REVELATION 11

11:14,15 THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD

“The second woe is past, and, behold, the third woe comes quickly. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:14,15).

To summarize what has been presented so far, the “second woe” is the sixth trumpet, which is the most fearful destruction to ever fall upon mankind up until this time, involving a war with a two hundred-million man army in which a third of mankind is killed.[1] Satan, the “angel of the bottomless pit” will bring about this destruction with the aim of destroying “the two witnesses” and silencing their message to God’s people who are in Babylon. Despite Satan's opposition, the two witnesses will give the final appeal calling the world to repentance,[2] and the message will be totally effective— Satan’s efforts to hold onto this world as his kingdom will utterly fail. This is reflected in the announcement, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” Through His faithful witnesses, Jesus will win a “great multitude” out of “every nation, tribe, tongue and people” that He is worthy of their love and allegiance.

The end of the “second woe” marks the last chance for repentance before the “close of probation”.[3] Considering that “the wages of sin is death,” every sinner should have been destroyed the moment he first sinned. "Probation" refers to the time when sinners are allowed to live, with the hope that they will recognize God's love for them as expressed in Jesus' sacrifice, repent of their sins and accept the forgiveness that has already been provided for them, and receive the free gift of eternal life. Up until the end of the second woe the close of probation has been the death of each individual—“it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But at the very end of time “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). The final message will be so powerful and compelling, coming as it does within the context of the time of trouble, that everyone on earth will make a conscious decision to either accept or reject the invitation.

When everyone has made his or her decision, then “Michael shall stand up” (Daniel 12:1), which indicates the end of Christ’s mediation for sinners. This is marked by the fearsome declaration “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold I am coming quickly...to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:11,12). Those who have accepted the gospel invitation will be sealed for eternal life. Those who have refused the invitation of salvation will face eternal death.

Continue to next section: 11:16-18 ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE JUDGMENT