The Seventh Trumpet or Third Woe
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Remember, the seventh trumpet equals the third woe. But these are also synonymous with the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES! Rev 11:15-19, describe them, and, coupled with Rev 15:1, prove the last statement. Now notice Rev 11:15: “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 for ever and ever.”
Both I Corinthians 15:52 and I Thessalonians 4:16 speak of this moment. In these verses, Paul states that Christ comes at the “trump of God” and at the “last trump.” Matthew 24:31 speaks of the same event using “a great sound of a trumpet.” These are all references to the seventh trumpet.
With this event, the greatest moment in all history has arrived. At His glorious Return, Christ replaces all human powers and laws with His own. All the governments of men—including that of every great and small country on earth today—are smashed and replaced by God’s government. Fairness, justice and peace finally come to a sick and broken planet!
Of course, the seventh trumpet brings the forced establishment of Christ’s GOVERNMENT, based on God’s LAWS, over the nations. But they are not happy to see this Christ—they are “angry” (Rev 11:18)! They will have come to believe and trust in a counterfeit system and many will have expected to be “raptured away” to safety by a false christ, not of the Bible.
Even professing Christianity, while pretending that God governs “in the hearts of men,” has not truly wanted to be governed by Him. Neither has the world, which hates His Law (Rom. 8:7). Mankind has rejected the only way to peace, happiness, abundance and universal prosperity. In a final and terrible way, the seven last plagues get the world’s attention. They signal that Jesus Christ is KING of kings—and He is now in CHARGE!
He wants the world to know that He is about to save humanity from itself.
Still Another Earthquake
This earthquake occurs after the seventh trumpet has sounded (Rev. 11:15). This is the time of Christ’s Second Coming: “…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 for ever and ever.”
Rev 11:19 states, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightning's, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” This earthquake occurs immediately after Christ’s Return and the first resurrection, and punctuates the fulfilment of these events.
Christ’s Return makes possible the fulfilment of all the wonderful prophecies of the Bible foretold to come to pass on earth. This pivotal event is the most crucial in all history! Earthquakes, before and after it, underscore its momentous importance in God’s Plan. No other event bears such distinction.
This earthquake also results from Christ’s actual presence, now ruling in glory. The earth literally quakes with gladness, along with the whole creation: “Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together. Before the LORD; for He comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity” (Psa. 98:7-8).
As with the seventh seal, the seventh trumpet is divided into seven parts. These are called the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES, and they “fill up” (Rev. 15:1)—complete—the Wrath of God!
Rev 14:10, reveals that the last plagues are “poured out...in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the LAMB.” Of course, Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36).
Before we examine these plagues, beginning in chapter 15, several inset chapters appear.