Inside the Temple in Heaven

"Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm" (Revelation 11:19 - New International Version)

The temple of God, after which the wilderness tabernacle and the Jerusalem temple were patterned, is opened. John looks inside and sees the heavenly ark. The ark represents judgment because it contained the Law. It also represents mercy because upon it is the Mercy Seat and upon it the High Priest would offer the blood on the Day of Atonement.

There are more signs of coming judgment. If these heavenly events parallel events on earth, then at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, there will be severe storms, another earthquake and more volcanic eruptions. Remember, the word for hail means anything that comes down. Violent volcanic eruptions throw rocks into the air which come down upon people.

Worship The King

"And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." (Revelation 11:16-18 - King James Version)

The announcement that Jesus is about to take over the world and establish his kingdom results in the 24 elders worshiping God again. Heaven is a place of constant worship. They praise God because he is about to use His great power.

While heaven rejoices, the men of earth are angry. They do not want Christ to reign. They do not want to give up their sinful ways. They do not want to serve God.

The anger of man is set against the wrath of God. God is angry as well. He is acting upon that anger. Like He did in Noah's day, God is about to judge the earth. Only this time, he will not destroy all life.

The elders also refer to judgment. There are four aspects to God's final judgment. There is his wrath which is a judgment for the sin of man. After the battle of Armageddon, all who followed the Anti-Christ will be placed in hell. Then all the saved will be judged. After the thousand year reign of Jesus, there will be a final judgment. The words of the elders cover all these judgments.

The last part of verse eighteen deserves to be noticed. God will “destroy them which destroy the earth.” The earth is God's creation. Those who destroy it are indirectly attacking God through his creation.

Christians should be “green.” We should be among those who are concerned about the environment and do what we can to protect it. Of course, our motive is very different from many today who seek to protect the environment. We do it because it is part of God's creation.

The Third Woe

"The second woe (calamity) has passed; now the third woe is speedily to come. The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)!" (Revelation 11:14,15 - Amplified Bible)

John, in his vision, now comes to the third and final woe. We might expect after the first two woes that this one would immediately cause some great disaster. This is not the case. Rather the third woe immediately leads to an announcement and worship. However, as we will see, it also ushers in the seven vials of God's wrath!

The sounding of the last trump leads to the announcement that Jesus has won the victory. The physical kingdom of Christ is about to begin. The seven vials of wrath are the divine means used to destroy the kingdoms of this world and set up the kingdom of the Lord.

This is when I believe the rapture will occur. The Bible says that “God hath not appointed us to wrath.” (I Thessalonians 5:9a - King James Version) The seventh trumpet is just before God pours out his wrath.

The Bible says that we will be raptured at the last trump. The seventh trumpet is the last trumpet to sound, as far as the Bible records, in the Tribulation.