presence with His redeemed
community.”[2]
In the Old Testament, the ark was kept in the Holy
of Holies, which was concealed by a curtain so that no one would enter except
the high priest once a year. The reward
for God’s is that there are no more curtains to separate God’s presence from
His people. Now, as Revelation 21:3 so eloquently states, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his
people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Remember what we saw in Revelation 7:15, that God’s people will be before God’s throne in
His temple and be forever “sheltered”
by God’s presence? What we said there was
that knowing and dwelling with God is seen as the ultimate reward of His
people. That is what is being
communicated here as well. God is the
great reward of His people.
- Consider
What the Coming of God’s Kingdom SHOULD Mean to Our Hearts
Notice that when the twenty-four elders hear this
news, they fall on their face and worship God (16). This news stirred them to the core and caused
them to worship. I can assure you that
this was a stirring message for first century believers who were suffering great
persecution at the hands of local Jews and the Roman government. The news of God’s coming kingdom brought great joy and hope to their hearts and motivated them to finish their race. The model prayer for God’s kingdom to come that
Jesus taught to His disciples meant much more to them than it does to many of
us. Why is that? I believe it is because we, unlike them, are
very at home in this present world. If
we had eyes to see, we would see that we are much more in love with the world
than we think we are.
Which kingdom do you belong to today? Which kingdom are you living for? Only one will last forever. Maybe a better question is this: which
kingdom has your heart, this world’s or God’s?
Is it reflected in your prayers?
May God change our hearts and cause them to love His kingdom more than
we do this world so that we too may earnestly pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be down, on earth as it is in heaven.”
(Matthew 6:10)
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