Continued from the last one.
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11:15 And the seventh angel blew the trumpet, and loud voices came about in the sky, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom of] our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."
We arrive at the seventh trumpet and the end of the first vision that began in chapter 4. Keener notes that trumpets were often blown when a king ascended to the throne. [1] Perhaps this is why the vision of trumpets was used in this sequence in the first place -- to lead to the reign of Christ. Note that this is also perhaps the first vision's equivalent to something like Christ's millennial reign.
Each of the visions culminates in the final judgment and final victory of God and his Christ. This is a reminder that the visions for the most part are not sequential but reiterations of the same basic truths. Accordingly, this may be the first time we reach the final arrival of the kingdom in Revelation, but it will not be the last.
You may recognize the words of this verse as the culminating words of the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's Messiah: "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." The Lord in this verse refers not to Christ but to God the Father. In John's mind, therefore, it likely is a reference to Yahweh, which is translated kyrios or Lord in the Greek Old Testament.
The reference to "his Christ" is a reference to God's Messiah, God's anointed one, God's promised king. The phrase comes from Psalm 2, which pictures the nations raging “against the Lord and against his Christ” (Ps. 2:2). The wording matches the Greek translation of Revelation exactly. In the psalm, the nations conspire against the anointed king, and God answers by installing him on Zion and giving him the nations as his inheritance (Ps. 2:6-9).
John has been drawing on Psalm 2 throughout Revelation (see 2:26-27; 12:5; 19:15). Here, at the seventh trumpet, the psalm reaches its goal. The kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and his Christ, and now the kingdom of the world belongs to them. The “angry” nations of verse 18 echo the psalm’s opening scene, so the section ends where Psalm 2 begins, with the nations in rebellion and God’s response.
It is a little ambiguous as to who will reign forever and ever. Since the Lord is the focus of the verse, a reference to God the Father reigning immediately comes to mind. For example, we note that the next verse focuses on the worship of God the Father.
However, the core function of a Messiah is to reign, so it would not be wrong to think of Christ reigning as well. In the end, they both will reign (22:1-2). Some have argued that the singular refers to both God the Father and Christ.
The idea that this kingdom will last forever goes back to Daniel. Daniel 2:44 describes a kingdom God will set up that “shall never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14 and 7:27 describe that rule as everlasting and shared with the saints.
16. And the twenty-four elders who sit before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17. saying, "We give thanks to you, LORD God Almighty, the One who is and who was because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
The first vision began with the twenty-four elders around the throne worshipping God the Father. It is thus fitting that the vision should end back on this scene. This literary structure is called an "inclusio," the bracketing of a section by similar elements at the beginning and the end.
This supports our claim that we have correctly identified where the first vision begins and ends. Similarly, the elders fall down in 4:10, and they praise God for his power in 4:11.
Additionally, we saw the description that God "is and was" in 4:8 at the beginning of this vision. Note that the expression "and is to come" is missing here. Why? Because the kingdom of God has now arrived, a reminder that each vision ends with the final reign of God -- they're not sequential visions.
The expression, "you have taken" is in the perfect tense. It suggests that God took that power and still has it. Similarly, although the word "begun" is not in the Greek, the verb for "reign" is aorist and, in this case, should probably be interpreted as what is called an "inceptive" aorist. This is where the word "begun" comes from.
18. "And the nations were enraged, and your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged and to give reward to your servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name, the small and the great, and for those who have destroyed the earth to be destroyed."
Coming at the end of the first vision, this verse reads as a summary of the judgment that has taken place. The nations opposed and oppressed God's true people. In response, God finally came in judgment. Now begins the time of vindication when God's servants and saints who have been persecuted will rise from the dead.
John specifically seems to have those, like the symbolic "two witnesses" earlier in this chapter, who proclaim God's indictment to the world and who suffer as a result. John surely has in mind individuals like Peter, the two Jameses, and Paul who paid the ultimate penalty for their witness.
Many have since followed. "Small and great" indicates that it is not just the well-known witnesses who will be vindicated. This is the final answer to the question "How long?" in 6:10. The "little longer" in 6:11 has run out.
Yet so many of the unrighteous succeed in their evildoing in this world. The vision ends with a reminder that the dead have not escaped justice. God will raise them for judgment (20:11-15). Those who destroyed the earth will be destroyed.
It is interesting that John does not say they will be punished forever but that they will be "destroyed." Nevertheless, the third vision seems to point to eternal punishment (14:11; 20:10), so this verse does not seem to refer to annihilation.
[1] Keener, Revelation, 352.
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