Revelation 11
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying: “ We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
There is no book like the Bible. It is sweeter than honey (Ps 19:11).
Those who compare the things of this world with the things of God and can still choose the world is indeed foolish. They certainly haven’t tasted the sweetness of God’s word.
There is nothing so attractive or beautiful as the Word of God. To Joshua the Lord said, take this word and let it never depart from you day or night; so you will overcome.
The whole world will still experience great suffering, terrible things. There will be lightnings, great hail, earthquakes etc, as we read here.
We as children of God are not terrified by this for we are safe in the Lord.
God is able to protect His children, like we read in Ps 91, a thousand may fall on your side and ten thousand on your right hand, yet it shall not touch you.
We are also reminded of Daniel’s three friends, who despite being threatened with the furnace being heated seven times, yet refused to bow before the king’s idol. They said, “our God is able to protect us and if not, we still won’t bow”. They were thrown into the furnace, but those who threw them in were burnt to death because of the heat; yet when the king looked into the furnace he saw four men walking loose and the fourth looked as the son of God. When they came out of the furnace there wasn’t a hair of their heads touched by the fire. Their clothes did not even have the smell of fire.
So God is able to protect His people. You will not die unless He allows it.
We also read here how the kingdoms of this world are transferred to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. He rules supreme but the transfer has not yet taken place. Therefore there’s still so much injustice in the kingdoms of this world.
We know what the kingdoms or dispensations of this world are like. Political dispensations come and go. First the British ruled in South Africa and it came to an end. Then the Afrikaners ruled and their dispensations also came to an end. Now the ANC is ruling and it too will come to an end.
The only kingdom that will never come to an end is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
We read, “We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.”
He has taken His rightful power and reigned – the time when He shall reign and judge the living and the dead. Have you prepared yourself for that day?
v19, “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament”.
It was the ark of the covenant. God has made a covenant with the Israelites and in the new Testament / Covenant He has made a covenant with those who put their trust in Him, those whom He has redeemed. A covenant has two sides, your side and God’s side. Woe to you if you go back on your side of the covenant. He will never be unfaithful and will keep His side.
A certain boy promised to preach with Rev Stegen when he was grown. He forgot his promise and when he was grown he went with evil friends. They murdered someone and the murder-weapon with blood on it belonged to him. They were put in jail and were sentenced to death by hanging. He wrote a letter to Rev Stegen in which he asked forgiveness for the way he forgot his promise and that his story would be told to warn others never to make a promise to God and then go back on it. He confessed his sin and repented. The day he was hanged he could face his death with joy and was singing for God had forgiven him.
Have you heard God’s voice calling you and are you obedient?