This morning, we reach a milestone in our study of the Book of Revelation as we reach the halfway point. And as I’ve pondered the passage that we’ll look at this morning over the past couple of weeks, I’m convinced that there is a sense in which this particular passage is a pretty good summary of the main theme of the book which we identified at the beginning of our journey:
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:13 (ESV)
So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Revelation 11 and follow along as I read beginning in verse 15:
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.
As we’ve previously discovered, there are some striking parallels among the seventh seal, the seventh trumpet and the seventh bowl. In each case, we see flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and an earthquake. Those similarities lead me to believe that they are all describing the same event from different perspectives.
Perhaps one way to help us understand this is to think of a broadcast of a major sporting event. Throughout the stadium, there are a number of cameras that are recording the action. And all of those various camera feeds go to a control center where there is a director who can view all the various camera angles and then choose which one to send to the viewers who are watching the event. And whenever there is a crucial play, the viewers at home can see the replay from several different vantage points.
I think that is a pretty good picture of John’s visions that He records for us in the book of Revelation. First he sees the events from the vantage point of the church as pictured by the seals. Then, it’s as if God shows him the replay of the events from one of the other cameras and we have the trumpets which view the same events from the perspective of unredeemed mankind. Finally God provides John with one more replay, and John sees the bowls which view those events from God’s perspective. The analogy breaks down somewhat because the seals, trumpets and bowls may not picture exactly all the same events, but at a minimum the seventh in each series are similar enough to allow us to conclude that, at a minimum, it is likely that the end point of all three series is picturing the same event.
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET
When the seventh trumpet is blown, there are three significant events which all take place simultaneously:
3 Simultaneous Events:
• Jesus begins His earthly reign
Before Jesus began His earthly ministry, He went into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. And one of things that Satan offered to Jesus was the reign over the kingdoms of the world.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:8, 9 (ESV)
But Jesus, knowing that it was not yet time for Him to assume that reign, avoided the temptation to take that which was rightfully His by the wrong methods at the wrong time. But when the seventh trumpet is sounded, Jesus will claim that which belongs to Him and He will assume His perpetual reign over the kingdoms of the earth.
• The ungodly are judged
There is no doubt that much of what is described in our passage is rooted in Psalm 2, which is even today considered to be a Messianic Psalm by the Jews. That Psalm begins with these words:
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
Psalm 2:1 (ESV)
This is a perfect description of what we observe in our world today. Nations rage and people plot, but it is all in vain. Because for those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord, when that seventh trumpet blows, they are going to face God’s judgment and His wrath, exactly as Psalm 2 predicts:
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled…
Psalm 2:12 (ESV)
This is completely consistent with what we’ve learned about the Day of the Lord from the Old Testament prophets. When that process comes to its culmination, God is going to pour out His judgment on the ungodly who have refused to place their faith in Jesus. We’ll be given some more details about that process when we get to Revelation 20 and examine the Great White Throne judgment.
• Christ followers are rewarded
Once again, this is confirmed at the end of Psalm 2
…Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2:12 (ESV)
When Jesus returns, He is going to reward all of the saints, who are described here as those who fear His name. Although every believer is going to receive rewards based on how well we’ve served Jesus in our lives here on earth, the greatest reward of all will be that we will physically be in the presence of Jesus for eternity.
That is confirmed here by the presence of the ark of the covenant in the temple in heaven. In the Old Testament, the ark of the covenant represented God’s presence manifest in the midst of His covenant people and here it pictures the believers’ permanent place in the presence of Jesus.
THE RETURN OF JESUS
It is important to understand that all three of these events occur at the same time and based on what we’ve already learned from both the Old Testament prophets and our journey through Revelation thus far as well as from the text itself, it is clear that these events all occur at the return of Jesus.
Up to this point in Revelation, Jesus has consistently been described as the one “who was and is and is to come”. But you’ll note that in verse 17, the last part of that description – “is to come” – is no longer there because Jesus will return to the earth when the seventh trumpet is blown.
Up until now, we have not addressed the topic of the return of Jesus and the related subject of the “rapture” for good reason. So far, there has been nothing in the text that pictures those events. But since the seventh trumpet is clearly connected with the physical return of Jesus to the earth for the purpose of establishing his eternal reign, judging the ungodly and rewarding His followers, this is the appropriate time to address those topics.
When it comes to the study of the end times and the book of Revelation, probably the most discussed, the most controversial, and potentially the most divisive topic is that of the rapture. While there is nearly universal agreement among true Christ followers about the fact of the return of Jesus and the associated rapture, there is much disagreement about the timing of those events. So what happens is that people generally choose one of four camps regarding the timing of the rapture: pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, pre-wrath, or post-tribulation. The unfortunate result is that people tend to get so entrenched in their particular view that they often spend the rest of their life defending that opinion and manipulating Scripture to fit that particular view.
But what is really interesting to me is that while we obviously have references to the return of Jesus in Revelation, the rapture itself is never described directly anywhere in the book. To be sure many commentators have tried to read that event into the text in various places, but there is no clear reference to that event in the book.
As I’ve thought about that throughout our study, the question that I keep asking is why, in the most comprehensive book in the Bible concerning the end times is there no mention of such a significant event? After all, John’s readers were experiencing hardship and persecution and it seems that the idea of them being caught up by Jesus and removed from those circumstances would be a great encouragement to them. Based on what we’ve seen so far in our journey, the only logical conclusion that I can draw is that John didn’t want his audience to have false hope that they were somehow going to be spared from the tribulation that they were experiencing by being removed from the midst of those events.
That is a message that is particularly relevant to us as Christ followers today. In our lifetimes, most of us have seen groups of well meaning Christians who are convinced that the return of Jesus and the rapture is so imminent that they basically withdraw from life to await His return. They sell all their belongings and quit their jobs and all their other activities, only to find after a while that all this was done in vain.
But there is an even larger group out there, I fear, who haven’t gone nearly that far, but who are nonetheless depending on the rapture to spare them from the tribulations of life, rather than developing a walk with Jesus that will enable them to hold fast to their faith in the face of tribulation.
I can’t tell you definitively when the rapture is going to occur because I can’t tell you definitively when Jesus is going to return. But there are some clear connections in Scripture between the seventh trumpet, the return of Jesus and the rapture that reveal that those three events all occur simultaneously, or at least very close together.
Let’s begin with the words of Jesus:
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man…29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:27, 29-31 (ESV)
There are two elements associated with the return of Jesus that tie this passage to the seventh trumpet here in Revelation 11. The first is described in verse 27, when Jesus reveals that His coming will be like lightning coming from the east and shining as far as the west. This is consistent with the lightning that is part of the seventh seal, seventh trumpet and seventh bowl.
The second element is that the return of Jesus will be accompanied by a loud trumpet call. This is even more directly pictured by the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11.
Based on Jesus’ words, we can determine several important facts about His return:
• The timing:
Since we’ve already covered this aspect of Jesus’ return previously on several occasions, we’ll just review this briefly.
o After tribulation
Jesus reveals that He will return “immediately after the tribulation of those days.” That period of tribulation is clearly described by the first five seals, since, as we’ll see in a moment, the sixth seal immediately follows that period of tribulation. Although we can’t be quite as definitive, it also seems likely that the first six trumpets, and possibly even the first six bowls, also picture this tribulation.
o After the sixth seal
After the period of tribulation there will be signs in the sky that are consistent with the events of the sixth seal that we saw described in Revelation 6:
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Revelation 6:12-14 (ESV)
Those events are immediately followed by the return of Jesus.
• What will occur:
o Everyone will see Jesus’ return
Jesus is very clear that when He returns, every person on the earth is going to see Him coming on the clouds of heaven with great glory. This, along with the associated passages in Mark and Luke, is the only place in Scripture where Jesus speaks directly regarding His return to the earth. He never describes some other “secret” return prior to this time for the purpose of rapturing His followers.
o Jesus will gather His elect
Jesus will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call for the purpose of gathering His elect. The meaning of the term “elect” is crucial to our understanding here. This particular Greek word and the related verb and noun forms of the word are found 52 times in the New Testament, and are translated either “elect” or “chosen” depending on the context. The word indicates those who have been chosen by God for a particular task. The term is applied to the apostles, to Jesus Himself and to angels, but by far it is used most frequently to refer to all Christ followers and that is clearly how Jesus uses the term here in Matthew 24. So this is clearly describing the event we call the rapture in which all of Jesus’ followers are “caught up” to be with Him.
But there is still much about the rapture that is not revealed by Jesus in this passage. Fortunately, Paul gives us some more insight in his writings. We’ll look at two passages that will aid our understanding. The first is found in 1 Thessalonians.
Before I read that passage, some background information will be helpful. 1 Thessalonians is probably one of Paul’s earliest letters, maybe even his first. It is written about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and around 40 years before John writes the Book of Revelation. Paul writes the letter to address a specific concern of the Christ followers in Thessalonica.
The people there had been anticipating the return of Jesus ever since His resurrection, but now some of their family members had died and they were concerned about what was going to happen to them when Jesus returned and whether they would be able to experience what Jesus had described in Matthew 24. So Paul writes these words to describe the protocol that Jesus would employ at His return.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 (ESV)
Although Paul doesn’t deal directly with the timing of the “rapture” here, there is a clear connection between the return of Jesus, which is once again accompanied by a trumpet blast, and the “catching up”, or rapturing, of His followers. Remember that Paul is not concerned with the timing of the rapture here, but rather with the protocol that Jesus will use.
• Protocol:
o The dead in Christ will rise first
This was the assurance that the Thessalonians were looking for. Their believing family members who had died would be the first to meet Jesus at His return.
o Living Christ-followers will be “caught up” to meet Jesus
Here is one of the few instances in the Scriptures of the use of the verb “caught up” from which we derive our English word “rapture”. At the return of Jesus, all of His followers who are still alive on the earth will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air and to be physically in His presence from that point forward for eternity.
There is one more relevant passage that we need to examine. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is writing about the significance of the resurrection of Jesus and why that is the foundation for our faith in Him.
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ…51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23, 51, 52 (ESV)
Here Paul is making the point that through His resurrection Jesus, as the firstfruits, has provided the way for His followers to experience resurrection as well. Once again this passage gives further insight into the timing of this event and what is going to occur:
• The timing:
o At Jesus’ coming which occurs at the last trumpet
You’ll notice in verse 23 that the resurrection of the Christ followers will occur at “his coming”. And then in verse 52, we get a clue as to the timing of that event when it is revealed that Jesus’ return will be accompanied by “the last trumpet”. This appears to be the most direct link yet to Revelation 11 where the seventh trumpet is the last of the series of seven trumpets. But again, the key thing to keep in mind is that the seventh trumpet, the return of Jesus and the “rapture” all occur at the same time.
• What will occur:
o The physical resurrection of Christ followers
Once again we must keep in mind the context here. Since Paul is writing about the physical resurrection of Jesus as the basis for our faith, the aspect of the return of Jesus that He is focused on is the physical resurrection of the bodies of those Christ followers who have died prior to His return. In effect, he is providing even more encouragement to those who were worried about the fate of their believing family members and friends who had already died prior to the return of Jesus. So Paul doesn’t address at all in this passage what will happen to those Christ followers who are alive at the return of Jesus.
When we put all these passages together, we can’t determine the exact timing of Jesus’ return, but we get a pretty clear picture of what is going to occur at His return:
• Jesus will establish His eternal reign
• The ungodly will be judged
• Christ followers will be rewarded.
Although each person will be rewarded based on how well he or she served Jesus while on the earth, the ultimate reward is being in the presence of Jesus for eternity. That process is initiated by a process that we refer to as the “rapture” in which:
o Christ followers who have died will experience a physical resurrection and be gathered by Jesus to meet Him in the clouds at His return.
o Christ followers who are still alive at His coming will then be gathered to meet Jesus in the clouds.
We’ve covered a lot of material this morning, but up to this point, we’ve really only focused on information. So we don’t want to leave this morning until we take a moment to focus on application. So the question we must answer is this:
HOW AM I TO LIVE IN ANTICIPATION OF THE RETURN OF JESUS?
That is the question that faced John’s audience and the one that we must also deal with this morning. Are we to merely cocoon ourselves and withdraw from the world? Are we to live in fear and just try to hang on to what we have? Or is there a better way?
Fortunately, after Paul got done explaining the protocol of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, he kept writing and in chapter 5, he answered that question:
12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (ESV)
There is far too much for us to cover this morning in the brief time that we have together. But I think that our church’s mission statement summarizes pretty well how we are to live in anticipation of the return of Jesus:
To develop mature disciples who follow, serve and proclaim Jesus as Messiah.
That is exactly what Paul is encouraging the Thessalonians to do. He is challenging them, as they live their lives together in community, to encourage each other and to help build each other up in their faith.
This week, rather than me just giving you some principles that come out of this passage, we’re going to try something different. So here is what I want to challenge all of us to do this week. Go home and read through this passage throughout the week and ask God to show you some specific practical ways that He wants you to apply this passage in your life. And then, in order to help build others up as well, I want to encourage you to interact with others in our body about what God is teaching you. Perhaps you can ask someone else to pray for you in following through with your commitment to God. Maybe you can have a face to face discussion about what God is revealing to you. For those of you who like to engage in social interactions through your computer, I’ll be posting to my blog and to the church Facebook page where you’ll also have a chance to interact with others there. Let’s just see how God will work in our midst this week in helping us to anticipate the return of Jesus in a manner that will edify us and bring glory to Him.
