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. . . .
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. Rev. xi, 15-18.
If the seventh angel is the same as the "last trump," [1 Cor. xv, 52,] and "the voice of the archangel and the trump of God," [1 Thess. iv, 16,] as many suppose, then the sounding of the seventh angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, at his second advent, calling the righteous dead from their slumbers. In this case, the series of events named to occur under his sounding must all occur after the Lord's second appearing. But if the seventh angel be considered of the same character as the other six, a symbol, and not the Lord Jesus Christ, then why may not his sounding be prior to the second coming of Christ, and some of the events under his sounding constitute signs of that great event?
Of the two positions, we take the latter. How natural and reasonable that all seven of these angels are of the same character. How unnatural and unreasonable to suppose that six of them are symbolic, and the seventh to be Michael, Gabriel, or any other literal angel. Again, the trump of God, or last trump and its immediate results, seems to be the work of a moment as the following texts show. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. "Behold I shew 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 trump." 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52. But the seventh angel is days sounding. "But in the days (years) of the voice of the seventh angel," &c. Rev. x, 7. To the fifth angel, 150 prophetic days (years) are allotted; to the sixth, 391 and a fraction; and why may not the days of the sounding of the seventh, be years also? We see no reason why they may not be. Under the sounding of the seventh angel, several distinct events are to occur.
1. "And there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ." By this we understand that the testimony and faith of the church is symbolized, in probationary time. If it be urged that these voices are to be heard only in heaven, we would ask, How many kingdoms there are, or will there be in heaven? The answer must be, But one. It is evident then, that the voices are to be heard in this world, in probationary time, where the "kingdoms" (plural) are. When Christ's kingdom shall be established "under the whole heavens," it will be one kingdom; but there is a sense in which the kingdoms (plural) of this world become Christ's before they are dashed to pieces, to give place to the immortal kingdom. We may learn this from Dan. vii, 13, 14; Ps. ii, 8, 9. And with the scriptural view of the Sanctuary and priesthood of Christ before us, we are led to apply these texts to the end of the 2300 days in 1844, from which point we date the sounding of the seventh angel. We cannot here dwell on this point at length; but it seems evident that the period for the "voices" here mentioned, is the same as that of the third angel. Rev. xiv, 9-12.
2. "And the nations were angry." Perhaps this does not refer to slaughter among the nations, so much as to great political excitement and hostile feelings. And are not the nations even now becoming angry.
3. "And thy wrath is come." We learn from Rev. xv, 1, that the wrath of God is the seven last plagues. "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God." This unmingled cup of wrath is threatened in the message of the third angel, and is to immediately follow it. The period of this wrath without mercy is after Christ's intercessions cease before the Father; for as long as he intercedes, wrath will be mingled with mercy-drops. Therefore this third event will occur when there is "no Intercessor," [Isa. lix, 16,] Christ having finished his work in the heavenly Sanctuary, and the third and last message of mercy being closed. Awful hour! Reader, prepare to meet it!
This period of unmingled wrath is the "quickly" of Rev. xxii, 12. In verse 11, the True witness declares "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." This must be at the very point of time when the last warning and invitation shall cease, and Jesus no longer offers his blood to save sinners. The destinies of all are fixed, yet Jesus has not then come as will be seen by the next verse. "And behold I come QUICKLY, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be." Here, then, is the period of the third event under the sounding of the seventh angel, which is, "and thy wrath is come." It is after the message of the third angel, and the work of the sealing angel are closed, and before the second coming of Christ.
4. "And the time of the dead that they should be judged," is the fourth event under the sounding of the seventh angel which we will here notice. That judgment has begun at the house of God, that this is, in a certain sense, a period of judgment and decision, we freely admit; but the judgment, the day of judgment, the time of the dead that they should be judged, is, evidently, in the future. It follows the last plagues, and is to be introduced by the coming of Christ. "I charge thee therefore," says Paul, "before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at (not before) his appearing and his kingdom." 2 Tim. iv, 1. "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. iv, 5.
"The time of the dead that they should be judged," is in other scriptures called the "day of judgment." "judgment of the great day," and "day of the Lord." The Apostle, after stating that the present world is reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, says:—
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." 2 Pet. iii, 7, 8. We are led to consider that this text, with the connection considered, teaches simply this, that the Lord's day of judgment is a thousand years in length. This view is strengthened by comparing Rev. xx; Matt. xix, 28-30; xxv, 31-46, which cover the whole ground from the resurrection of the just at the Second Advent, down to the second death of the wicked, at the end of the one thousand years. Search and see.
5. "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." Prophets and saints will get their reward when the kingdom of God shall be established in the New Earth. This is their reward. If the New Earth does not appear till the close of the seventh millennium, which view we think harmonizes far the best with scripture and reason, then this reward will not be given till the closes of the fourth event, which is "the time (1000 years) of the dead that they should be judged." Then at the close of the one thousand years, those that destroy (corrupt, margin) the earth will suffer the second death, the earth will then be made new, and to the prophets, saints, and all who fear God will be said, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
Why may not the sounding of the seventh angel, and the third woe, extend down to the close of the seventh millennium, when all woes shall terminate with the destruction of the lost, at the second death?