The God who commands the praise of all heaven
"The second woe is past: and behold the third cometh very quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats (thrones RV), fell upon their faces and worshipped God saying "we give thee thanks o Lord God Almighty which art and wast and art to come: because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath hast come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that Thou shoudest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."
Revelation 11v14-18
The pronouncement by the angel is that "the third woe cometh quickly." How quickly it comes is such that no one will be able to pause for breath, as we shall see. The pathway from here to the coming of Christ is only a few days away; but first He will introduce us to the trinity of evil in chapters 12&13 and to the apostate church in chapter 17&18, before describing the fall of everyone of them under the uncompromising wrath of God in the vials of wrath in chapters 15&16 which will rapidly fall upon the earth.
Our eyes are now turned heavenward. The seventh angel sounded and what we hear are great voices in heaven. The triumphant cry comes at last "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." What Jesus refused from Satan in the desert in Matthew chapter 4 and Luke4 (because it was offered as a temptation to avoid the cross); He now receives from God as of right (having been to the cross) and all heaven rejoices! What has been predicted from Genesis chapter 1 all the way through to Revelation chapter 22 are now a glorious reality. The new world order has begun. The predictions of scripture like Psalm 22v25; Psalm 72v8-19; Psalm 110; Psalm 145v13; Psalm 146v10; Isaiah 9v6-7; Isaiah 32v1; Isaiah 42v4; Isaiah 52v13; Daniel 2v44; Daniel 7v27; Matthew 6v10; Luke 1v32-33; etc. etc.are about to take place: also all the promises to His people Israel and to the church; also all angels fully enlightened as to the wisdom of God. No more the fall and its consequences, no more the devil, no more the sin, no more failure, no more suffering, the sounding of the seventh trumpet proclaims the visible manifestation of the day of Jesus Christ.
The church in heaven responds. Human beings who have been saved and glorified and exalted and enthroned burst out in praise as God brings to pass all that the angels and the faithful have been expecting for many years. They fell on their faces, what else could they do? when faced with the wonder and the majesty of God! The title they give to Him reflects His eternal character, His all powerful character, and also, by implications, His gracious character, because he has demonstrated unbelievable longsuffering with the sons of men to bring the plans to completion.
Verse 18 is very interesting, as it describes the whole programme. The folly of men "the nations were angry;" their anger against God was nothing compared to His anger against them. By this programme the dead will be judged; rewards will be given to God's servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear His name small and great. Almighty God will destroy those who have destroyed the earth. The programme set out in verse 18 spans over one thousand years yet the language is very much in the past tense as if it has already happened.
We should all be in awe of the God who rules the world and all things in it, and who decides the destiny of us all. No wonder scripture repeats time and time again, not only in words but also in ideas that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The hymn by Anne R Cousin (1857) seems fitting:
The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of Heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for—
The fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark hath been the midnight,
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.
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