◄ What Does Revelation 11:15 Mean? ►

The 7 trumpet judgements begin once the 7th seal is broken, following a period of silence in heaven which lasts for about half an hour. Both the seal judgements and the first six trumpets will be sounded during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation, and for those 1260 days, God's two witnesses will proclaim the truth of the gospel. They are given power to shut up the sky so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying, and they are given power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire.

But at the mid-point of the 7-year Tribulation, the testimony of these two witnesses will end when the beast emerges from the abyss to make war with them, overcome them, and kill them. How the unsaved masses of the world will rejoice when the two witnesses of God are silenced, but after three and a half days, great fear will fall on the masses of ungodly people when the lifeless bodies of God's two witnesses are resurrected and they ascend into heaven. THEN, the 7th trumpet will finally sound and the last three and a half years of the Tribulation period will begin, when the final 7 bowls of God's wrath will begin to be poured out on this God-rejecting, Christ-hating, sinful world.

We read: "Then 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.' At the same time, the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God, will fall on their faces and worship the Lord their God 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.'" These loud and joyful voices are announcing that the long-awaited reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over the world is on the horizon. Nothing can stop the prophetic Word of God from being fulfilled. 

While The Tribulation lasts for a full 7 years, Jeremiah calls the second half of the Tribulation: "The Time of Jacob's Trouble." Ezekiel and the apostle John call it: "The GREAT Tribulation." The Great Tribulation, which will be the most terrible time on earth as God's wrath is poured out, is the final three and a half years of Gentile rule on earth. The 'Times of the Gentiles' began with the Babylonian invasion of Israel, when Daniel identified Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold in the great statue he saw in his dream. 

Man's dominion over the earth was seized by Satan, the god of this age, when Adam sinned in the paradise of God and judgment fell on the human race. Later, God made a covenant with Israel who were to be a light to the Gentiles and tell the pagan nations of God's wonderful plan of redemption and His promised Messiah. Time and again Israel broke their covenant relationship with God, who punished them by sending them into exile in Babylon. And we are currently living during a time (the Church age), when God has set Israel aside. But God has not finished with His people, Israel. 

When the 7th angel sounds his trumpet, this prophesied Time of Jacob's Trouble will begin, when Israel (as a nation) will have to be punished for their past sin, but it is also the prophesied time when Israel (as a nation) will call on the name of the Lord to save them from their enemies. They will cry out in unison, "Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord." Then, Jesus will return to earth in power and great glory, as Israel's King and Saviour of the world to set up His Millennial Kingdom. Jesus is the Stone, cut without hands, Who will break in pieces all earthly kingdoms, in readiness for His Millennial rule on earth, when He returns to set up His kingdom as King of kings and Lord of lords.

When that 7th trumpet sounds, the world will know that nothing can prevent the inevitable resolution of God's 6000 year plan of salvation, when Christ's kingdom will shortly be set up on earth. We rejoice to know that nothing in heaven, on earth, or under the earth can prevent God's plans and purposes, for both His Church and His people Israel, from its final fulfilment. Praise His holy name.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are Sovereign and that nothing in heaven, or earth, or under the earth is able to stop Your perfect plans from being completed. Hasten the day when the kingdoms of this world become Yours, when Christ shall reign forever and ever. In Jesus' name, AMEN.