John's revelation continued to unfold future events as God revealed these to him in his vision. The scene John saw next was in heaven. The seventh trumpet judgment did not begin immediately (cf. 8:1-5), but John received information preparatory to it (11:15-15:8).
11:15 When the seventh angel sounded loud voices in heaven announced that the long-expected reign of Jesus Christ over the world would begin soon (20:1-10; cf. Ps. 2:2; Isa. 9:6-7; Ezek. 21:26-27; Dan. 2:35, 44, 4:3; 6:26; 7:14, 26-27; Zech. 14:9). "Has become"(Gr. egeneto) is proleptic.374This will happen after the seventh trumpet has run its course.375The loud voices probably belong to the whole host of heaven. "Lord"refers to God the Father.
"Jesus will return and assume the throne of His father David in this future crisis, at which time He will replace the satanically energized sovereignty of world rulers that has prevailed for so long. The whole theme of Revelation is the purging of evil from the world so that it can become the domain of the King of kings (cf. 19:16). Only a physical kingdom on earth will satisfy this."376
"He"includes both the Father and His Christ. The earthly reign of Christ will continue in the new heaven and earth when He will turn over control to the Father and "God will be all in all"(21:1-22:5; cf. Dan 2:44; 7:14, 27; 1 Cor. 15:24, 27-28).
11:16 The 24 elders' (4:10; 5:8, 14; 7:13-14) response to this announcement was to prostrate themselves before God. Worship in heaven contrasts with rebellion on earth.
11:17 The elders thank God for taking His power in hand and finally reigning.377In the vision He was about to do this. "Lord God, the Almighty"stresses God's irresistible power and sovereignty, which now become evident. "Who art and who wast"emphasizes God's uninterrupted existence, which makes His endless rule possible. Until now God had allowed powers hostile to His people to control the earth, but now He will begin to rule directly.
The elders' statement has led some interpreters to conclude that it signals the beginning of Jesus Christ's reign. In view of the events that seem to follow this one and precede the beginning of His reign in chapter 20, a different understanding is preferable. It seems better to regard the elders' statement as anticipatory of the inauguration of that reign.
"The event is so certain that throughout this section it is repeatedly spoken of as already having taken place."378
11:18 The elders continue to anticipate the beginning of Messiah's rule on earth by foreseeing the raging response of unbelieving Gentiles (cf. 16:14, 16, 19; 20:8-9; Ps. 2:1, 5, 12) and the outpouring of God's holy wrath (cf. Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7; Rom. 2:5, 8; 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9). They also see the judgment of the dead and the rewarding of believers. They not only give thanks that Christ reigns supremely (v. 17) but that He judges righteously and rewards graciously (v. 18).
"Although rewards are all of grace (Rom. 4:4), they vary according to what each has done (I Cor 3:8)."379
"The elders in their song make no attempt to separate the different phases of judgment as they are separated in the closing chapters of Revelation. They simply sing of that future judgment as though it were one event, much on the order of other Scriptures that do not distinguish future judgments from each other (cf. Mark 4:29; John 5:25, 28-29; Acts 17:31; 24:21)."380
The elders distinguished two groups of believers: the Old Testament and New Testament prophets, who communicated divine revelation, and the saints, namely, other believers.381They further described these saints as even (ascensive use of "and,"Gr. kai) those who fear God's name both small and great (e.g., both slaves and nobles; cf. 13:16; 19:5, 18; 20:12). The elders also anticipated the destruction of the wicked who have been responsible for the divine judgments that have destroyed the earth. John would soon learn of the destruction of some of these destroyers, namely, Babylon, the beast, the false prophet, and Satan.
11:19 John then saw the temple in heaven opened (cf. Heb. 9:23).382This event, as the others in this pericope, is proleptic (cf. 15:5).383The opening of the temple probably pictures the immediate fellowship with God that believers will enjoy following these judgments. In the temple, John viewed the ark of God's covenant, the emblem of His faithfulness, presence, and atonement to the Israelites. The last chronological reference to the ark in the Old Testament is in 2 Chronicles 35:3. What happened to it after that is unknown. Many scholars believe it perished in Shishak's invasion, during Manasseh's apostasy, when Nebuchadnezzar burned the temple in 586 B.C., or during the Babylonian captivity (cf. 1 Kings 14:26; 2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chron. 33:7; Jer. 3:16.384There was no ark in the second temple.385What John saw, however, was not the earthly ark but its heavenly counterpart (cf. Heb. 9:24). Its appearance in the vision suggests that God would resume dealing with Israel and would soon fulfill His covenant promises to that nation.
As elsewhere, the storm theophany portrays the manifestation of God's presence (cf. 4:5; 16:18; Exod. 19:16-19) and His wrathful judgment (cf. 8:5; 10:3; 16:18).386It concludes this part of John's vision that proleptically anticipates the end of the Tribulation judgments and the inauguration of God's kingdom.
This verse is transitional concluding the present pericope and introducing what follows.
There is no revelation in this pericope (vv. 15-19) of the judgment announced by the blowing of the seventh trumpet. The record of this judgment appears in chapter 16. There we have a prophecy of seven bowl judgments. It appears that as the seven trumpet judgments were a revelation of the seventh seal judgment so the seven bowl judgments will be a revelation of the seventh trumpet judgment.387Consequently the revelation in chapters 12-15 seems to be another insertion of information about this time, the Great Tribulation, not advancing the chronological sequence of events on earth (cf. 7:1-17 and 10:1-11:14). The chronological progression resumes again in 16:1.
