Revelation 11:14-19 - Thanksgiving

I just can’t believe that it is almost Thanksgiving. Has this been an eventful year or what? I mentioned this Wednesday night but it was back in February of THIS year that I was diagnoses with melanoma. It seems like it had to have been last year but it wasn’t. This has been one of those years that it may be hard to find something to be thankful for. Just think about it (oh no that sounds like VP Joe Biden) we have had SAR CO 2 virus and its disease Covid 19 spreading across the country. We missed it here in this area for the most part until the last month or so and here we are in the midst of it. We are having to deal with the virus and the effects it has on our families and jobs (quarantines from school, school closings, job closings, working from home). Whoever heard of ZOOM, or GoToMeeting, or any of the other digital forms of gathering before this whole Covid 19 thing? I have attended Associational Annual Meetings, and Executive Board Meetings of the MBC on ZOOM and I preached to my computer for seven weeks on Sundays and Almost every Wednesday evening since March 15. We missed gathering for Easter. We did make it back for Mother’s Day but we had to social distance. Not only are we dealing with the virus itself but the political games that are being played concerning it. It is all (you fill in the blank)’s fault that millions are dying. Now we are being told by VP Biden that if we will just lock down our country it will all be over by January 21, that just happens to be the day after his possible inauguration. Does that sound political? On that vein we are in the middle of a great deal of division over the election that has not yet been decided in reality. I’m not going to really comment on that but anyone who knows anything about our Constitution knows that it is not over until the Electoral College meets and casts their votes for President, and that is not until December 14. Until then we are still in limbo. These are just things that are going on in the nation but each one of us have our own struggles this year and I’m not going to get started on what those things may be. The point is we live in a word that is somewhat in chaos or at least really messed up. Let me just give you a really quick answer to why that is. Satan is the “ruler of this world and mankind on the whole are influenced by Him and His rule. I’ll talk about that a little more as we get into the sermon from Revelation 11:14-19. But the point is we live in a world where believers will struggle. Yet we are called upon to be thankful in all things. So today we will look at our passage then at the end we will talk about what we really have to be thankful for. Let’s pray then we will get started.

I usually preach out of the NKJV translation of Scripture but today I will be using the NASB. I will explain why as we move along through the passage. So let’s go ahead and read Revelation 11:14-19 14The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15Then the seventh angel sounded; 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 will reign forever and ever.” 16And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.[1]

Seven trumpet plagues were promised by God and after 4 had been fulfilled, in chapter 8, an angel proclaimed that the last three trumpet plagues will be woes or sever hardships upon the people of the earth. The first 4 plagues had been on nature with secondary effects on the people of the earth but the last three, the woes, will be plagues that directly affects the people who are rebellious towards God and His call to repent while the sealed of God, the church is protected from God’s wrath. In 9:1-11 there were demon/locusts that came from the bottomless pit along with the king from the bottomless pit to torment the people of the earth for 5 months. The sting from the locust demon would not kill them but the pain would be so intense that they would long to die but could not. With the demon/locusts being finished in 9:12 it was proclaimed that the first woe, the fifth trumpet plague was past. In 9:13-21 there were 4 demonic angels that led an army so innumerable that they were proclaimed to be 200 million. This army was demonic in nature and killed 1/3 of the people of the earth and injured many more. When we get to 11:14 we see that the sixth trumpet plague, the second woe, is past. But there is still one more woe to go and we are told as we read in verse 14 this morning that it is coming quickly. With that being said we would expect that the third woe, seventh trumpet plague would be the next scene in John’s vision. Sure enough in verse 15 the seventh angel blows his trumpet but the woe is not forth coming; at least not immediately.

Instead of an immediate plague we see a worship service break out in heaven proclaiming what we have known was coming all along. 15Then the seventh angel sounded; 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 will reign forever and ever.” The proclamation is important and we don’t want to miss the greatness of it. There were several reasons I used the NASB translation this morning instead of the NKJV and this is one of them. In the NKJV (KJV) it says that the kingdoms of the world (plural) have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ (again plural). The original text is singular. We are not talking about countries here. One kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. This is important because Satan had assumed kingship of the earth at the fall of man. In John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11 Satan is called the “ruler of this world”. He had even claimed the ability to offer all the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus in Matthew 4:8-9 when he tempted Jesus for 40 days. He was a usurper and when that seventh trumpet sounded the kingdom is publicly returned to “our Lord (God the Father) and His Christ (God the Son). The Lord’s great plan for creation and redemption has at last reached its full realization. Since the kingdom of this world is proclaimed to be the kingdom of God the Father and God the Son then it is necessary that it is no longer the kingdom of this world and the Lord and His Christ will reign forever and ever. He is our King reigning over the redeemed of God. We have been given the whole world under His kingship. In sin mankind gave it away, Satan ruled as the ruler of this world. But here we see that one day it will be restored to us under the reign of God. I just feel like I need to put an Amen after that.

Let’s read verses 16-18 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

We haven’t seen the twenty-four elders representing all the redeemed of God in heaven in quite a while but here they are falling on their faces worshiping God. And look at what they are saying: We give thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty who are and who were… This is another reason I chose to use the NASB. In the NKJV (KJV) there is added “and who is to come”. That is nowhere found in the oldest manuscripts available. I’m sure you remember when I taught about how we got our Scriptures that the older the manuscripts the closer to the original. So since the older manuscripts leave out “and who is to come”, I believe we can be confident that the 24 Elders had something more immediate in mind, especially since they say because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. They are saying that His reign is not coming, it is here. This is the Father and the Son beginning the reign that had been promised since Genesis chapter 3.

Then in verse 18 all of history, from the fall onward, is encapsulated or perhaps I should say summarized. 18“And the nations were enraged, (that is what has been going on since the fall of man) and Your wrath came, (we have seen His wrath from time to time across history calling people to repentance and that is what we have been seeing in the trumpet plagues and the coming bowl judgments) and the time came for the dead to be judged, (that is what the church should have been warning the people of the earth about all along) and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (the righteous receive the reward of the righteous and the evil people of the earth will be destroyed for leading other into evil.) This passage draws to our attention to what King David said 1000 years earlier in Psalm 2:2-9 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His cAnointed, saying, 3“Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 ‘You shall abreak them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”[2] Man rebels, God shows His wrath, God judges His people righteous and His enemies He destroys. It really is kinda that simple. The great power and reign of God have never been in doubt. Now they are about to be on display to their fullest extent as His wrath is poured out against sin. The nations (people of the earth) are angry with God in their unjust response to God, but notice that it is God’s wrath on display as His righteous response to their rebellion. All of this is right in line with what we read in Psalm 2.

Here is verse 18 we have the positive aspect of God’s judgment and the negative aspect. “The time has come to judge the dead.” And later on we will see that described in Revelation chapter 20. The positive aspect of judgment is God’s rewarding the righteous. All the righteous are included (both great and small) but they are designated in three ways: God’s servants the prophets; the ones who most likely experience the most persecution and rejection by the “angry nations” as we saw with the ‘two witnesses’ last week. Then the Saints are mentioned. The word “saints” is the common designation in the New Testament of those who are the redeemed of God. They are the holy ones of God set apart from the people of the earth. Then is mentioned ‘those who reverence your name’. This is a common reference in the Old Testament for those who are the redeemed of God. The emphasis is on their lives as set apart for God. All of these are the people of God whose lives have demonstrated that they love and trust God with their entire being. They loved God more than their own lives. That is the positive aspect of God’s judgment.

The negative part of the judgment is that God will destroy those who destroy the earth. The word “destroy” in Greek can mean both to “cause complete destruction or destroy completely” or “to completely corrupt morally”. God’s judgment on those who have led the earth into moral depravity is that they will be condemned to eternal destruction. He will destroy the depravers. This is the way Paul described that in Romans 1:28-32 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, ahaters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.[3] God will utterly destroy those who lead others to moral depravity. We should all consider that one on a personal level.

Verse 19: 19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.[4]

Verse 19 seems almost out of place but it is really exciting when you really consider what is taking place. Here is the message God wants John to give us: God’s sanctuary is now open for us. God gave Moses specific instructions on how to construct the Ark of the Covenant. But after it was made, when they finished it, they put it in the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and no one ever saw it again except the high priest once a year. When it was to be moved it was covered so that all of Israel could not see it. But when we look here in the word picture it is wide open for us to see. By the time John saw this vision the Ark had not been seen by anyone since Josiah had the Levites put it in the Temple in 2 Chron. 35. It is not mentioned again even when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple. During the time of Jesus there was no Ark of the Covenant in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Ark was God’s representation to His people of His presence and His presence was gone from Israel for a very long time. But this Ark that John sees in heaven is not the earthly Ark of the Tabernacle and the Temple, it is the heavenly prototype. Hebrews 8:5 and 9:23-24 make it clear that the Ark in the Tabernacle and in the Temple were just “a shadow of heavenly things”. The fact that John sees the Ark of the Covenant of God standing wide open in the heavenly Temple is representative that God’s plan to redeem His people, to avenge their blood, to dwell with man forever and ever is complete. His people have unfettered access to Him.

There are a few things we need to see about the Ark of the Covenant and Jesus. When the ark was in the Tabernacle and the Temple it was concealed by a very heavy curtain and was never visible to those who were the people of God, Israel. It was God’s representation to His people of His presence and His promise of covenant with them. The glory of God rested on the mercy seat of the ark. While Jesus was on this earth the glory of God was veiled in flesh. He is not the representation of God to man He is God with us; Emmanuel. John 1:14 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is our mercy seat on which the glory of God resides. In the ark was kept the law of God written on tablets of stone, there was a jar filled with manna, the bread of heaven, and Aaron’s rod that budded showing life from death. Jesus is our law keeper. Where we fail miserable He has kept the law for us and imputed to us His righteousness. Jesus is our bread of life. In John 6:53-57 Jesus makes it clear that He is the bread of life that comes down from heaven and those who eat of His bread will live. Just like a bud sprang to life from a dead stick Jesus is our resurrection and life. According to Ephesians 2:4-10 we were dead in our trespasses and sin but God has made us alive in Christ and by grace we are saved through faith. Colossians 2:12-13 12buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. The truth is Jesus fulfilled the covenant God made with His people to redeem them and give them eternal life. When John saw the heavenly ark open in the heavenly temple he was seeing our redemption. I’m not saying that he was seeing Jesus but he was seeing the finished work of Jesus Christ open to all who will believe, promising us that His completed work will one day be realized in person for each of us.

So what do we see here to be thankful for? Wow, so much! Let me hit the high spots then we will go. First: This world that is under the sway of Satan as the ruler of this world will end. We are strangers in this world yet subject to the tribulation he brings. But God is our King reigning over the redeemed. We are thankful that we have been given the whole world and one day it will be restored to us under His actual reign.

Second: We are thankful that God rewards those who love Him more than their own lives. And that He will destroy those who lead others to moral depravity.

Third: We are thankful that when John sees the ark standing open in the heavenly temple it is representative that Gods plan to redeem His people, to avenge their blood, and to dwell with them forever is complete. Jesus has fulfilled the covenant God made with His people to redeem them and give them eternal life with Him.

Fourth: We are thankful that God’s completed work in Christ will one day be realized in person for each of us who place our faith in Christ.

To sum it all up on one statement: Be thankful that the enemy is defeated and our God reigns. Let’s pray.

[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Re 11:14–19). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ps 2:2–9). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ro 1:28–32). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[4] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Re 11:15–19). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.