Commentaries:
The plain truth of the Bible reveals that the "Kingdom of God" is to be a literal government composed of spirit rulers who shall rule over all nations on earth. It is to take over the governments of the nations at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Christ will become the "King of kings," and He will rule by the law of God. This is the very good news or "gospel of the Kingdom of God" which Jesus preached!
What Is the True Gospel?
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This last—seventh—trumpet announces the coming of Christ, the establishment of God's Kingdom, the judgment upon the nations, and the rewarding of the saints. They occur simultaneously!
The last trumpet sounds when Christ returns, not 3½ years before! If we compare verses 11-13 (the resurrection of the Two Witnesses) with verse 19, the "great earthquake" ties the resurrection of the saints with the beginning of the Kingdom (see also Revelation 16:18). In addition, an angel tells John in Revelation 10:7 that when "the seventh angel . . . is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished." There will be no more mystery about man becoming God when the saints are resurrected or changed to eternal spirit beings!
Matthew 24:30-31 also verifies this scenario, showing that the trumpet sounds to send the angels to gather the elect from all over the earth to meet Him upon His return. To clinch the argument, verse 29 very plainly says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days. . ."! Isaiah 27:12-13, Joel 2:1-11 and Zechariah 14:3-5, 9 also confirm these events.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Caught Up in the Rapture
Jesus Christ will return to earth for the purpose of setting up the Kingdom of God and judging the nations. This time, He will not come meekly but with God's wrath against a rebellious mankind! The nations' political rulers will be furious when they realize that Christ has come to abolish the governments of this world and to establish the Kingdom of God, which will rule over all the earth from headquarters in Jerusalem.
Note also that all English translations of the first part of verse 18 speak of "the time of the dead, that they should be judged. . . ." This is an error and is disproved by Revelation 20:5, which shows that the time of the dead to be judged is after the 1,000 years are over. The later Greek manuscripts do have the expression "the dead" in Revelation 11:18, but earlier manuscripts and the official printed Greek text of the Greek Orthodox Church have "the time of the nations that they should be judged. . . ."
Feast of Trumpets: Why the World Won't End in Cosmocide
Revelation 11 is inset material. The only possible period of time when the Two Witnesses could testify is during the three and a half years that precede Christ's return—the time of the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.
Most of this period of time has already been covered by chapters 6 (the fifth and sixth seals) and 8-9 (the trumpet plagues). Chapter 11 clarifies what has already occurred in the narrative, answering how people can possibly be converted during the Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. The answer is that they are hearing a message thundered by the Two Witnesses! Revelation 7:9-17 suggests that by their preaching, an innumerable multitude will be converted.
The information is given in a digression—an inset chapter— from the main story flow. Inset chapters clarify what is happening within the time sequence.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Revelation 10 and the Laodicean Church
All the inset chapters are introduced in a significant way: by an angel coming down from heaven or a spectacular and unusual vision of someone or something, such as a woman clothed with the sun, moon, and stars or a Beast rising up out of the ocean.
Chapter 11, however, does not begin this way because it is not the beginning of the inset. The inset actually begins in Revelation 10:1 where the spectacular vision occurs. Chapter 10 does not follow chapter 9 in time sequence anymore than the material in chapter 11 does. Chapter 11 merely continues the vision begun in chapter 10.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Revelation 10 and the Laodicean Church
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Isaiah 27:13
Habakkuk 2:3
John 3:13
John 14:2-3
1 Corinthians 15:23
1 Corinthians 15:50-53
1 Corinthians 15:50-52
1 Corinthians 15:52
Revelation 6:10
Revelation 10:1
Revelation 10:3-4
Revelation 11:1
Revelation 15:1
Revelation 20:4-6
Library resources that contain this verse:
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