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R EVEL ATION 12
page 1159
The Seventh Trumpet Brings
the Third Terror
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and
there were loud voices shouting in heaven:
“The world has now become the Kingdom of
our Lord and of his Christ,*
and he will reign forever and ever.”
dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was
thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across
the heavens,
16 The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones
before God fell with their faces to the ground
and worshiped him. 17 And they said,
18
“We give thanks to you, Lord God,
the Almighty,
the one who is and who always was,
for now you have assumed your great power
and have begun to reign.
The nations were filled with wrath,
but now the time of your wrath has come.
It is time to judge the dead
and reward your servants the prophets,
as well as your holy people,
and all who fear your name,
from the least to the greatest.
It is time to destroy
all who have caused destruction on
the earth.”
19 Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was
opened and the Ark of his covenant could be
seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed,
thunder crashed and roared, and there was an
earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.
The Woman and the Dragon
Then I witnessed in heaven an event
of great significance. I saw a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath
her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her
head. 2 She was pregnant, and she cried out
because of her labor pains and the agony of
giving birth.
3 Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven
heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his
heads. 4 His tail swept away one-third of the
stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth.
He stood in front of the woman as she was about
to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon
as it was born.
5 She gave birth to a son who was to rule all
nations with an iron rod. And her child was
snatched away from the dragon and was caught
up to God and to his throne. 6 And the woman
fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days.
7 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle, and he and
his angels were forced out of heaven. 9 This great
12
11:15 Or his Messiah.
brothers.
12:10a Or his Messiah.
12:10b Greek
11
“It has come at last—
salvation and power
and the Kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.*
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters*
has been thrown down to earth—
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.
And they have defeated him by the blood of
the Lamb
and by their testimony.
• Will of God
R E V E LATI ON 10:4
Throughout history people have wanted
to know what will happen in the future,
and God reveals some of it in this book.
But John was not allowed to reveal
certain parts of his vision. An angel
also told the prophet Daniel that some
things he saw were not to be revealed
yet to everyone (Daniel 12:4), and Jesus
told his disciples that the time of the
end is known by no one but God (Mark
13:32-33). God has revealed all we need
to know to live for him right now. In our
desire to be ready for the end, we must
be careful not to place more emphasis on
speculation about the last days than on
living godly lives while we’re waiting.
• Faithfulness
R E V E LATI ON 11:18
Throughout the Bible, we see God giving rewards to his people according to
what they deserve. In the Old Testament,
obedience to God often brought rewards
in this life. But obedience and immediate reward are not always linked. If they
were, good people would always be
rich, and suffering would always be a
sign of sin. If we were quickly rewarded
for every faithful deed, we would soon
think we were pretty good people! Before
long, we would be doing good deeds for
purely selfish reasons. While it is true that
God will reward us for our earthly deeds
(20:12), our greatest reward is eternal life
in his presence.