The Coming Tribulation: a History of the Apocalypse Part 4: The Great Tribulation Revelation 11:15 - 15:8 (also available on-line at ichthys.com) by Dr. Robert D. Luginbill Contents of the Series: The Coming Tribulation Part 1: Introduction (Revelation 1:1-20) Part 2A: The Seven Churches (Revelation 2:1-3:22) Part 2B: The Heavenly Prelude (Revelation 4:1-7:17) Part 3A: The Tribulation Begins (Revelation 8:1-11:14) Part 3B: Antichrist and his Kingdom Part 4: The Great Tribulation (Revelation 11:15-15:4) Part 5: The Second Advent and Armageddon (Revelation 15:5-19:21) Part 6: Last Things (Revelation 20:1-22:5) Part 7: Preparing for Tribulation (Revelation 22:6-21) Contents of Part 4: I. The Seventh Trumpet (the Third Woe): Revelation 11:15-19 II. The Woman and the Dragon: Revelation 12:1-6 III. War in Heaven: Revelation 12:7-12 IV. The Dragon’s Persecution of Believing Israel: Revelation 12:13-17 V. The Beast out of the Sea: Revelation 12:18 - 13:3 1. The Biblical Symbolism of the Beast out of the Sea 2. The Kingdom of the Beast VI. The Beast’s Prophet and the Worldwide Anti-Christian Religion: Revelation 13:4-18 1. The Anti-Christian Religion and its Worldwide Expansion: Revelation 13:4-10 2. The False Prophet: Revelation 13:11-15 3. The Mark of the Beast: Revelation 13:16-17 4. The Number of the Beast: Revelation 13:18 VII. The Great Persecution: Revelation 14:1 - 15:8 1. The Martyrdom of the 144,000: Revelation 14:1-5 2. The Three Angelic Proclamations: Revelation 14:6-13 a. The Way of Salvation Proclaimed: Revelation 14:6-7 b. The Coming Judgment on Babylon Proclaimed: Revelation 14:8 c. The Need for Fortitude in Persecution Proclaimed: Revelation 14:9-13 3. The Harvest of the Martyrs: Revelation 14:14-16 4. The Vintage of the Persecutors: Revelation 14:17-20 5. The Vindication of the Martyrs: Revelation 15:1-8 1 Introduction: Having examined the career of antichrist up until the mid-point of the seven year tribulational period, we return to the book of Revelation and resume our verse by verse treatment of the history of the apocalypse. The establishment of the beast as the effective ruler of this world under the guidance and support of his father the devil and his session in God’s temple in Jerusalem representing himself as God (2Thes.2:4) marks the end of the Tribulation’s first phase. With this “revelation” of antichrist, we are brought to the threshold of the most terrible time in world history, the Great Tribulation. And it shall be a time of distress such as has never occurred since people first existed on the earth until that time. Daniel 12:1b For at that time there will be a Great Tribulation such as has never occurred from the beginning of the world until now, and [such as] will never again occur thereafter. Matthew 24:21 (cf. Mk.13:19) The Great Tribulation will unquestionably be a devastating experience for all the inhabitants of the earth, but it will fall especially hard upon believers in Jesus Christ. For the principal and truly eponymous event of that period, that is, the intense tribulation that will characterize those three and a half years, will be the unprecedented persecution of the Church and the martyrdom that accompanies that persecution. Key to the solidification of his world kingdom will be the beast’s pseudo-religion. As was the case to a somewhat lesser degree in historical Rome, adherence to the cult worship of the ruler will be the litmus test of loyalty to the state. But while Roman emperors made use of this admittedly evil device primarily for pragmatic reasons relating to the solidification of their power, antichrist and his father the devil will also be intent upon eradicating faith from the earth through the elimination of the faithful. This has always been a central design of Satan’s plans, for if all to whom the promises of God have been made could be removed (either through death or apostasy), then God’s promises would have to fail. If there is no one left for Christ to return to, then the devil wins. Such, at any rate, runs Satan’s twisted thinking. With the whole world under antichrist’s control, the forcible conversion of all of the inhabitants of the earth to the beast’s devil worshiping religion becomes not only theoretically possible, but is also the perfect satanic final solution: all who refuse to convert will be put to death so that, either way, faith will perish from the earth. And such would be our fate, except for the mercy, the goodness, and the power of our God, who is coming to rescue us through the return of His Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And they will say on that day, "Behold! This is our God! We waited in hope for Him to deliver us. This is our Lord. We waited in hope for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His deliverance!" Isaiah 25:9 2 Strengthen the hands that are weak. Bolster the knees that are giving way. Say to those with anxious hearts, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold! Your God will come, as an Avenger. [Your] God will come, as a Rewarder. He will come, and He will deliver you". Isaiah 35:3-4 We must ever look forward to that ultimate deliverance. But we must also remember that the Great Tribulation is aptly named, and that just as many fell through apostasy during the Tribulation’s first half, many will fall in martyrdom during those final three and a half years. We must remember, learn well the lessons the Bible has – not without good reason – stored up for us in advance, and make every effort to prepare spiritually for whatever may betide. I. The Seventh Trumpet (the Third Woe): Revelation 11:15-19 (15) Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, “The world Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ has [now] come, and He will rule forever and ever. Amen”. (16) And the twenty-four elders were sitting in front of the throne, and they fell on their faces and worshiped God, (17) saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and the One who was, even because you have taken up your great power and begun to reign! (18) Although the nations thronged together in their wrath, your wrath has come, even the time for the dead to be judged, for giving to your servants the prophets and to the holy ones, even to those who fear your Name both great and small, the reward [that is due them], and for destroying those who are destroying the earth!”. (19) And the temple of God which is in heaven above opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there occurred flashes of lightning and thunderous voices and an earthquake, and large hail [fell]. Revelation 11:15-19 1. The Seventh Trumpet (Revelation 11:15a): With the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the Great Tribulation begins. Seven is the number of perfection and completion (cf. Ps.12:6; 119:164; Prov.6:16; 9:1),1 and as we saw in part 3A of this series, while the first six trumpets announce and commence warning judgments of ascending intensity and longevity during the Tribulation’s first half, the seventh trumpet opens the longest and most intensive warning judgment of all, namely, the Great Tribulation itself. For the Great Tribulation is the ultimate admonition to prepare to meet with God, for He is coming at the end of that final three and a half years in the Person of the conquering Messiah who will mete out vengeance to His adversaries even as He brings deliverance to His people (cf. 2Thes.1:3-12). That is why all of the other events and proclamations in this paragraph, Revelation 11:15-19, directly connect the sounding of the seventh trumpet and the Great Tribulation’s commencement to that glorious future day. For the Tribulation as a whole is, as we have seen, the opening twilight of the Great Day of the 1 For further references and discussion see J.J. Davis, Biblical Numerology (Grand Rapids 1968) 116ff. 3 Lord whose dawn will come in blazing glory with the Second Advent of the Morning Star, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the true Light of the World (Num.24:17; Matt.2:2-10; 2Pet.1:19; Rev.2:28; 22:16; cf. Jn.1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:36; 12:46).2 2. The Proclamation of the Kingdom (Revelation 11:15b): The traditional translation of this verse “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”, common to all the major versions (with which the author is familiar) and popularized by Handel’s “Messiah” is, while possible, very unlikely from both a linguistic and a theological perspective. Linguistically, the traditional translation depends upon taking the genitive phrase “of our Lord and of His Christ” as the predicate of the sentence, and, while this is not impossible, it is somewhat rare and certainly uncharacteristic of John’s writing. But in its particular word order, directly after the first genitive phrase, “of this world”, deriving such a meaning would be suspect for most later Greek prose and altogether incongruous with John’s style.