The Seventh Seal and the Last Trumpet

I'm In the Lord's Army, Yes Sir! Part III. Is the Wrath of God the same event as the Great Tribulation? Reassessing the keystone of Dispensational eschatology.

In Part II, Wrath, War, What Is It Good For?, I showed that the text strongly favours the interpretation that the fifth seal describes the tribulation and that the sixth seal describes the penultimate sign of Christ’s wrath, corresponding to Jesus’ eschatological prophecies as well as the apostle’s future beliefs referenced throughout the Epistles. The order of events that takes place at the end of the age is described in the same way in the Gospels and Epistles, leading me to a very important conclusion: God’s wrath is not the Great Tribulation—it ends it. But what about Revelation? What, exactly, is the meaning of the seventh seal and the last trumpet? And where does it fit in the order of events that take place at the end of the age?

Let’s dig in.

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A painting of the archangel sounding the last trumpet and the resurrection of the dead (Cormaia Monastary, Romania, c.1461)

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When Christ opens the seventh seal, silence consumes heaven for half an hour. This silence is immediately contrasted by seven trumpet blasts (Rev.8:1-2). The seventh seal, then, contains seven trumpets which are given to seven angels to sound in sequential order, as opposed to simultaneous, given that there is a climactic last trumpet when “the dead will be raised imperishable”, meaning, the seventh seal is an overarching event and the seven trumpets are checkpoints within that event. The first six trumpets reveal that God will unleash an unparalleled celestial calamity upon the whole earth—from famine, plagues (Rev.8:10, 9:16-19), fire and brimstone (Rev.8:7) and water turning to blood (Rev.8:8) to looming darkness (Rev.8:12) and demonic torment (Rev.9:1,11)—in order to bring people to repentance. Whether or not these descriptions are spiritually symbolic or physical realities to come is yet unknown, nor is it something I want to linger on in this entry because it will detract from establishing the primary focus of this entry, which is establishing the main order of the events. Either way, during the plagues of the six seal one third of mankind perishes. The rest of mankind, however, who were not killed by the plagues, do not repent of their immoral conduct, nor do they give up worshiping demons and idols (Rev.9:20-21). It is these unrepentant people engrossed in the ways of the world who murder the two witnesses before the seventh trumpet sounds (Rev.11:7), and worship the beast and the antichrist to the extent that they murder those who resist worshiping them (Rev.13:4,12,15). Then, finally, the seventh trumpet sounds, which is also referred to as the last trumpet, and it marks the end of the seventh seal and heralds Christ’s imminent return to save His saints. The last trumpet is the final act before Christ’s return when at that moment He “raptures”, that is “seizes” or “snatches” or ‘gathers together’, the people of God.

A voice in heaven declares that “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev.11:15) Then, the twenty-four elders say:

“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, [Great Tribulation against the saints]
    but your wrath came, [God’s Wrath against the wicked]
    and the time for the dead to be judged, [Christ returns]
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.”
(Revelation 11:17-18)

That the last trumpet heralds the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead is not some novel conception, it is all over the New and Old Testament. The chapter before the seventh trumpet blast, John’s records this fact for us:

“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.” (Revelation 10:5-7)

The seventh angel sounds the last trumpet. This seventh trumpet mystery is reiterated by Paul to the Corinthians when he says that the resurrection takes place in conjunction with and immediately after the last trumpet:

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

He repeats this again to the Thessalonians, but this time he mentions that Christ will return at the sound of the last trumpet, and then the resurrection will take place:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Both Paul and John speak of the last trumpet sounded by the seventh angel as the final indication of Christ’s return; the great day of the Lord is near. And when he returns, He brings wrath and war against the unrighteous (Rev.19:11-21). The trumpet sound is the last battle cry that signals the day of God’s wrath. Wrath is war.

This return of Christ and the wrath of God are in conjunction with one another, as spoken by the apostles and prophets. The Day of the Lord is frequently referred to as a day of judgment against the wicked:

The great day of the Lord is near—
    near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
    the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
That day will be a day of wrath—
    a day of distress and anguish,
        a day of trouble and ruin,
    a day of darkness and gloom,
        a day of clouds and blackness—
a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
    and against the corner towers.

“I will bring such distress on all people
    that they will grope about like those who are blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
    and their entrails like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
    will be able to save them
    on the day of the Lord’s wrath.”

In the fire of his jealousy
    the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
    of all who live on the earth.
(Zephaniah 1:14-18)

Zephaniah echoes Joel’s vision of the Day of the Lord:

Blow a trumpet in Zion;
    sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
a day of darkness and gloom,
    a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them,
    but behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

Before them peoples are in anguish;
    all faces grow pale.
Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
They do not jostle one another;
    each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
they climb up into the houses,
    they enter through the windows like a thief.

The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
The Lord utters his voice
    before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
    who can endure it?
(Joel 2:1-11)

The Day of the Lord is the day God’s Wrath descends upon the earth. It is the final battle the world wages against God.

Our Vocation to Spiritual Warfare

As Christians, we enlisted for battle at our baptism. We are active participants in this spiritual battle against the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-20), albeit not in the same way as His celestial army (Rev.19:17-18), but called to “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus,” and “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4). We wear Christ’s spiritual armour—belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation—and wield the sword of the Spirit as our sole offensive weapon against the enemy, that is the word of God; sharper than any two-edged sword, He pierces the spiritual darkness of this world through us, and discerns the innermost thoughts and intents of the heart to render true judgment (Hebrews 4:12-14). For through the word of God, the Spirit of Christ, we, the body of Christ, will judge the world.

“Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)

Let that sink in for a moment.

Both Paul and the Psalmist David proclaim this, too:

Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!
(Psalm 149:6-9)

All that to say, we are in the Lord’s army—obviously! But, what we often forget is that while we are in active duty in the Lord’s army right now, we are also in the Lord’s army at the end of the age, as well. Bearing in mind that our active duty as soldiers of God right now is not carried out in the same way as the angels, who enact the Lord’s vengeance (Romans 12:19). We are called to be like Christ, that is to be wholly sanctified into maturity through perseverance by sharing in His sufferings as a living sacrifice and likewise sharing the gospel (Philippians 1:29, 3:8-11; 1 Peter 2:20–25, 4:1,13; Hebrews 13:12-16; John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12; Galatians 6:2; Romans 5:3-4, 12:1-2; James 1:2-4). The angels, however, are not called to be like Christ, as they are not made in the image of God; more on this another time. Anyway, when you harmonize our calling to spiritual warfare with eschatology, specifically the last trumpet—the wrath-war-return of Christ—the conquest of Jericho takes on deeper eschatological symbolism:

“Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him…. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction…. So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.” (Joshua 6:4-6,16-17,20-21)

This utter destruction of Jericho foreshadows what will come of the unrepentant who have reached their full measure of iniquity at the end of the age. Christ also prophesied that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18). Like the walls of Jericho, gates are a defensive structure. Whose castle are we storming? Satan’s—rulers, authorities, dark cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12). As the Son was sent by His Father to save us and destroy the works of the devil, we too are sent out wearing His armour and wielding His sword to slay the darkness and takeover the strongholds of Satan (2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Ephesians 6:10-20; 1 John 3:8; Luke 10:1-23; John 20:21).

By contrast, the kingdom of Israel was not on the spiritual offensive. Their covenant was not missional. God was their fortress (Psalms 18:2, 46:7, 48:3, 59:9-17, 62:2-6, 71:3, 91:2, 144:2). Israel was under divine protection, guarded by the law of God while they awaited for the deliverer who was prophesied to come (Galatians 3:24-29; Deuteronomy 18:15–19; Acts 3:17-26). Then God sent His Word, His only begotten Son, to heal them, and to deliver them from the flaming darts of the evil one (Psalm 107:20; Ephesians 6:16). Not just Israel, but the whole world also, thereby grafting foreigners into true Israel by faith. And because He was sent, He also sends us (John 20:21-23). Therefore, we are sent by Christ, as Joshua was sent by the angel of the Lord, to be on the offensive.[1] To free the world from bondage and heal them through forgiveness, for we “know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19; cf. Luke 4:5-6) As Paul says, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20) That is, we the Church have been commissioned by Christ with the same noble task of full-embodied evangelism to deliver others from sin, destruction, and the evil one (Hebrews 13:13-14).

And yet, we are given a divine promise, and we know His promises are sure: We, the body of Christ, will triumph as Christ has triumphed. We will conquer the enemy by the blood of Christ (Rev.12:11,15:2), and we will be with Christ when He returns to finish the job (Rev.17:14). Though we may suffer and be martyred along the way, we will win because of it (Rev.11:7, 13:7).

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever…. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’…. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them, until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom…. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Daniel 2:44-45, 7:18,21-22,25-27)

And, again, to the church in Thyatira the Spirit of God through the apostle John says:

“Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 2:25-29)

We are called to conquer as Christ has conquered, as a living sacrifice, crucified yet alive, with Christ reigning in and through us (Galatians 2:20; Romans 12:1-2).

“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war…. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.” (Revelation 19:6-8,11,14)

Satan Is After You.

Satan is in all ways ravenous and wrathful. He is seeking to destroy your soul through your body, he is not seeking to destroy your body only. He craves to use your body against you, as it too bears the image of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. He foams out the mouth to mar the image that you rightfully bear, to get you to toss away your birthright as God’s children of promise before you receive your inheritance (Genesis 25:29-34); and he starves if he doesn’t get his way. This is Satan’s wrath: To convince you to willingly reject who you were made to be—to lose your soul for the things of this world—to win you over to his side. But he will lose.

We are sent out to preach the good news, in word and in deed. To be a visible and living transformation of Christ’s atoning work. The spoken Word, the truth of God, will free anyone from that demonic grip and heal them of their spiritual infirmities. That is our calling.

“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:12-16)

In the end, at the seventh trumpet call, Christ returns with His angelic army like a thief in the night to bind and plunder Satan and bring the antichrist to nothing in one fell swoop (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3, 16:15), as the prophet Joel says, “they enter through the windows like a thief” (Joel 2:9). Christ is king and commander of the Lord’s army.

The apostle’s eschatology, of course, is not their own—they were simply reiterating, through the power of the Holy Spirit, what the prophets foretold and what Christ revealed to them on the Mount of Olives:

“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)

So, if the last trumpet marks the very end of the age and the beginning of Christ’ reign, as the apocalypse and the epistles all say, we are left with a very basic question: Why does so much stuff happen from the moment the seventh trumpet is sounded in Revelation 11:15 to Christ’s return in Revelation 19:11? And why does God’s wrath begin before His return? And if there is no pre-tribulation rapture, then how would we avoid God’s wrath?

Honestly, I think there’s a really simple explanation.

And yes, that’s the twist.

Continue Reading >

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Matlock Bobechko | November 12, 2024 – 9:00AM EST

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[1] David refusing Saul’s armour is an antitype of our earthly vocation; he was given the king’s physical armour, but he chose to wear God’s spiritual armour, armed with humility and perseverance and faith.