We have just looked at Revelation 11:15 and the seventh Trumpet Judgment has been sounded. This great judgment that is also known as the third woe has revealed to us that there are three great eventsthat are taking place. Two of which we have already seen:
1. There is the reign of the Lord, which is coming to fruition at this point.
2. There is the reaction of heaven which is rejoicing and praising the Lord for His sovereignty and for His perfect judgment and His perfect reward.
We now move to the third event concerning the Trumpet Judgment. This is the reaction of the people on the earth. We know how the creatures in heaven have reacted. They have rejoiced and praised, but we have just the opposite here in Revelation 11:18 with the nations. It says, “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came.” As the Lord’s reign becomes more imminent and obvious and as He steps up to take control over all the universe, the world reacts in a very negative way. They are enraged. We are not surprised by this at that. If we read and study the scriptures; we know this is to be expected. Psalm 2 says it very well: the nations always wanted to break God’s bonds. They are always enraged against Him. They do not want to follow Him. This is just one picture. Throughout the Bible, we find people rejecting Him, turning against Him, fighting against Him, crucifying Jesus Christ, resisting the Holy Spirit, and resisting the church and the gospel. We are not surprised by this. They are enraged at Him. They are angry that the Lord would impose upon them His will. That is their reaction.
There is a fourth event here that takes place in Revelation 11:19 and it deals with the temple, “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.” This is unique. We have sort of the opening of heaven for a moment possibly allowing the enraged people to be able to see the ark of His covenant. In the Old Testament the ark of the covenant was the sign of His presence, the Lord’s presence. His Shekinah Glory would hover in and about the ark of the covenant. It was a place of His presence. Perhaps two indications here in this verse:
1. The Lord is not backing down to the rage of the world. He is stepping up. He will rule and He will reign, and He will be among them and in their very presence. For a believer this is a very comforting thing. No matter how the world reacts and is enraged against God, His presence and holiness are there.
2. Secondly, we are also given another picture of flashes of lightening, sounds, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. This type of rhetoric has happened, is happening here, and will happen again several more times in the book of Revelation. For example, in Revelation 8:5, we find it says, “Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” That is connected back with the earlier Trumpet Judgments. We find this also happening in Revelation 11:19 above. In Revelation 16:18 at the Bowl Judgments that are yet to come it says, “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake.” These are always signs of great judgment that God is bringing on the earth. They accompany these different judgments like the bowls and the seals and the trumpets. We have these powerful pictures that the Lord is in control. He is catching their attention . . .
