Revelation Study Week 25 - 11:14-12:17

Revelations 11:14-19

14 The second woe has passed. The third woe is coming very soon. 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 Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.”16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 singing,“We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty, who are and who were, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.18 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for judging the dead ,for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints and all who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

We now notice that we are about to enter the final woe, which as you recall represents the final of the seven trumpets. The last three trumpets are the three woe’s.

What happens at the blowing of the seventh trumpet seems to be just loud voices in heaven and the 24 elders worshipping…

This would coincide with what happened at the 7th seal. where there was silence in heaven for half an hour...

Some believe the silence in heaven was the extent of the seventh seal, and that the voices in heaven and worship of the elders is the extent of the seventh trumpet.

But would that be fitting for the third woe…the worst of the three woe’s.

The first woe was the locust form the bottomless pit where there was severe pain and suffering but no death.

The Second woe was the four angles prepared for the hour and day and month and year that lead an army to kill a third of all mankind.

The final woe is…worship in heaven…but lets look deeper there is also: flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Let’s compare the seventh trumpet with the seventh Bowl...17 The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a violent earthquake, such as had not occurred since people were upon the earth, so violent was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered great Babylon and gave her the wine-cup of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21 and huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, dropped from heaven on people, until they cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.

The seventh trumpet sounds a lot like what we see in the seventh bowl. This would lead us to conclude that the seven bowls are all part of the seventh trumpet, and proper exegete would lead us to follow the same logic with the seventh seal and trumpets...

first through sixth seals

seventh seal

Silence in heaven

First through sixth trumpets

seventh trumpet

Worship in heaven

first through sixth bowls

Seventh bowl

Loud voice from heaven’s throne saying “it is finished.”

Between the seventh trumpet starts and the first bowl is poured out we find some interesting things going on.

The woman, her child and the dragon

The beast out of the sea

The beast from the land

Revelation 12:1-6

12 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days.7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Let’s identify the those involved...

There’s a Woman, there’s a great red dragon, and there’s a child.

The dragon is identified, he is the ancient serpent, called the devil and satan, the deceiver of the world...

The woman is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and her head has a crow with twelve stars.

The 12 stars is most likely a reference to the 12 sons of Israel, the 12 tribes…I