April 30 | The Right Time – Revelation 11:15-19 | Daily Devotion

The Right Time | Daily Devotion

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.”

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,

“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.
¹⁸ 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.

Revelation 11:15-19 NLT

Here the apostle John sees the seventh angel blow his trumpet, and he hears loud voices in heaven shouting – “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”

When the angel says, “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” He is emphasizing the taking back of the world, as for so many years, God allows Satan, the Prince of this World, to do what he wants with mankind – to steal, kill and destroy.

While on earth, Jesus talks about Satan, specifically labeling Satan as the Prince of this World, or the ruler of the world – recognizing the allotted time frame God gives to Satan to enact his demonic power.

Many might wonder, why God gives Satan the opportunity to destroy mankind. God does so because in His love He has given mankind a freewill to love Him or to not love Him and in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve used their freewill to defy the living God and eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They chose to not love God, but to love themselves instead, desiring the power and wisdom of God minus going to Him in relationship – this disobedience brought sin and death into the world, a separation from God the Father and the need for a Savior, for the wages of sin is eternal death but the free gift of God is eternal life found in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

What’s interesting – is with the resurrection of Jesus Christ – God gives us His power and wisdom in a pure relationship with Himself. So, as we go to God and grow in our personal relationship, we receive what Adam and Eve tried to accomplish on their own in their act of disobedience. They could have simply gone to God to receive what they desired. But by taking matters into their own hands, in a style of self-efficacy, taking steps away from God their one act of sin brought increasing sin and death into the world. It opened the door for Satan, so to speak, to rule over the world.

While on earth, talking about Satan, the Prince of this World, Jesus says in John 14:30-31 NLT, “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father.”

Jesus clearly states that though the Prince of this World, Satan has no power over Him, the God Man. Satan does not have power over Christ’s death, Jesus willingly laid down His life, following God’s desires to die on the cross for the sins of mankind. His one willing act defeated Satan.

We see in John 12:27-32, we see Jesus talking to Philip and Andrew, feeling the weight of His coming death for the sins of the world. Jesus says, “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.’ Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, ‘I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.’ When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. Then Jesus told them, ‘The voice was for your benefit, not mine. The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

When Christ was lifted up from the earth, the Christian church was born – the wisdom and power of God witnessed by the unseen spiritual realm.

We know Satan always has to ask God’s permission before he can target Christians – this does make many Christians wonder, why is God allowing this type of suffering or enduring hardship.

What we do know is God has given us His word. The word of God cannot be chained or changed. He tells us to not sin, so that we do not align with Satan and his agenda, so that we are not apart of the confusion. God tells us to obey Him, and thus we are a part of the solution. Satan attacks Christians, but God moves through His people to dominate the darkness. God moves through His church to proclaim His wisdom, His wisdom found in Jesus Christ, His wisdom and power found in His voice to mankind. His word, the Bible. Our faith is grown as we obey Jesus Christ with what we personally face – not what others face, as we endure to the end faithful to the One who is so ever faithful to us. Faithful to the One who is for us. Faithful to the One who alone completes our faith, with His calls to obedience.

We remain faithful to Jesus Christ by obeying Jesus Christ – trusting Him with the outcome of our obedience. Trusting His will for our lives.

Knowing this day will come – this seventh trumpet judgment, where Jesus Christ will take back His Kingdom – we should rejoice. Stronger in God given conviction. Satan will no longer be the Prince of this World, and all who follow him will die in torment.

This trumpet judgment is so encouraging to the 24 elders who represent the redeemed – it’s justice for all of the evil of the world – that they bow down in worship, falling to their knees before their true King, saying:

“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.
¹⁸ 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.”

The redeemed rejoice at the timing of Jesus Christ, giving thanks.

Anyone who knows suffering, knows the delight and thanksgiving when it’s about over. How many say, “Please Lord, any day would be great”?

It is that delight of Jesus Christ assuming His rightful position of power.

The redeemed rejoice as it’s time to judge the spiritually dead and it is time to reward all of the servants of God and the prophets, all of the holy people, all who fear God’s name, all whose names are written in the scroll of remembrance – Malachi 3:16, the scroll written to record the names of those who feared God and always thought about the honor of His name.

It's time.

It’s time for those who created hell on earth for God’s people, to experience hell eternally themselves. For God will not be mocked, people will reap what they have sown – Galatians 5:7.

Then John says, “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.”

John sees holiness. He sees power. He sees the way God established for His people. He sees fruition of God’s promises. He sees the fruition of Jesus Christ’s words in the Olivet discourse.

He sees divine judgment for all who defy the living God and why it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God – Hebrews 10:31.

He sees both the God of love and the God of justice.

Will you pray with me?

Abba, thank You for this hope, this promise of the day You will fulfill Your word – destroying all who sought to destroy Your people and this earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.