Day 166

“AND I SAW ANOTHER MIGHTY ANGEL COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN DRESSED IN A CLOUD, AND THERE WAS A RAINBOW UPON HIS HEAD, HIS FACE WAS LIKE THE SUN, HIS FEET WERE LIKE PILLARS OF FIRE.” REV 10:1.

The 7th trumpet (Rev 11:15-18) is separated from the horrors of the 6th (Rev 9:13-21) by a long interlude. This section is of a different character than the trumpet vision proper. Instead of horrific judgements, natural catastrophes, and the fate of the unsaved; there is prophecy, preaching, and the experience of God’s people.

Is the interlude of Revelation 10-11 connected in some way to the trumpets? We can answer that question with certainty. You may remember that Rev 8:13 described three woes that would be coming during the sounding of the last three trumpets. Then Rev 9:12 (NIV) said, “The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.” So the first woe clearly is the fifth trumpet (Rev 9:1-11) and the second woe clearly begins when the sixth trumpet begins (Rev 9:13). But when does the second woe end?

“The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon” (Rev 11:14, NIV). The ending of the second woe (the sixth trumpet) does not come in Rev 9:21, it comes in Rev 11:14. That means that Revelation 10 and 11 are not something separate from the sixth trumpet. Revelation 10 and 11 deal with the same events as chapter 9, but from a different perspective. This is also the time of the sealing (Rev 7:1-4) and the gathering for the battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:13-16). The core of the sixth trumpet is just before the close of probation (Rev 10:7). (The close of probation can be compared to Noah going into the ark, the door being shut, but no rain for 7 days. Everyone’s fate is sealed)

So in the sixth trumpet the same events are described from two different perspectives. Chapter 9 concerns the activities and fate of the unsaved toward the End, and Rev 10 and 11 offer a view of God’s people and their experience in the same period. While Satan’s forces are preparing for the final conflict (Revelation 9:13-21), God is preparing a people to counteract that threat (Revelation 10-11:13).