The Testimony of the Twenty-Four Elders.

Revelation 10 and the first part of chapter 11 set the seventh trumpet inside a delay, and that delay is not empty space. The delay becomes testimony time. John first sees the mighty angel standing on sea and land, and when the Lord speaks, John is told not to write it down. The text keeps some things sealed, but it also tells John that there is still more prophecy to come.

The two witnesses then step onto the scene as God’s fire-breathing servants. Fire flashes from their mouths, the sky gets shut up, waters turn to blood, and plagues strike the earth. Their powers sound like Elijah and Moses, even if the text does not name them dogmatically. The beast kills them, Jerusalem leaves their bodies exposed for three and a half days, and the world watches the whole thing right in its hand, like a global livestream. The world celebrates and sends gifts, but God raises the witnesses from the dead, an earthquake shakes the city, seven thousand die, and many finally fear the Lord.

Revelation 11:15 ends the delay. The seventh trumpet sounds, and heaven shouts, “The world has now become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” The kingdom is singular because the world is moving under one ruler, but Christ takes it as his own. The Greek tense treats it like a done deal. Life may look like it is driving toward the cliff, relationships may look out of control, and evil may look like it is running the show, but Christ is either sovereign and ruling or he is not. Revelation says he is.

The twenty-four elders fall on their faces and thank the Lord God Almighty for judgment. Psalm 2 stands behind the scene: the nations rage, shake their fists at God, and imagine vain things. God’s wrath comes only after mercy has been refused again and again. The dead are judged, the prophets and saints are rewarded, and those who destroy the earth are destroyed, not merely polluters, but Babylon, the beast, the false prophet, the dragon, and every system that corrupts morally, spiritually, and physically.

The open temple reveals encouragement and warning at the same time. The ark of the covenant shows that God keeps covenant, and the open door says access to God is free because of Christ’s finished work. Lightning, thunder, earthquake, and hail say judgment is still coming. The text leaves people in only two categories: saints or aints. Eternal life is a gift, not a goal. Christ paid for sin, overcame death, and calls the undecided to trust him today, because the seventh trumpet may be delayed, but no person has time to delay.

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Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [20:01] - Thy Will Be Done
• [23:33] - Delay Is Part of Life
• [25:37] - Three Testimonies in the Delay
• [27:32] - The Fire-Breathing Witnesses
• [28:23] - Elijah and Moses Echoes
• [29:55] - The World Watches and Celebrates
• [30:36] - God Raises the Witnesses
• [31:15] - The Seventh Trumpet Sounds
• [33:16] - Christ Reigns as Fact
• [35:53] - Nations Rage, Christ’s Wrath Comes
• [38:22] - Reward for Servants and Saints
• [39:26] - Destroying the Destroyers
• [41:13] - The Temple Opens in Heaven
• [43:27] - Saints or Aints
• [45:01] - Eternal Life Is a Gift
• [48:24] - Communion and Thy Will Be Done

Bible Reading

Revelation 11:15-19
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. [31:15] [31:48] [35:53] [41:13]

Revelation 10:1-11
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” [25:37] [27:03]

Revelation 11:1-14
Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. [27:32] [28:07] [29:55] [30:36]

Psalm 2:1-12
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. [36:01]

Observation questions

1. In Revelation 10, what happens during the delay before the seventh trumpet, and what is John told to do and not do? [25:37]
2. In Revelation 11:1-14, what specific powers are given to the two witnesses, and what details are given about their death, public exposure, and resurrection? [27:32]
3. In Revelation 11:15-19, what three responses are described after the seventh trumpet sounds—heaven’s announcement, the elders’ worship, and the signs from the opened temple? [31:48]
4. Psalm 2 and Revelation 11:18 both describe the nations. What words and actions are used in these passages to show how the nations respond to God and his Anointed? [35:53]

Interpretation questions

1. Revelation 10 shows that some things are sealed while John is still told, “You must again prophesy.” What does that suggest about the difference between what God chooses to reveal and what he chooses to withhold? [27:03]
2. The delay before the seventh trumpet is filled with witness and warning instead of silence. How does that shape the way a person should think about seasons when God seems to be waiting? [25:37]
3. Revelation 11:15 speaks of Christ’s reign as settled fact even while the world still looks chaotic. How can both of those things be true at the same time, and why does that matter when life feels out of control? [33:16]
4. Revelation 11:18 says, “The nations raged, but your wrath came.” How does Psalm 2 help explain that God’s judgment is a response to ongoing rebellion rather than a sudden loss of patience? [36:01]

Application questions

1. Delay is not empty space. In this season of life, where does it feel like something is taking too long, and what would it look like to treat that delay as testimony time instead of wasted time? [23:21]
2. Christ reigns before it looks true. Where does life currently feel like it is driving toward the cliff for you—family, health, work, finances, or something else—and how can trust in Christ’s rule begin to change your response this week? [34:01]
3. The world celebrated when the witnesses were silenced. When have you felt pressure to keep quiet about Christ so life would stay easier or less awkward? What kind of courage is needed to stay faithful without becoming harsh? [29:55]
4. The open temple means access to God is available because of Christ’s finished work. When do you most tend to hold back from coming boldly to God—after failure, in confusion, in fear, or in shame? What would it look like to come to him openly? [41:53]
5. Revelation leaves no middle ground: saints or aints. Is there any area where you have been living spiritually undecided, half-in and half-out? What would honest surrender look like there? [43:27]
6. Eternal life is a gift, not a goal. In real life, how do people try to “pay God back” or earn what can only be received by grace? Where are you tempted to do that yourself? [45:01]
7. God’s will is not meant to stay a phrase on the lips; it is meant to shape the heart, mind, and life. What is one area that needs to be released so that his will is done there and not your own? [48:24]