In Revelation 11:14-18 there is the seventh trumpet. Without the seventh trumpet, God’s economy and His move cannot be finished. By reading chapters eight through eleven, we see that the seven trumpets are truly a great thing. When the seventh trumpet sounds, many things will happen. This trumpet will sound for a period of time, and it will last for eternity, declaring, announcing, and proclaiming God’s eternal plan. In each of the first six trumpets, only one item will transpire, but in the seventh trumpet many things will take place.
The seventh trumpet, as the last one (1 Cor. 15:52), comprises both negative and positive things. The negative things are the wrath of God, which consists of the last plagues of the seven bowls (15:1; 16:1-21) as the last woe to the dwellers on the earth (8:13; 9:12; 11:14), and the destruction of the destroyers of the earth, which transpires at the Lord’s coming back to earth (17:14; 18:1-2; 19:19—20:3). The positive things are the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is the kingdom in its manifestation (11:15, 17); the judgment of the dead, which occurs before the resurrection of the saints (v. 18); and the giving of rewards to the prophets and to the saints, which transpires at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10) after the resurrection and rapture of the saints (1 Cor. 15:23, 52; 1 Thes. 4:16-17), and at the throne of Christ’s glory (Matt. 25:31-34), to those who feared God’s name (14:6-7). Hence, the seventh trumpet comprises all things from the end of the great tribulation to eternity future: the last plagues of the seven bowls (ch. 16); the resurrection and rapture of the saints; the rewarding of the saints; the coming back of Christ to the earth; the destruction of the great Babylon (17:1—19:6); the marriage of the Lamb (19:7-10); the destruction of Antichrist, the false prophet, Satan, and their followers (19:11—20:3); the millennial kingdom (20:4-6); the final judgment upon the earth and Satan (20:7-10); the final judgment of the dead (20:11-15); and the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem for eternity (21:1—22:5).
Revelation 11:14 says, “The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming swiftly.” The third woe, consisting of the seven bowls of God’s wrath (ch. 16), is a part of the negative contents of the seventh trumpet. Since the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet is recorded after the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem for the last three and one-half years (11:2), and since the seven bowls will be the last plagues of the consummation of God’s wrath (15:1; 16:1), the woe of the seventh trumpet must be the end of the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21).
At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, not only will the great tribulation be ended, but also this age will be closed. The mystery of God will be finished (10:7) and the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (11:15). Then another age, the age of the kingdom, the millennium, will begin.
The seventh trumpet will bring in the kingdom for eternity. Verse 15 says, “And the seventh angel trumpeted; 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.” The phrase “He shall reign forever and ever” refers to the Lord’s reign for eternity in the new heaven and the new earth (22:5). This indicates that the seventh trumpet covers the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem.