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2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

September 3, 2014

Revelations 11:15-19

  1. One of the things I want students of this wonderful book of Revelations to understand is that it is really a history book written in symbols of the people of God for the last days beginning from the early church till our Savior returns. The book must be understood in the context of history. In this book, God’s people are vindicated, and his enemies are put under his feet. Not only is Revelations a history book, but it is also a description of how the Kingdom of God gets started. In today’s lesson we will look at many scriptures to support our conclusions.

  2. Verse 15-17. The seventh angel blows his trumpet. Remember what this meant. Go back to Revelation 10:7 and note that when the seventh angel blew his trumpet then all that the prophets had spoken concerning this event would be fulfilled. Remember that this angel was seen in Daniel 12:7 saying that the shattering of the power of the holy people was going to come. The angel in Revelation 11:6-7 says there is no more delay. The shattering of the power of the holy people would take place when the seventh angel sounds the trumpet. The seventh trumpet now sounds. This picture of the fall of the city of Jerusalem, the judgment against the physical Jewish nation. The final judgment of the Jewish nation shows the continuing establishment of Christ’s kingdom as Christ conquers all of his enemies. This verse declares that when the trumpet sounds his kingdom reigns. The question for the student is when did Christ reign begin? Does he reign later or does he reign now. Let’s look at other scriptures for help. Mark 1:14-15, Luke 4:43, John 18:36, Luke 17:20-21, John 3:3, Galatians 2:20. These verses help us see that the kingdom of God is not like worldly kingdoms, but it is a spiritual kingdom inside the believer. Christ reigns in you and me. His kingdom is here and he is reigning now. When he rose from the grave his kingdom started (Matthew 28:18). When the temple was destroyed that ended any physical worship so that believers could clearly see that worship would have to be spiritual. Jesus predicted this and it has come to pass (John 4:21). The old has been done away with to be replaced by the new (2 Corinthians 3:6, Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:24). Now that the reign of Christ has begun John sees the response of the 24 elders (angelic beings) to this new reign. The elders are praising God for this new reign.

  3. Verse 18-19. The enemies of Christ’s kingdom have been defeated. Every enemy is being subjected under the feet of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:25). Notice verse 18: The nations rage, but your wrath has come. Time for judgment and time for reward for those who are God’s servants. This imagery recalls Psalm 2:2 where the nations rage against God’s anointed. However, Christ rules over the earth and subjects the nations. Verse 19 concludes the woe and it is an important image. God has judged. There are flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. These are images that God has brought final judgment on the nation. God’s temple is seen in heaven, not on the earth. This relates to what we studied in our previous lesson in Hebrews 12:22-28. The things shaken had to be removed so that the things cannot be shaken may remain. Though the physical temple was destroyed, the true temple of God remains in heaven. The true people of God remain. Further, the Ark of the Covenant is seen in heaven, not on earth. The Ark of the Covenant represented God’s presence and favor in the Old Testament. Josephus records that the Ark of the Covenant was not in the second temple (Wars V. 219). The ark had been lost when the Babylonians invaded back in 586 BC. God’s presence was never again pictured with the physical nation or the physical temple in Jerusalem, though it had been rebuilt in 516 BC and was beautified and expanded by Herod at beginning of the first century. The Ark of the Covenant is pictured within the heavenly temple. God’s presence and favor is with his people, not the physical Jewish nation. God has destroyed another nation that stood in opposition to the people of God. But this is not the only enemy that will be judged. Satan and Roman Empire must be judged as well.

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