Revelation 11:14-19

The Seventh Trumpet and the Third Woe. The story which was broken off at Revelation 9:21 is now resumed. The seventh trumpet heralds the approach of the Kingdom of Christ.

Revelation 11:15. great voice: in contrast to the silence which followed the breaking of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1). our Lord: God the Father. his Christ: God's Anointed One.

Revelation 11:16. elders: Revelation 4:4 *.

Revelation 11:17. Cf. with this doxology those in Revelation 4:11; Revelation 5:12; Revelation 7:12.

Revelation 11:19. the temple of God: i.e. the heavenly temple (cf. Revelation 7:15, Revelation 15:5 ff.). The judgment was followed by the manifestation of the glory of God in the opening of His Temple. the ark of his covenant: according to the tradition preserved in 2Ma_2:1-8, the Ark had been hidden away by Jeremiah in a cavernous chamber until God should gather His people together again. That time had now come, though not in the sense predicted by Jeremiah, and the Ark stood revealed in the open Temple of heaven, the symbol of God's faithfulness in keeping His covenant (cf. Revelation 2:17 *). The rest of the drama of the book is worked out in full view of the open Temple.