There can be little doubt that this brief passage describes the coming of Christ, the final event of world history. After all, in verse 17, God is no longer said to be the One Who “is to come” (see 1:4), but simply the One “who is and who was.”

And the visual symbols of Christ’s coming – the lightning, rumblings and thunder that we saw on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16, 18) and again at the opening of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:5) appear once more in verse 19. Most strikingly, John says that the temple of God in heaven is opened, and that the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God Himself is considered to dwell, is revealed (v. 19). What better way could there be to illustrate the coming of the Lord?

And the language of this passage makes the same point. Over and over, we see the future tense of prophecy realized in the present: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord” (v. 15). “You have taken your great power and begun to reign” (v. 17). And most ominously, “Your wrath came” (v. 18).

For that’s the sobering fact we need to remember: the coming of Christ will not be good news for everyone. Those who rage against the Lord will experience His fury. Those who destroy the earth will be destroyed. But those who fear the Lord, those who are servants of God will be rewarded (v. 18). Simply put, how we react to the appearance of Christ on the Day when all the dead will be judged will depend directly on our relationship to Him today.

So, will we join the twenty-four elders, those who represent all the Old and New Testament people of God, in worshipping Christ today? Or will we find ourselves on the losing side when our King appears in His glory?

Revelation 11:15-19 (ESV)

15 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.”
16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 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.
18 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.”
19 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.