Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 11:15 - 11:16
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_11:15-16
15Then the seventh angel sounded; 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 will reign forever and ever." 16And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying,
Rev_11:15 "The kingdom of the world" The KJV and NKJV have "the kingdoms of this world." The plural is not present in any of the ancient Greek manuscripts.
▣ "has become" This is an aorist middle (deponent) indicative. This is a description of the end of the reign of fallen human governments and the beginning of the reign of our God (cf. Rev_12:10). The new age of the Spirit has fully come. This confirms the recapitulation theory that the Second Coming occurs at the end of each of the three cycles of judgment: the seals (cf. Rev_6:12-17), the trumpets (cf. Rev_11:15-18), and the bowls (cf. Revelation 19). Revelation is not in a chronological, sequential order, but a dramatic presentation in seven cycles, each viewing the same period, but the seals, trumpets, and bowls in successive and intensifying degrees of judgment (1/4, 1/3, full).
▣ "our Lord and of His Christ" Notice how closely the Father and Son are linked (cf. Psalms 2). Notice, also, that the emphasis of 1Co_15:24-28 and Eph_5:5 has now been fulfilled. Some see an allusion to Zec_14:9 which is possible because John's favorite sources of apocalyptic images in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.
▣ "and He will reign forever and ever" This refers to the eternal reign of our God (cf. Exo_15:18; Psa_10:16; Psa_29:10; Isa_9:6-7; Dan_2:44; Dan_4:34; Dan_7:14; Dan_7:27; Zec_14:9; Luk_1:33; 1Th_4:17; 2Pe_1:11), not a millennial reign (cf. Revelation 20) of Christ. This is really a fulfillment of Jesus' prayer in Mat_6:10 that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The kingdom of God is a major theme in the Gospels and in the Revelation. There is a fluidity and tension between its current reality (post-millennial and amillennial) and its future consummation (historical premillennial and dispensational premillennial). This same fluidity is also between its earthly aspect (millennial) and its eternal aspect. Some commentators, schools, and denominations dwell on one aspect of the fluidity, but ignore or twist the others to fit their presuppositions and theological systems. It is so hard for western people to appreciate the fluidity, figurativeness, and tension of eastern literature, especially its apocalyptic genre. Our God and His Christ have reigned, are reigning and will reign; the details are insignificant! There may be an earthly messianic reign for some period (cf. 1Co_15:23-28); national Israel may have some part (cf. Romans 11). However, the figures and symbols of Revelation address the Church universal, not Israel (cf. Dan_2:34-35; Dan_2:44). I personally leave open the possibility of Israel having a part in end-time events because of God's OT promises to Abraham's descendants (cf. Isa_9:6-7; Zec_12:10) based on God's character (cf. Eze_36:22-38).
Rev_11:16 "the twenty-four elders" See Special Topic at Rev_4:4.