Finally, now the seventh trumpet sounds. The blast ushers in the end of the end times when God will send one more increasingly intense series of judgements to take us up to the very end. This is the final surge, but at this stage the victory is a given. So, when the seventh trumpet sounds the chorus of the heavenly hosts proclaims: “The Kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah.” This is the goal and even now we are moving towards it. The events described here in Revelation are the culmination of a process that is already unfolding. Notice here in 11:15 that the completion of the coming of the Kingdom of God is announced before the return of Christ (which is pictured in chapter 19). Many people mistakenly think that the Kingdom will not come until Jesus returns. Central to Jesus’ message, as it was recorded in the gospels, was the announcement that the Kingdom of God was already present in him and is increasingly present throughout this age. His second coming will be the completion of the process of the coming of the Kingdom in this age through the church. Jesus will return to his Kingdom which will by then have come to fruition on earth; and he will come to bring final judgement on all evil, thus purifying the earth for his people to inherit. That is what the visions of Revelation portray, it is what Jesus portrayed in his parables (e.g. Matthew 13), and it is happening now through us. That is the purpose of our lives.
Ask God to use you today to establish his will wherever you go.
Read Revelation 11:15-19.
