NOTES for Rev 11:15-19
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. |
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, |
17 Saying, 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. |
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. |
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. |
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As we can see, God's judgment on the Church precedes the day of universal Judgment, which comes immediately after it. This is not surprising: according to God's design, Judgment must become not only punishment for those who oppose the Kingdom, but first of all the beginning of the transformation of the world, so that, once transformed, it can become part of the Kingdom. Judgment presupposes above all precisely an evaluation of everything and everyone from the standpoint of fitness for the Kingdom. It would seem that in the world created by God there can be nothing unfit for the Kingdom; but unfortunately the world has been thoroughly damaged by those who oppose God, and now, through the efforts of God's opponents, much has appeared in it that is incompatible with the Kingdom. And if God evaluates a person above all from the standpoint of readiness for repentance and for cleansing from everything that prevents participation in the life of the Kingdom, then He considers the works and fruits of human hands in the context of their future inclusion in the life of the Kingdom in the state they have on the day of Judgment: what can be taken into the Kingdom, even after the transformation that awaits the whole world, is taken, and everything else is left behind and shares the fate of that part of creation which remains outside the Kingdom, in the Gospel phrase, in the "outer darkness."
Strictly speaking, the trumpet of the seventh angel announces first of all not Judgment, but the reign of Christ, which is so awaited both in heaven and on earth (vv. 15-16). Judgment, as we can see, turns out to be only a consequence, a kind of side effect of this reign (v. 18). It would not have existed at all if the world had not been damaged by the fall. Judging by the testimony of the Book of Revelation, the world was conceived from the beginning precisely as the kingdom of God, where authority was to belong to the One who created it, and directly so (Rev 4:9-11). And the One who created the world also, as we can see, intended from the beginning to give it into the governance of His Son, who has been revealed to us as the Messiah, sanctifying and transforming what the Father created and bringing His creation to the fullness worthy of becoming the dwelling place of its Creator (Rev 5:11-12).
Judgment became a sad necessity after forces opposing God interfered with this design, and their activity unfortunately left its mark on the world God created, even despite their defeat. In such conditions Judgment becomes in God's hands the tool needed to correct what can be corrected, so that the Kingdom may include everything and everyone possible.
The only obstacle here can be the free will of those whom God created free, whether angels or human beings: both can not only reject for themselves the opportunity offered to them, but can also make the fruits of their activity unfit for the Kingdom. And here even God is powerless: He cannot force the Kingdom on anyone. One can enter it only by choosing it freely; otherwise the Kingdom would cease to be the Kingdom and turn into its opposite. That is why God gives everyone the right of free choice, placing the full measure of responsibility for the decision on the one who chooses.
Readings for 11 December 2025
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