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.” (Revelation 11:15)
The excitement in heaven was nearly uncontainable at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. There were “loud voices” chiming in stating the obvious, that the Lord was about to assert himself and take over the reins, as if he didn’t have them already. When the hero finally arrives on the scene, pushing open the swinging doors to the saloon, or gallops up to the overlook and the cameras zoom in on the grit and determination on his face, there is an air of anticipation. For those with the privilege of hanging out with the Lord God Almighty 24/7, the wait was over. They were about to mobilize.
The close to chapter 11 is somewhat like a condensed preview of the next episode, presenting exciting scenes of what is to come to pique our interest, if we’re are not already on the edge of our seats with anticipation. By now we’ve got to be fully invested. The seven bowl judgments are to come, which will be implemented in Chapter 16 after some character studies of the “grand finale’s” main antagonists in chapters 12-15, so we will have to wait. But to hold our interest, we are given a window in on what is to occur. Whatever it is, the twenty-four elders are again ecstatic enough to hit the deck in worship of the King.
16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 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. (Revelation 11:16–17)
God is well known to be patient, gracious, and merciful, but here he’s reached the end of his rope, triggering again a prostrate response of relief from the twenty-four elders. They refer to him in the plural (“who are and who were”) as they recognize that he is finally pulling out all the stops as “the triune God.” We are actually operating within the finite timeframe (mere months) after the breaking of seven seals and the blowing of seven trumpets. The elders realize they will shortly witness his great power in resolving his plan for the earth, and finally he will reign without “hindrance.”
And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. (Revelation 11:19)
If you own a “hot car,” to warm it up you rev the engine. This causes a great amount of guttural noise and possible backfires. This is essentially what this verse describes. What is under the “heavenly hood”is finally revealed (“heaven was opened”). It is “showtime,” but not before we learn in chapters 12-15 more about what one writer calls the “personages” of the final days before the Lord returns.
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