The seventh trumpet introduces two more worship choruses before the
throne of heaven.
The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever
and ever.
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.
And the nations were
enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and
the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who
fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the
earth.
The first is
well known because Handel's oratorio The Messiah used it as the core of the
famous hallelujah chorus. And indeed, this is a cause for ecstatic worship.
Jesus will reign over the earth forever. The kingdoms of mankind will become
His. And then, finally, mankind will live in peace and justice, because the
unjust will be judged. The earth, which God created and said was very good,
will no longer be destroyed by sinful men, but rather tended by the faithful as
God intended from the beginning. (Genesis 1:28-31)
Of
course the wicked will not go peacefully. Their rage will be met by God's
justice, which will be accompanied by lightning, thunder, hail, and
earthquakes. Mankind may have developed atomic and hydrogen bombs, but although
these can devastate the earth, they are insignificant against the power of the
God who created the universe.
The
twenty four elders' worship is explicit in recognizing that God's justice will
be severe on those who oppose Him and have devastated the earth. They worship
God because He will bring vengeance on those who murdered the saints and
ravaged nature. And they worship Him because death is no respite for the unjust;
God will judge them as well. God will set everything right. The prophets and
saints and all who revere His name will be rewarded.
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